I’ve had and been around dogs all my life. It is quite common to run across a dog that doesn’t like human males and shows this dislike by barking at them, but I have never run across a dog that didn’t like human females. Do such dogs exist and I just never happened to encounter one? And if not, why not?
On a related note, I’d like to know if there are any dogs that don’t like white people.
I’ve never seen one myself. I’ve seen dogs that hate men, and I’ve seen dogs that hate everybody equally, but never one which liked males but not females.
Women may have a different body language which seems non-threatening to dogs, and their voices are softer and higher.
It also may have a lot to do with the dog’s owner’s body language. If they are nervous as to how the dog will behave around certain people, the dog will pick up on that and interpret that person as a threat.
I’ve seen plenty of dogs in my day. I have seen dogs that freak over facial hair, dogs that hate uniforms, and dogs that despise males. I’ve never seen a dog that hated women. I’ve seen cats that prefer males, but never a dog.
I have heard from veterinarians who are white, and who practice in areas that are predominately black, that there are dogs that hate whites. However, I’ve never seen one personally.
As a person being owned by dogs, I can say I have never seen a dog really queue on sex alone as a friend/foe response. Dogs may show a preference to one sex, probably based on smell, and probably influenced by the dog’s master, female master, female preference. I am going to go way out on a limb here and suggest a theory with absolutely nothing to back it up. I believe from personal observations that the dog is reacting to perceived threat to the pack. My dog “Foxie” is so even tempered it is unbelievable. I am the master. My son’s friends (Male and female) come and go as they please. My wife’s friends come and go as they please. My brother is met with animosity, if not outright aggression. (Low growling, no snarling or heaven forbid biting). I think that it is because Fox picks up on the rivalry between my brother and myself, and considers him a threat, while the other males that visit and leave are not. I believe dogs tune in to a lot more than we give them credit for. An example is my wife gets terrible migraines sometimes, and if the Fox stays next to her and ignores my commands, I know she has a whopper going on. (She won’t tell me because I will take her to ER to get a shot of Demerol and it isn’t covered by insurance).
So the answer is no, I have never seen that behavior in dogs, but then again I have only had six in my life, and with any luck Fox will outlive me, and I say that only because the grief of losing one of the pack is so dreadful.
Actually, the veterinarians were father/son in the same practice.
They do. My grandmother had to give away her dog, Boomer. The old man who took him in reported that Boomer alerted him whenever he was about to go into diabetic shock by sniffing his breath and barking. He credited Boomer with saving his life on one occasion, and was astonished that the dog had never been trained to do any sort of warning when humans were in distress.
I have also heard tales of dogs frantically waking their owners when a baby has become sick.
Yes, there are dogs that don’t like women. I once owned a dog that was previously abused by a young girl, and the dog was especially wary of young girls, and less wary of other people. It was probably most comfortable with men.
I’ve never met a dog that doesn’t like women, but plenty that don’t like men, including my dog. Actually, he doesn’t like young men. He’s fine with older men and my dad is his favorite person.
He’s not so crazy about black people, either. And he really, really hates workmen. Don’t ask me how he knows - he just knows you’re not a guest, you’re here to do something to the house. He came thisclose to getting the air conditioning guy - young black male with a tool belt. Kiss of death.
Back in the day, I had an uncle who was the local dog executioner. If you had a sick or old dog to dispose of, he would come over with his .22 rifle and dispatch it for you.
Everyone observed that dogs didn’t like him
In packs of wolves stray females are most often allowed to join a pack, even if as the low ranking member. Stray males onthe other hand are driven away. I go into People’s homes all the time at work, often when no one is at home. I have never had a problem makeing anyone’s dog either my best friend or submit to me when nessary. Except for one Dobermann who I had to pin to the floor and lock in the bathroom untill I was Ready to leave.
What in the hell do you do for a living? :eek:
by Glaze:
You never met Helga, 100 # of German shep. Eighty-five pounds of muscle pushing five pounds of teeth fired up by ten pounds of pure attitude. Very territorial.
You pinned a doberman to the floor? That is quite a feat. Then you took the pinned dog to the bathroom and locked him/her in at your convienience?
Please explain how this was done, animal control officers the world over are waiting to hear how to “Pin down” a doberman. More than a few are building bathrooms to throw them into.
Esme was a man-hater. At the time my uncle took her in, she hated and feared all men. It was suspected that she had been abused. As a gentle soul who loves animals, my uncle was able to win her trust and in time she overcome her fear/hatred of men became a much-loved and affectionate member of the family. Fondly remembered.
I’ve never met a dog that hated women.