This thread reminds me of my best friend, master of the universe, dog
of land and sea, newfie. (That's Newfoundland to you non-canine types)
After hitching all over creation with me, and helping me work in the
local blues club ("give me your money and show your ID to the dog")
when we finally settled down for a spell, the pup had been in contact
with a huge amount of very diverse people.
This dog was extremely outgoing and independent. His daily routine
was: 1. Lay on the porch and act like he was going to stay there until
I returned from work. 2. Trot down to the mexican neighbors house as
soon as my truck turned the corner. Hang out and help Paco restore his
old 51 Chevy until Paco quit feeding him chicken. 3. Saunter over to
hang out with the old couple on the corner. 4. Greet the mailman and
walk his route with him, recieving treats all the way and fending off
other dogs until the mailman got back to his truck and told the pup to
go home. (I got this from the mailman, said he loved having my pup
along.) 5. Amble across the RR switchyard and the busy city street to
meet the manager of the Sonic drive in for pets and burgers. 6. Sashay
down the street to meet the Blues Club owner and hang out while they
cleaned up and stocked the bar. 7. Race home to lie on the porch and
greet me as if he'd been patiently wating and ever so bored all day.
The only type of human this dog reacted aggressively to was a uniform
and a badge. A uniform alone wasn't enough ie: the mailman, but a
badge would set him off.
After several not nice encounters with the dog cather, he did snap at
the mailman once, but I explained the situation and reintroduced both
of them and both dog and mailman were fine after that.
I can only think of two explanations for this. Either the dog picked
up on the bully mentality and cruelty in the pigs heart when they
encountered us, or he caught a vibe from me about being hassled by the
police. The second one is not likely since whenever we were OTR I had
nothing to hide. All the pot was rolled up in the bandana tied around
the dogs neck.
--- In [email protected], "Ellen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> it was unheard-of to me before I met my brother's dog. The dog I
> grew up with didn't have this tendancy--he was prejudiced against
> professions, not skin colors. Anyone driving a truck or wearing a
> uniform. Who knows how a dog's brain works? Apparently not very
> well.
>
>
>
> --- In [email protected], "lovett1979"
> <lovett1979@> wrote:
> >
> > There was a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where Larry had a racist dog, so
> > this is definitely not an un-heard-of thing.
> >
> > --- In [email protected], "Ellen"
> > <ellengoodman6@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I haven't even finished reading the chat transcript, but I had to
> > say
> > > something about the racist dogs thread. Actually I can't believe
> > this
> > > was discussed at such length, because the last time my dad and I
> > were
> > > at my brother's house, he commented that he thinks my brother's
> > dog is
> > > racist. I have no idea if my brother is aware of this. We
> > thought it
> > > was a fluky, freaky thing that is not a common trait among dogs.
> > Then
> > > I read the chat and learn that a disproportionate number of dog-
> > owning
> > > chatters have this problem. How weird is that? So my brother's
> > dog
> > > isn't the freak we thought he was. It was quite noticeable, too--
> > the
> > > dog normally loves people, but would bark whenever there was
> > someone
> > > there who wasn't caucasian and continue until the person left.
> It
> > was
> > > eerie. Anyway, this appears to be a well-documented phenomenon,
> > which
> > > was eye-opening to find out. I will see my dad at my brother's
> > house
> > > at Thanksgiving--if my brother's dog is still exhibiting this
> > racist
> > > behavior I can reassure my dad and maybe my brother too if he has
> > > figured it out that his dog is not alone in acting like this.
> The
> > chat
> > > is so educational!
> > >
> >
>
