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Yes i believe people can train their dogs to be racist.
Racist dogs?
So, I had a package delivered today from a ups male who was black. When he got out the truck he was literally looking around like someone's about to kill him, so i asked if he was okay. He said, yes but he noticed that dogs who belong to white people seem to be racist compared to dogs belonging to black. I assured him my dogs wasn't racist, and they're always up when we expect deliveries because typically they free roam my yard. After that we had a couple minute conversation and he went on his way.
This really has me thinking, do you believe dogs can be racists? Or maybe they pick up on their owners racism? 🤔
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Also, not a dumb question at all. Eyes are incredibly complex and vary significantly in ability and function between species. I’m trained as a veterinary technician, so I know some pet animals stuff, but work in biomedical research for human cures using mice, rats, and rabbits, so I know a little about a lot of different animals.
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Sorry. If *they’re* supposed to work equally.
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No. It just means their cones aren’t as strong. Ability doesn’t transfer between cones and rods if you’re supposed to have both work equally. Does that make sense?
I have a black veterinarian family friend who actually says yes to this and has spoken about it before, dogs tend to trust darker skin-toned people less at first (until they can sniff them well) because a dog’s eye sight is not as sharp and they cannot see the facial features as well. It’s not racism tho, it’s just the dog can’t see the person as well from a distance.
Me
Yeah, facial recognition has problem with dark skin tones too, which really needs to be fixed! But dogs can’t help it, they just don’t see well lol
Ch
This was my assumption of why my dog has problems, but it's good to hear it backed up by an expert. There was a story a few years (probably decades at this point) back of facial recognition software not working as well on darker skin tones for the same reason and it made sense for my dog as well
No. Dogs are not racist.
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No. Dogs are not human children. Dogs are not racist. There are legit reasons behind all of their reactions. You and I may not know or understand the reasons. They do not believe any race is better than the other. It has nothing to do with racism. No. Dogs are not racist. One of my dogs is scared of young teenage boys of any race. Because of what happened to her as a child. My little dog barks at my son. For no reason. Goes off. Even when my son still lived with us. No reason why. Every other animal in the world loves him. Nothing to do with race.
Je
They actually can be
Ni
Why do you say that?
My first thought was of course not!!! Then thinking about it a little more in depth - why not? No human is born racist it’s something that is taught.. Animals learn from their caregivers.. So yes, I think it’s possible even if dogs don’t understand, unfortunately.
Mo
I thought the same thing! At first I was thinking "that's ridiculous!" And then... "Is it?"
Ni
That's actually a really great point I haven't thought of.
My dog goes psycho over anyone in a uniform, regardless of color.
La
This is true dogs are afraid of people in uniform. When my neighbors house got broken into we caught the people on our security cameras, we let the police come in to watch the footage and my little dog who loves everyone was going crazy barking at them, never seen her act that way with anyone before.
I wouldn’t assume all these dogs are racist. It’s pretty common for dogs to bark or try to attack mail / delivery people. It’s a stranger walking on your property usually pretty quickly because they are in a hurry on a deadline. To a dog they look like a threat to the family so they go into guard / protect mode. My dogs will bark at any stranger that walks on the property until we come out and greet them and they see they aren’t a threat.
I think dogs can be trained to dislike certain skin colors, ethnicities, or even sex. 🤷🏻♀️ If you haven’t specifically trained your dog to behave that way towards PoC, though, I doubt your dog is “racist.” My dogs hate everyone equally though. Proud of em.
Ni
Ah, My rott is 17 my chow is 15 they just nap all day or walk the fields. I think if they've tried to get aggressive they'd turn it to dust 🤣
In general, no. Not by my German shepherds standards. He barks at everyone 🤣 also, dogs are relatively color blind and don’t see nearly as many colors as humans. I do however think that dogs can pick up on their owners emotions and hesitancies... so if a white person is constantly acting a certain way around someone of color, then I think they realize patterns.
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