Scared of MY dog?? No way! (Racial question)

There are a lot of elderly Asian people in my neighborhood who go for daily walks. Many of them seemed absolutely terrified of my well-mannered Sheltie. As I was walking her down the path in our greenbelt, the people would cross the street (thereby leaving the park) and fearfully watch my dog until we were far away. Part of this could be because my dog was very friendly and would prick up her ears and wag her tail when she saw strangers approaching - I think these people did not know enough about dogs to know that was a friendly signal and not an aggressive one. I know keeping dogs as pets is not nearly as common in many cultures (particularly not in many Asian cultures "back in the day" when these elderly folks were growing up) and therefore dogs are not seen so much as "friendly, furry companions" but as wild animals who may or may not be fully domesticated.

I haven't read everything here but I can say this.  My personal experience has been that some kids and adults too regardless of whatever ethnic background they are that haven't been around dogs a lot act like I'm walking a zoo animal when they see me with Willow.  The reactions I've gotten, the screaming, pointing, trying to back away, etc, have really made me wonder if these people have ever seen a dog before.

Cita,

I think misunderstanding body language can be a big deal. It isn't at all intuitive. For example, I have a foster parrot I was sure hated me (seeing that he bit me the first day) so I had a consult with my neighbors the parrot whisperers (they have 9). The wife showed me that on the contrary, my new foster was bonding very tightly with me. The bite was more of a game than anything else, and he was flirting with me. That changed my outlook alot with this bird. I might keep him.

Paula

Once again I have to say -- we Americans are NOT coming off well in this thread.  Frankly, it sounds a whole lot like it's not 'ethnic' but rather personal experience and control mechanisms in socio-economic strata to intimidate others/feel powerful/make others afraid/stay away. 
 
Why do poor whites not exhibit the same fear?  Because in rural areas you don't WALK -- you take your truck/ve-hick-l so you are safe IN your conveyance.  You aren't likely to WALK on your own two feet past a property where there is a vicious dog - the dog may chase your vehicle (and often get killed in the process) but you are less afraid because you're in a protected area. 
 
I find it sad that in the UK/European countries dogs are welcome in all walks of life (from cafes and beyond) but most of the time those dogs are well-mannered and generally 'good citizens' -- whereas much of the fear people are exhibiting is the result of dogs trained/set up to be vicious so they will intimidate/frighten.  It's sad.  And then laws are made from knee-jerk reactions to dogs like that which get loose and terrorize others.  All that is a gross over-generalization but we're talking about generalities here.  It's just plain sad.
 
This can be/is such a deep subject, but it only makes me more intent to make sure my dogs are good ambassadors everywhere we go.  And again wishing I could change the vast mind-set of those who feel so strongly that "animals belong OUTSIDE only" *huge sigh*

ORIGINAL: denise m

There is an interesting movie called "White Dog" based on a story about a man in small town USA who tries to rehabilitate such a dog.

 
It's funny that you mention that movie. I was talking to my husband about it just the other day but could not remember the name of the movie. I kind of want to rent it and watch it again. I haven't seen it since I was a kid.

ORIGINAL: badrap

i'm glad someone else posted this and not me.  i have this problem every day.  let me break it down like this:
98% of african americans are afraid of my dogs.
100% of latinos/mexicans are afriad of my dogs.
about 65% of caucasions are afraid of my dogs.
i have not had occasion to observe a reaction in asian people yet.

my dogs are bullies, as most of you know, and i believe that breed coupled with socioeconomics is mostly to blame for this trend.  i say mostly because i have known perfectly well-off. well educated latinos that refuse to come into my house because of my dogs.   

i, too, have had people literally DIVE into doorways, which is quite alarming to the dogs.  i have had people hide their children, scream, threaten to kill my dogs, threaten to kill ME.

but, truly, i think that reaction is mostly based on breed.

anyway, IMHE, lower income blacks and latinos are more often than not afraid of all dogs, regardless of breed.  our friends with GSPs have expressed the same concerns, and i hardly think people are mistaking their dogs for bullies.   for some reason, "po' white trash" doesn't have this reaction, and i think whoever touched on the racist use of dogs by whites as weapons against blacks had the right idea....but i also think that it's a whole lot more complicated than just that as well.

Really?  I have had very different experiences with Sally.  I have actually had more African American and Hispanic men (and occasionally women) walk up to me and ask me about her or "eyeball" (not in a frightened way--in a checking her out way) than I can count.  I actually had one hispanic man lean out the window of his truck as he passed and yell "Nice dog!"  They ask if she's pure, where I got her, if she's been bred, etc.

I get a similar reaction from lower income whites.  Jack the chocolate lab, on the other hand, seems to only attract middle to upper class WASPs and hunters.

Why do poor whites not exhibit the same fear?

As has been mentioned, American whites don't have a recent cultural memory of being hunted down by dogs. This is why it's so great to hear about folks being aware and sensitive to this cultural fear, and going the exta mile to build high quality canine citizenry.

OTOH, if we go with the "dogs don't generalize" theory, then I'm assuming that someone will wander along real soon to point out that dogs who grow up in black neighborhoods tend to bark at whites []

I find it sad that in the UK/European countries dogs are welcome in all walks of life

... as are gays, women in chadors, platonic male friends who hold hands, interracial families, socialized medicine, and stinky cheese. (not to be anti-nationalistic, just saying ...) Not to mention that wealth distribution is more moderate in some parts of the world. Have we been hearing from our European and Australian idoggers on this topic? (It's late and I'm tired, was there a post from So. Africa, or am I dreaming?)

I'm so happy to be part of a discussion about cultural issues that can be so difficult for people to talk about. Thank you everyone!

I also think that what you don't know, you fear.  So, people who come from cultural backgrounds where it isn't acceptable to keep dogs, in fact it's downright unacceptable, might not be used to seeing them so close up.  If you didn't grow up on a farm, you might be scared of chickens.  If your daddy owned a serpentarium you might not understand how anyone could be afraid of snakes.  If you are learning to be a beekeeper, like I am, you quickly find out how many people are afraid of bugs.   So, I guess if you came from (name country or heritage) you might fear dogs.  We forget, but they do have big teeth...[]

Once again I have to say -- we Americans are NOT coming off well in this thread.

Callie,

Don't worry about how Americans are looking - we're only human beings just like every other human being on this planet. We all have our issues.

Paula

I grew up in a town of 125 people and every single one of them was white. Although no one made any attempt to have the dogs aggressive toward people of color, the first time a black person came on the property they had a very different reaction. It was one of those things that were missed during socialization, just like Tasha had to learn about motorized Jazzy type chairs as an adult and had a less than excellent reaction.
 
That may account for some of it. Some of it may be that sometimes inner city people do get dogs with the intention of making them viscious. Or, it may be that he was bitten by a black dog at some point in the past.
 
I get a certain level of fear reaction from a majority of the population when I walk all three together. Their experience doesn't necessarily include having three large dogs of somewhat aggressive breeds, being well behaved while being walked by one person.

I don't see it as so much a racial issue either, as it is a cultural one.  If all you've ever been exposed to is vicious dogs, you are likely to be afraid of dogs. 
 
Right here in the heart of America for example, if you drive down South Grand Avenue at 2:00 in the afternoon, you will see people, predominately of a single but unimportant to the conversation race, sitting on their porch, dealing drugs, with their pit bulls by their side.  I wouldn't walk up and pet these dogs but, to be fair, neither would I walk up and engage in friendly conversation with these people.  My point is, it would not be unreasonable for the kids who grow up around these dogs to be afraid of dogs just as it is not unreasonable for me to be afraid of their drug dealing owners.  You are a product of your environment.

I don't doubt that there are some superstitious people out there who are afraid of, or who attribute some sort of supernatural quality to, black dogs and cats.
There's a reason you don't let black cats roam outside around Halloween. Someone might kill them.
Or it could just be a bad experience in the past with a black dog... a lot of people who want a scary guard dog will get a black or black-and-tan dog for the very reason that they have more of an inherent "scare factor"
If you're traumatically bitten/lunged at/snarled at/tackled by a black dog, there's a good chance you're going to be uncomfortable around all black dogs for a while.

However -- it's also MUCH harder to 'read' a black dog than any other color, and it's particularly hard for other dogs to "read: a black dog.   -- except for the whites of their eyes and showing their teeth, it's harder to see the change in musculature, the subtle nuances in the change of expression that can avoid problems.  Very often when you get a dominant black dog amongst other dogs it's the black one that gets the reputation as the 'wild card' because it's hard for everyone to anticipate what he's going to do because you can't read the body language as easily black on black as it is with other dogs.

ORIGINAL: probe1957

I don't see it as so much a racial issue either, as it is a cultural one.  If all you've ever been exposed to is vicious dogs, you are likely to be afraid of dogs. 

Right here in the heart of America for example, if you drive down South Grand Avenue at 2:00 in the afternoon, you will see people, predominately of a single but unimportant to the conversation race, sitting on their porch, dealing drugs, with their pit bulls by their side.  I wouldn't walk up and pet these dogs but, to be fair, neither would I walk up and engage in friendly conversation with these people.  My point is, it would not be unreasonable for the kids who grow up around these dogs to be afraid of dogs just as it is not unreasonable for me to be afraid of their drug dealing owners.  You are a product of your environment.

 
i think this is an interesting post, and i will use my age-old adage here:
 
idiots come in every color. (not you, billy, the drug dealer on the porch[])
 
in keeping with that theme, there are vicious dogs in every breed.
 
and i DO think that people are products of their enviornment.  what puzzles me about this topic is the inability of people to adapt to NEW enviornments.  the people who move OUT of the drug dealer enviornments, or my latino friends who refuse to come in, who are still afraid of my dogs even though the context is completely different and they have received no signals of danger nor aggression from me nor my dogs.

ORIGINAL: DogLover.1993

 
I don't really know about the races.  I have noticed around here either people love dogs and want to love all over them or they are deathly afraid and think all dogs will attack them.

I kind of side with DogLover--when I first got Bogey his previous owner said that he didn't like" Asian or Black" people. Now I realize that Bog was just picking up on owners vibe...[:'(]  Bog is a Black Spoo ...He has now made friends with all kinds of people......I think some people love/like/tolerate dogs and some people can't stand them or certain breeds....for example I went out w/ an upper class caucasion who wouldn't even touch the Bog, and then later I was going out w/ a man from Jamica [black] who adored the Bog!  So I think generalizing is a bad thing have to look at the invidual/dog..Anways just my opinion[8D]