Could My Dog Be A Racist?

Rotties are a funny lot to begin with, they usually have one quirk or another that are like peeves to them. We had a rott husky mix one time, and you couldn't hold your hand over my husbands leg without fear of losing it. That could just be the case with your pup. I suppose it could be like that with him, but it's really not likely.

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I will tell you what I think. Dogs smell fear and react to it. The person who he went off on, probably has a fear of dogs, and yours smelled it, and reacted. My brother was afraid of dogs and I used to have to go on his paper route with him to keep the dogs away. One sniff of my brother and the dogs went nuts. That is why it is a good thing to address a fear of dogs. Bees also smell fear and will divebomb someone who is afraid of them while another person is not bothered by them at all. I know this because I used to be afraid of bees. My Ex got me over my fear, and bees do not bother me anymore. I had a dog that was my Car Dog, he loved to ride in the car. He hated gas station attendants, because they messed around with the car[in his mind], while they were pumping gas. Some dogs do not like mailmen for the same reason. However this sounds like a case of dog fear, reaction.

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It really depends. I have owned rott's, one of which was the daughter of one of the rott's from Lethal Weapon (3 I believe?). Anyway, if a rott has seen violence come from one particular race, you(or previous owner) change tone or demeanor around a particular race(if you distance yourself, change from happy to neutral, etc.), or a new person with an odd smell (personal odor smells different from other people you are usually around) comes into the animals/your personal boundary without greeting or in a shady manner, it may be partial to aggression towards that race/person.

I trust my current Rott as a better judge of character than myself, she won't let anyone in my apartment if they are high on anything or extremely intoxicated, won't allow new people in any room other than the living room, dining room, or restroom. She is apparently nice to everyone, except for once when my buddy brought  2 friends over - she immediately growled at them when they tried to come in. Three weeks later they were both arrested for theft.

Don't punish her for being apparently "racist", just try to bring her/him around a person you know well of that race and allow her to smell them and know that they won't cause you any harm. I highly recommend a leash for this excersize - us rott owners don't want any non defensive attacks to make the reputation of these lovely animals any worse than it already is... That is of course, just in case, as I have never met your particular pet.

Kudos, and good luck!

P.S. My first rott was racist against "African Americans", as the breeders that I received her from were, and I got her when she was just a small puppy.

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Some things dogs detect as 'bad', such as smoking, drugs, certain foods, fear, etc. Doesn't mean they are, it just may mess with your chemicals as a dog is checking you out. Then the dog says, hey, what's up with that, and freaks out. Dogs can develop racist tendencies if their owners have them. They don't get them on their own. It may be a long shot, but if these people are culturally loyal to their origins, it may be a food or a type of cigar, something like, that is unique to them. Maybe they have a particular scent related to themselves culturally or genetically that the dog has never experienced. Could be just a coincidence.

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I don't know what the reasoning behind this is, but my dog does the same thing. For some reason he is more protective around brown people. I don't know why this is, because I have several brown friends that come to the house, and he is just fine with them.

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NO, pets as children are not born with this issue it is a taught response. Your pet is only reacting to the way you have expressed yourself in situations. It also may be something you care about and your pet is being protective of what your love because they love you.

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