Pups growlin at peeps, she is racist!

[Network23]

My 2-3 year old lab loves most people... Cept black people (seriously, she's better since my next door neighbor is black and comes over daily, she loves him now, but most black 'men' she hates, even after she meets them, she will still show aggression, she does seem ok after the initial greeting.) and theres an occasional growl at some white people, a friend brought his 6 year old kid over (half black)and my pup growled... I told her no and spanked her butt, but she still growled, kid wasnt doing anything cept wanting to pet her)

It seems most black males she doesnt like, and occasionally certain white people, she will bark and growl at, even when i bring them into the house, or she sees them walk by, doesnt matter, I really want to break her from this habit. What can I do besides look her in the eye, hold her beak and tell her no. (She doesnt look me in the eye when she knows she did somthing wrong, the shame!)

BTW: I found my pup about 8 months ago, but from what I was able to tell, was the person that used to own her was black, and she was skittish when you moved your hands. (She is much much better now that i've been her friend.)

So what can i do from breaking her growling at people?

[slleipnir]

Hey, my dog barks and growls (not really growls..) when ppl come to the door, i think its just being protective. I also believe when dogs look you in the eyes(like staring and not looking away) they think there more dominite then you, or something along those lines lol, could be wrong. I would try to fermly tell your dog no, and have her sit and or lie down when people are coming over (when they knock) have her stay there, until the person has come in or whatever. Do you get the person to talk really gentially (i dont know if them not lookin her in the eye works with dogs, i think it does with horse tho! LOL) and put there hand out, in the fist (low so she doesn't think they want to hit her) and just wait for her to come in smell so she knows that this "intuder" doesn't want to hurt anyone in her family or whatever she thinks..This worked for my dog but i duno if i know what i'm talking about lol, I think she just thinks "men" are..mm i duno, my dog seems to only bark at men when i walk her (she doesn't usually bark at anyone when i'm there, on lead anyway) Maybe there deeper voices intemidates them. Does she do this to white men also? like all men in general? don't think dogs would know the diff between white and black ppl would they? i'm sure carrie will be along sometime, or someone who knows a lot more about it them me. Might work for you too, hope someone more experianced comes along to help you :] goodluck

[Network23]

Hell, I have had people she growls at feed her cheese (her favorite treat next to meat) and she still growls.
I do think dogs are racist though, the neighbor on my other side who owns a Rottweiller, who has visiting rights with his x wife for a weekend a month. (freaks) growls at my black neighbor, he even said the dog doesnt like black people, (He cant go out back for fear of that dog) we told his friend that, who insisted on testing this for himself, and the rott charged and was about to kill them, as we all escaped back into my door, yet me or any other white person can walk out there without a problem.
My dog does like the Arab guy at the mini-mart though, Muhammed gives Misfit the day old hotdogs, makes misfit happy.

[slleipnir]

Lol, i knew a dog once who hates other black colored dogs..maybe it was just the dogs i duno, but nice to all dogs, but when a black lab or other black dog smells it he would growl and snap. Weird. I wish i could be of more help to you, but like i said theres tons of ppl that know what to do, i'm sure carrie will help u out, from our convo, i'd say she can

[jennifert]

I have heard that certain dogs such as German Shepherds, may have developed an inborn fear/aggressive attitude toward black people through generations and generations of police work. That sound so terrible and now I feel like a racist (IM NOT!!!). I also read/heard(?) that dogs often have a hard time seeing the dark colors and are often "startled" by black men or women approaching. To them it seems like they are "sneaking up" since they can't see them very well until they are right there.

[carrie]

There are two reasons your dog could seem to be racist, possibly three.

1. The dog was not socialised properly as a puppy. I think this plays a major part in the problem.
The way you describe the behaviour it sounds, at least partly, like a fear reaction.

2. Once the behaviour had been noted by you (not something you can miss!) it is natural for you to react before the dog has. You automatically tighten your grip on the lead and tense your muscles - you are probably not even aware of it. Dogs' are reading body language constantly and it may be that, along with a protective and fear reaction that is causing this to continue.

3. The last owner may of abused the dog. This in itself would not make the dog wary of all black people. But may be a factor in the first time you saw the reaction from the dog.

As your dog is now three and has missed the critical developmental stages of socialisation, I'm afraid you may never see a complete recovery from the behaviour.
There are things you can do, however. Time is crucial and you must allow plenty of time before taking the next step - I'm sure you know that pushing a fearful dog to the limit will result in a bite nine times out of ten.
If you can convince the dog that you will take charge and keep it safe and that it does not have to worry about you in such situations it will help enormously. (I am always shouting my mouth off about this and I'm sure everyone is sick to death of it so if you want some ideas please email me.)
You see what is coming before the dog does as your line of sight is higher than it's. This gives you a few seconds to prepare how to tackle the oncoming situation. Getting the dog's attention onto you is vital - whatever works for you, be it treats for sits, heels etc. or a toy pulled from your pocket at the crucial moment. Buy some extra time by producing the treat/toy and changing direction - this gives you a little time to focus the dog and some thinking and planning time. If there is room to do a large, squared off, circle around the person approaching, still using the treats or toy as distraction, that is great. When you can do this without problems you can gradually lessen the detour - very slowly.

For situations where you can't get around it is probably best to turn around and wlak back the way you have come, using the treats/toys as attention grabbers and finding somewhere to sit the dog safely. Try to keep attention on you until the person has passed. As you have had a little time get the dog to sit and stand in front of it so you can use your leg as a barrier if need be.

It is important to stay as calm as you possibly can. (You may consider writing a few little notes saying that you are sorry if the passer by was frightened or startled and that the dog has an abusive history that you are trying to work out with it. You may even get some offers of help...use them as set ups for the dog.)

Slow and careful socialisation is also needed. Sitting quietly in the park, maybe even feeding some of the dog's meal while there and very gradually getting closer to the action.

This must be very difficult for you and pretty distressing too. It will take time and a lot of care - one slip and you are back at step one. I don't envy you at all!

I used to train guide dogs for the blind and it was usual for us to test each others dogs' before they were passed onto instructors and final owners. To do this I put on a blindfold and walked the other trainer's dog down a city route that I knew. On this particular day all was going well and the dog was doing a fantastic job in a very busy area. Suddenly my blood ran cold as the dog froze, backed up slightly and began snarling and barking very rapidly. There were a lot of people around us and I had been in blindfold for about fifteen minutes so was still almost blind when I took it off. Very scary indeed! The dog's trainer was following us to make sure we were safe and ran up to take control.

The cause? The dog had never come across a black person before in it's life and had met a group of four adults with two children around ten years of age blocking the path. The dog simply didn't know what to do and did not have experience to fall back on. It didn't trust me to take charge (I'm a wimp when blindfolded on a busy street!) and reverted to taking care of itself!
The two families were fantastic, saw the funny side and helped a great deal in making a first class guide dog!