Fear of black men?

4550 Views 22 Replies 12 Participants Last post by JSporty1, Jun 28, 2009

robotcrankit

Discussion Starter · Jun 22, 2009

My friend just recently rescued a pit bull from her work who is about 2-3 years old. He is very friendly and sweet towards everyone and extremely well trained, but seems very scared of grown black men.

Is there any way to desensitize dogs who are afraid like this? We are assuming that the dog was probably treated pretty poorly prior to his foster mom rescuing him from the pound.

My friend is really bummed out because the man that this dog is afraid of may become her new roommate soon, and she doesn't want to have to give dog back to the rescue organization or continue to traumatize it by having him over there every day.

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MissMutt

· #5 · Jun 22, 2009

Cracker and KB nailed it, but just remember that just because a dog has fear issues doesn't mean he was abused. It is possible that he was not well socialized with men (or black/dark skinned men) and that's why they're scaring him.. because he's never seen them before.

Make this guy toss him tons of yummy treats and you'll see things get better.

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MissMutt

· #22 · Jun 28, 2009

My dog does not like people with hats. Does that mean she's sensing that I'm afraid of people with hats? No, unless I'm afraid of my own boyfriend when he's wearing a hat. My dog does not like strange, tall man. Does that mean I'm scared when I see a man harmlessly walking in my neighborhood? No.

It seems that some people like to underestimate the power of solid socialization and overestimate the phenomenon of dogs "sensing" things.

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