# Has your dog(s) ever reacted strangely to someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360 "2017-06-07T15:18:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/41 "2017-06-10T16:33:47Z")
My Heinz 57 and Boxer/Back Mouth Cur go nuts over delivery trucks (mail, FedEx, UPS) and black teenagers. When I walk them and they see a black teenager, they become Cujo. It’s really embarrassing. “Hee hee, sorry about that, I’m not racist or anything…” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/42 "2017-06-10T16:45:46Z")
My dog loved everybody, well, mostly. If we walked he loved the people and the other dogs. Same thing at the dog park. He’d lick the hand of the vet as he was being probed. But just once I took him into PetSmart and he snarled and nipped at two owners and their pets. I took him out. It was the only time I ever saw him exhibit aggression. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/43 "2017-06-10T18:41:09Z")
Had a dog that hated cops, even in plainclothes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/44 "2017-06-11T22:50:50Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Years ago, I was socializing my beloved Akita pup. He was maybe 10 weeks old, and generally a ball of fur who looked like a stuffed toy. People cooed and ah-ed everywhere we went. He was also ferociously intelligent, which led to him having a teeny, tiny freak out the first time he saw a black person. Also balloons. :smack: I had a female Cavalier King Charles spaniel, who was very affectionate towards us and loved to meet and snuggle up to everyone. She was something of a terror towards other dogs in our household until they recognized she was boss. Her only fears were of balloons, rotating ceiling fans and non-human primates (she hated seeing them on TV). ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/45 "2017-06-12T13:42:13Z")
Last night, talking over the fence with my neighbor… Reicher (the freaky one) spent a good 20 minutes trying to warn him away. Fortunately, my neighbor is a pretty stable and confident guy, and knows dogs - He and I continued the chat until Reicher decided that he _wasn’t_ going to chase the neighbor off - and didn’t need to, either. Redirection and basic calm attitude put his mind busy elsewhere, and convinced him that this was a ‘normal’ situation, and he could safely stand down. He did, however, maintain a fishy eye on my neighbor, ‘just in case’ - but he lay down and mostly relaxed (ceased stress panting, etc.). This is the ideal when dealing with a dog whom has ‘issues’ with strange people, strange situations, and other ‘scary things’ - you desensitize, deconflict, and re-direct. The idea is to give the dog non-presurized time time to conclude that ‘yes, this isn’t really a threat.’ If you pressurize them, you re-enforce the anxiety. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/46 "2017-06-12T13:59:58Z")
Our dogs are aggressive toward several of our elderly neighbors who have motorized scouters. We fairly certain its just the machine which probably looks like a motorbikes that have left the street to dog eyes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/47 "2017-06-12T14:11:07Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Had a dog that hated cops, even in plainclothes. Pepper Mill had a German Shepherd when she was younger. He used to break away from his collar , go to the Police Department, and prevent officers from entering the building. They used to call her up to come get her dog, so that the cops didn’t have to go in by the back entrance ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/48 "2017-06-12T14:56:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Pepper Mill had a German Shepherd when she was younger. He used to break away from his collar , go to the Police Department, and prevent officers from entering the building. They used to call her up to come get her dog, so that the cops didn’t have to go in by the back entrance Maybe trying to enforce some work-life balance for the Fuzz…? ---
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/49 "2017-06-12T16:32:54Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I once had a dog who loved me, but who growled and barked at me one day when I came home from the beauty shop with my hair in a different style and color. And of course I smelled like the beauty shop. I must have still smelled like me under all of that, but it took her awhile. My friend’s German Sheppard invariably barks at my vehicle but then is full of love as soon as I open the car door. UNLESS I am wearing a hat. Even after sniffing me and hearing my voice, the dog was highly agitated (pacing, barking, whining) until I removed the offending headgear. According to [this article](https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Reasons-Why-Dogs-are-Afraid-of-Hats-and-other-accessories), some dogs don’t understand “removable parts” and are frightened by things like hats, backpacks, umbrellas, etc. I’m guessing your dog was put off by the new “shape” of your head. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/50 "2017-06-12T18:31:47Z")
My dog, a Chihuahua, but a very quiet one, rarely barks. I bring him to work daily and he mostly sleeps. When one of maintenance men stops by to cool off or just say hello my dog will bark at him because he is black but once he sees I am OK with it he is OK with it. Racist little baby. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360/51 "2017-06-12T18:40:54Z")
Forgot one. My little boy is black and tan and while walking on leash we encounter many people walking their dogs of all shapes and sizes and everything is _cool unless_ it is a blond dog. Louie will bark and strain to get to any blond dog so we have a little reverse racism too. Dogs, go figure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-dog-s-ever-reacted-strangely-to-someone/788360.md?page=2)