exactly, I didn't mean literally racist. But in a dog's mind, something that smells like nothing they've smelt before can be as alarming as someone wearing a hat, or someone with a different tone of skin could be as scary as someone using a cane, etc. I think its more a socialization and
association issue, then anything (i.e. as far as association, a rescue dog who may have been abused by a particular race of person, although that is very
similar to racism as the dog is, in affect, judging the entire race of people because of what one or two individuals may have done.)
Personally, I KNOW my parents would not have been accidentally sending her signals, as they didn't even put it together until after this latest incident (although, they may be sending her signals NOW that they suspect
), so I can only assume that either she had some trauma associated with someone of darker skin, or she had been so poorly socialized by her previous people (my parents got her when she was 1.5 yrs or so, and the previous owners had her in pretty bad shape, so anything is possible) that she has fear issues; either way, it seems to be a fearful thing, with her anyway.
incidentally, I'm now calling her 'Kujo'
, I love to bug them, although my parents are truly mortified that it has happened and are VERY careful now...