Hi,
I thought I’d see if I could add to this discussion. My late uncle used to live in South Africa and at one point had a dog who was said to suffer from racism.
The explanation that I was given was that as dogs have different interpretations of colour and light than humans, this makes it harder for them to read the emotions of faces with a darker skin colour.
I have no idea if this is correct or not but thought I’d throw it out there as it seemed plausible to me.
I think that the word ‘racist’ is not the right word for this situation.
Dogs (as far as we know) don’t have any concept of racial superiority, which is necessary for racism to exist.
Perhaps the word ‘bigoted’ or ‘prejudiced’ might be more appropriate.
I do know that my minpin growls at more black people than she does at white people.
This is really weird because she ALWAYS growls at our black housekeeper who has been nothing but friendly to her since she was a puppy.
Needless to say, she didn’t learn this from us and it is quite embarrassing at times.
Do y’all think it is the skin tone that sets her off?
Like I say, I did watch a documentary a few months ago mentioning that one of the reasons that dogs are “a man’s best friend” was because of their ability to read our emotional states and intentions from our expressions.
The theory I was told above if true would mean that it’s not “racism” as you say, nor even prejudice, but a mere fact that the dog can’t infer the intentions of the person with darker skin even if they’re familiar. As a result they growl or bark as a precaution?
I’ve had seven dogs over the years, and they have all been racist to a greater or lesser degree. They prefer the company of other dogs of similar breed to their own. The Border Collies definitely make friends with other Border Collies.
Are you sure? :dubious: How have you behaved around other black folks (strangers) on the street with the dog?
FWIW, I’ve heard of dogs with black owners, whose primary exposure to white people was in antagonistic circumstances, with results being the precise opposite of what you describe.
Also, a dog I was once acquainted with appeared to be both homosexual and anti-Asian. Make of it what you will.