I'm new here, and posting with a question because I am not sure what to make of this!

I am the owner of a Bernese Mountain Dog/Golden Retriever mix named Yogi who we adopted from a rescue organization. I am also currently pet-sitting my sister-in-law's dog, Daisy, who is a lab/pit bull mix who has been raised by mil SIL from puppyhood. The problem I'm posting about concerns Daisy.

Daisy is about 4 years old and is loving, licky and playful. She is staying with us for a few days and our two young children, and she is find with the kids. She gets along with my dog and the other dogs at the dog park. All around she is a lovely, friendly dog, except for the incidents I'm about to describe.

I was sitting in the terrasse area of a cafe today eating lunch by myself with the two dogs. Yogi is a regular at this cafe, and he is trained well enough that he doesn't need to be tied to anything, he will just sit at the door and wait for me to come out. Today he was on his leash, but he was just sitting next to my chair on the ground and I let the leash fall to the ground. Daisy, my SIL's dog, was tied. She is not my dog, so I wanted to take the precaution of tying her since I don't know her in and out like I know my dog, and she's not as well trained. There were no really great places to tie her, so I tied her leash to the leg of the table I was sitting at.

The terrasse is on a busy city street with a constant stream of pedestrians and cars going by. There were other people at the other tables around me, as well. While I sat there, the owner of the cafe came by and we chatted for a few minutes, and she patted both dogs and asked Daisy's name (she knows Yogi already) and so on. Daisy was affectionate and calm like usual. Then a friend came by and the same thing happened. Then a complete stranger came by and commented on how pretty Daisy was and petted her for a minute, and Daisy did her usual attempt to lick him and soaked up the loving attention.

So I sit and eat my quiche and the dogs are calmly sitting and laying next to me. All this time people are walking by, but then all of the sudden Daisy bolts toward the sidewalk hard enough to carry the table I'm sitting at a couplue of feet until it's stopped by a large tree. She is barking like crazy and lunging at this poor kid who was just walking by eating a freezie. I had to grab her and restrain her, and then my dog thought there was some kind of emergency and he started barking too, and the poor kid was terrified, backing up toward the parked cars on the street and afraid to pass. I assured him that she was tied up and couldn't reach him, and I held her until he passed (and scolded my dog and told him to lay down).

WTH is going on?? The only difference between this kid and everyone else who was walking by was that a) he was a kid and b) he was black. I am more inclined to think it was the colour of his skin that she was barking at, because she had a similar reaction to a dark-skinned man who walked past when I was holding her leash the other day.

Her owners are not racist in any way, but it's true that they have few non-white friends. Could it just be that the dog is threatened by black people because they look different from what she's used to? If so, or if not, what can I do? It was scary and also humiliating--I definitely do not want a dog in my care who only barks at visible minorities!

Is this normal?? What can I do?

I responded by restraining her, speaking to her harshly and then securely tying her away from all the people so that I could get my things and leave. I also scolded my dog for barking at the kid and tyed him up. Yogi responded humbly but Daisy just seemed agitated. I know that she won't necessarily respond to the same "consequences" that Yogi does, but I don't think she really "got it" that she did something bad.

Help please, if you can!

You're being anthropomorphic. Dogs are amoral. This is a socialization problem that you shouldn't blame on the dog. If you want to blame someone blame the breeder or blame the owners for not socializing him around children of color. Your punishment by the way is likely to exacerbate the problem further. I recommend you see the help of a certified professional if your concerned about this happening again.

Originally Posted by Bearded Lady

You're being anthropomorphic. Dogs are amoral. This is a socialization problem that you shouldn't blame on the dog. If you want to blame someone blame the breeder or blame the owners for not socializing him around children of color. Your punishment by the way is likely to exacerbate the problem further. I recommend you see the help of a certified professional if your concerned about this happening again.

It didn't seem right to not do anything though, since I wouldn't accept the dog barking and lunging at anyone, regardless of what they look like.

I guess I'm just mystified by the whole thing. It's not something I've ever ad to deal with with my dog, so with my SIL's dog I was caught off guard.

Thanks for your reply.

Originally Posted by rhabhekkha

It didn't seem right to not do anything though, since I wouldn't accept the dog barking and lunging at anyone, regardless of what they look like.

Oh no, there are things you can do, and a trainer can help the owners with this. However, to do so requires that the dog, child, and proximity to the dog are under the handlers control. It's a natural instinct for dogs to fear novelty and if unless the dog is socialized early, changing the dog's association requires a systematic approach using classical counter conditioning and desensitization.

In my knowledge and experience, dogs of highly Aristicratic European origin will instictively bark against Colored people by pure instict.
These are white people's dogs and their reaction is instinctive, normal and unchangeable.
You won't find a PitBull reacting this way.
If you ever manage to change your dog's attitude towards colored people I sure would like to know.

My dog used to growl at any male human who was not a member of our pack (she's okay with girls and women). She is still distrustful to some extent-- this is partially due to her training, since I often walk her after dark-- But I have also been including her in social opportunities with other males. When she sees me greet them in a friendly manner and senses that I trust them, she will act not exactly trusting, but not hostile either. She is more friendly to little boys now. And men who are accompanied by dogs are another story completely-- they are "dog people" so they're automatically "okay," in her book. However, she has never distinguished ethnic differences.

Some dogs do react towards people of color. I've also seen dogs who don't like men, don't like women, don't like people with certain hair colors, people wearing hats...lots of different things.

It's often a lack of socialization, but could also stem from some incident that occurred when they were puppies, in the midst of one of the fear/intimidation imprinting periods. It can also stem from past abuse by someone who fits the description of their prejudice. For example, a dog who was "trash canned" by the garbage man, who just happened to be a person of color, may distrust men, garbage men in particular, or people of color.

It can be difficult to sort out the why, and it can be difficult to correct the problem, based on the fact that we often don't ever figure out why. But it's worth the effort.

As far as correcting the dog; I wouldn't scold or react negatively. That will probably only enforce the dog's perspective that this is a person to fear. Use quiet calming techniques. Make the dog sit, tell him NO in a quiet voice, ask him to settle down. Try to encourage a positive response, if possible. That sort of thing.

My previous dog would bark at people if they had a turban. Then he related this to people that had dark skin. I was wondering why.

Finally, one time my brother came up the stairs around Halloween. He was in a full costume like the one Jim Carry wore in the movie Mask. He had the big hat and the green mask on as well as the bright yellow zoot suit. My dog lost it. He was barking and very afraid. He didn't settle down until my brother took off the mask and hat. I think my dog just hadn't been socialized to people with large hats or turbans on their head.

As he got older he became used to different types of people and settled down.

Clay.

[Yogi]

I agree with Clay. I have raised and bred dogs for over 48 years. They can and often do react to things they do not see on a regular basis. I have had dogs react to skin color, people in uniforms etc. It is difficult to train them for this unless you can socialize the dog as a puppy around all types of people etc.
In time they get use to it but this is normal behavior.