# Racist dog?



## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

Okay, this is extremely embarrassing, and I've debated about whether or not to post about it. I am a little worried that Bogey is a racist. We live in an area with a large Indian population. When we go for walks, especially now that it's nicer, a lot of them are out playing with their kids. When Bogey walks by he barks, growls and goes crazy. This is a dog that rarely (very rarely!) barks and never ever growls. 

What's the deal? The first time he saw some of our taller black friends he did this too, but he was much younger at the time and barking at lots of things. Now it's really just mostly Indians. 

Can anyone offer advice? It's extremely rude and embarrassing. And I'm certain he isn't getting any of those vibes from us, so I just don't get what's upsetting him.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Lack of socialization with Indian people. Was he exposed to them as a puppy? Meaning, did he meet any Indians? He probably stopped barking at your Black friends b/c they come around often. Do you have any Indian neighbors who will work with you on it?


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## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

That's what I thought too, but how does he knows that Indians look different from blacks? I don't mean to sound ignorant, but it's just hard for my husband and I to understand. We have been walking him around the same neighborhood for months, and although we don't know many of our neighbors, he has certainly seen many Indians. Once I stopped to talk to two families, and their kids wanted to pet Bogey. I was nervous, but he did fine. It seems that he barks more when they are farther away. 

At first we thought he was barking at baby strollers because there was a group of women who were always pushing strollers. But I don't think that's it. It's just humiliating!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Do you mean Indians as in from India, or Native American? Maybe it's the accent he isn't used to (if they are from India).


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Bogey's Mom said:


> That's what I thought too, but how does he knows that Indians look different from blacks? I don't mean to sound ignorant, but it's just hard for my husband and I to understand. We have been walking him around the same neighborhood for months, and although we don't know many of our neighbors, he has certainly seen many Indians. Once I stopped to talk to two families, and their kids wanted to pet Bogey. I was nervous, but he did fine. It seems that he barks more when they are farther away.
> 
> At first we thought he was barking at baby strollers because there was a group of women who were always pushing strollers. But I don't think that's it. It's just humiliating!


I wouldn't get upset over it. If you live by many Indians then he is going to be socialized eventually. Just make sure you don't give any inadvertant messges to him that might make him more anxious.

I am just surmising here but different racial groups eat different foods and that can make them very different to an unsocialized dog. I've read where in the past Native Americans claimed to be able to "smell' a white man and vica-versa. I also remember reading that soldiers in Vietnam could smell the vietcong. This scent difference was because of the normal foods that group tended to eat.

It makes sense to me. If humans can make this claim I bet a dog with its powerful nose can certainly sense something very different.


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## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

Very interesting thought! They are from India, and it is not uncommon for the smell of curry to be floating through the air. I'm not a huge fan of the smell, so I would bet it's even stronger smelling to Bogey. 

I don't think it's an accent thing. Most of the time we aren't close enough to even hear anyone talking before he starts acting weird. My husband said that yesterday he didn't bark he just got really scared and ran away. 

I just don't know how to work with him on it without risking offending anyone.


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## S-Dog's Mom (Jan 9, 2009)

I would go with smell as well. I work with a very large Indian population, and when I have to be close, there is a definite difference in odor. (Not stinky, just different) If MY nose can pick up on it, imagine what it's like for a PUP?

This is hard to talk about without sounding racist, for sure!


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## mm03gn (Sep 24, 2008)

I am very close friends with a person from Trinidad and I made certain to have him come over and interact with Bailey a few times before she reached 12 weeks old - so I wouldn't end up like a "racist" dog like my mom's chocolate lab - who, like your dog, barks like crazy when she sees anyone who isn't white. It is quite embarrasing, sometimes you can just say "he/she is like this with all strangers" and roll your eyes at your silly dog...


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Find the dog's threshold distance -- where he can see the people, but isn't reactive yet. Hang out, feed treats, play, train, etc. Repeat often at that distance and you should find that you can gradually decrease the distance.


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## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

No one has ever said anything about it, but it makes me feel like a terrible owner. If asked I would just say he is protective of me. But I really want it to stop immediately. 

Thanks for the advice, Quizini. Treats are a great idea. And a perfect distraction.


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## AcesWild (Nov 29, 2008)

Moxie is terrified of black men. She maybe had a bad experience with one earlier in life. Honestly, it's like dogs that don't like men or women, or don't like hats.


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## Gwen (Aug 9, 2007)

Years ago, we rescued a yellow labrador who was about 4 years old. This guy had a bullet in his skull but lived through this.

Anyway, this guy was a wonderful boy but he absolutely HATED people of darker colour - East Indians, Indians, Italians, Afro Americans - and uniforms (yes, any type of uniform including police officers). He was the most polite, friendly, sociable boy otherwise.

If we were driving in the car & a car with a person of darker skin were beside us, this guy would go absolutely beserk to the stage that we feared he'd go through the vehicle glass. Same with uniforms - if you were walking him on a lead, it took all your strength to hold him back. He was very aggressive towards these two "groups" of people.

What caused this aggression, we'll never know but I suspect that a darker coloured person in a uniform shot him. What do you think?


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## Dreammom (Jan 14, 2009)

For the longest time I thought my yellow Lab was racist. She would bark and growl like crazy over anyone with darker skin. Our neighbors are African American, and she would go nuts whenever they were in the yard. I accidentally learned why... I caught the father and son whipping poppers (those little things that explode) at our dogs through the fence. I was always finding the things in my yard and just thought they were from my own kids. I was in shock and completely flabberghasted - had no idea what to say to them, so I just called my dogs in. I watch very closely now whenever my dogs are outside.

blessings,

Julie


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Dreammom said:


> For the longest time I thought my yellow Lab was racist. She would bark and growl like crazy over anyone with darker skin. Our neighbors are African American, and she would go nuts whenever they were in the yard. I accidentally learned why... I caught the father and son whipping poppers (those little things that explode) at our dogs through the fence. I was always finding the things in my yard and just thought they were from my own kids. I was in shock and completely flabberghasted - had no idea what to say to them, so I just called my dogs in. I watch very closely now whenever my dogs are outside.
> 
> blessings,
> 
> Julie


Wow. That is something. The father is quite the role model huh.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Bogey's Mom said:


> Thanks for the advice, Quizini. Treats are a great idea. And a perfect distraction.


You're welcome.

The treats are even better than just a "distraction." If you're consistent, you can classically condition him to feel better about Indian people. The trick is, him getting treats is only contingent upon him seeing an Indian, not his behavior. So even if he's barking, you still feed.

And no, you're not rewarding the barking when you do that.

Read the last five paragraphs of this article and substitute dogs for an Indian person and you'll have a written verson of what I'm suggesting you do:

http://www.kathysdao.com/articles/Leash_Aggression_in_Dogs.html 

Good luck!


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## Traz (Jan 19, 2009)

Our last dog would bark at black people on TV. With our new puppy I have been working on socialization with all ages & colors.
It is different for them if they have not encountered someone different before. Good luck.


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## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

Thanks, Stephanie. As always, your advice is extremely helpful!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Find the dog's threshold distance -- where he can see the people, but isn't reactive yet. Hang out, feed treats, play, train, etc. Repeat often at that distance and you should find that you can gradually decrease the distance.


I agree completely with this advice. He's probably just used to barking at people that look or smell unfamiliar and then they don't come closer. In his mind, the barking has worked. That may be why they're fine when they're closer. As Quiz said, find the threshold distance and train there. You can also have some good-humored Indian friends come over so he can associate the smells and sights with positive experiences.


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## gunjee (Aug 28, 2008)

*Do you think your dog is just reacting to their body language?*

I am Indian, and I totally agree about the smell of curry in Indian people's B.O. When we visit India, just getting off the plane, the smell of a million curry-eating people hits you along with the heat. A dog can smell things from far away, but then when they get closer, why doesn't the smell bother him? So I was thinking maybe it's their body language he is reacting to. I don't know many Indian dog lovers. I think a lot of Indians from India (and those are the ones that would smell like curry) feel repulsed by dogs because they are used to the strays that roam free over there and probably carry diseases. And the whole shedding thing and licking their privates thing and then licking us thing really keeps a lot of them from allowing a dog in their houses. In India, the dog kept as a pet is out on a balcony or sleeps outside. They don't have the same views of dogs as us. Usually the dog is there to guard the house, not as a companion. Do any of your Indian neighbors have dogs? Maybe you could arrange a playdate. Dogs learn a lot of stuff from each other that is more difficult for us to teach them. If your dog sees how the dog of the Indian people doesn't bark at them, maybe he will do the same!


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## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

Thanks, Gunjee. That is really interesting!!! And it sheds some new light on things.


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## kblinkgirlie182 (Mar 15, 2009)

Buddy is afraid of the Mexicans that have been working to renovate the apartment underneath us. I don't know if he associates all the noise they have been making with them, but any time he sees one of them working around the complex, he freaks. I don't get it. He's even stopped going down the stairs to go out since the guys have been working downstairs. And it's not that he hasn't been socialized with anyone Mexican, because he has. One of our good friends is Mexican and Buddy met him a week or so ago. I feel like he's afraid of everything. I hope he grows out of it. He's only 3 months right now.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Thanks guys, This has been very interesting to read. I'm going to check Stephanie's link out. There's a female Lab that is new to our neighborhood, a Rescue with dog aggression issues. I'm sure her new owner would find the article interesting. I too was thinking it was the 'scent' that was causing the barking rather than skin color. Body language makes sense too. Ike will bark at anything or anyone from a distance, even my husband. Once he's closer to the subject, he stops. His is a 'come here, come here, I'm over here" bark though.  Good luck with finding answers.


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## ynwat (Mar 9, 2009)

I have had this problem with a Rottweiler we had! He was very social and friendly towards all dogs and people excapt East Indians and eventually found out he did not like our neighbours from Rwanda...
I eventually narrowed it down to a few things.. First is their appearance... Most people he barked at had turbans on their heads which I thought could feel threatening to him! I took him to have his aggression tested after he bit a woman and they concluded there was no aggression.... Even when the trainer came out fully geared up with a TALL turban like peice and even approached me and handled me roughly~he had never met the trainer previously ... I then considered that the people he barked at often had a strong scent of curry or other seasoning from cooking... With our Rwanda neighbours~the woman wore a head peice but the children did not and he did not like them either... They did not have a strong scent! What I concluded after working with them (brave of them to work so closely as he was a 120 lb Rottie and this is the lady he had bitten) was that he was uncomfortable with thier appearance... Racist? No! But when you look at people with very dark skin in more depth ~ from a dogs perspective they can appear more intimidating... The first things you see on them are thier very white teeth and thier eyes... Especially if it is a little dark out... 
We worked with him and eventually he worked through his fears~ and fear was exactly what it was because aggression or protection did not seem to be his problem... Good Luck


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## hmsalazar (Feb 19, 2009)

We all smell diferent, in south texas most of the population is mexican but when you are near a black or an indian person, you realy catch a strong odor from them, but not from all, just some of them. Of curse buddy should smell diferent your mexican friend that your mexican workers becouse of the sweat. Also some friend that visited europe said some french odor is very strong too. I have a mexican friend that is very smelly even if he just bath, but i cant notice any of my mexican family smell.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

hmsalazar said:


> We all smell diferent, in south texas most of the population is mexican but when you are near a black or an indian person, you realy catch a strong odor from them, but not from all, just some of them. Of curse buddy should smell diferent your mexican friend that your mexican workers becouse of the sweat. Also some friend that visited europe said some french odor is very strong too. I have a mexican friend that is very smelly even if he just bath, but i cant notice any of my mexican family smell.


I personally don't catch different scents from people unless they are wearing perfume or forgot to bath. But a dog has a hypersensitive nose and I'm sure can smell the difference between "cultures".


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## WLR (May 11, 2008)

Bogey's Mom said:


> I just don't know how to work with him on it without risking offending anyone.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oh please.........just do what you have to do to solve the problem.


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