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Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette:

Our dog is prejudice. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true and embarrassing. Our family treats everyone equally. It was terribly disturbing to see our dog barking at a person with darker skin during a barbeque in our yard. These were friends and business associates. Penny was fine with everyone – except the one person with darker skin. Help!

Tammy

Let me put your mind at ease and say for the record, “Your dog is not prejudice.” I do not believe that dogs discriminate against people because of color, race or religion.

But, your dog is showing some interesting behavior. This likely can be traced back to inadequate socialization. I do not know how London officially breaks down statistically in terms of cultural diversity. However, I do know that some communities are occupied mainly by Caucasians.

Unless actively socialized outside their community, these dogs may spend years of their life without ever seeing the true nature of human diversity. Most pet owners think they have done a good job of exposing their pet. Sadly, most dogs are barely socialized.

Take for instance the life of the average family pet in the suburbs. Life consists of quiet days spent in the home. Evenings may consist of time in a well-manicured yard surrounded by a six-foot fence. Morning and evening walks span several blocks of similar homes and similar lifestyles. It can sound ideal until you look at all the animal is missing.

At what point is the dog exposed to traffic such as a bus? When does the dog ever get to meet a postal person? Did this dog ever see seniors, wheelchairs and walkers, children playing in the street, bikers? Did this dog get to experience going into an elevator or a car ride outside a veterinary visit? Has the dog seen stairways with open risers? Is this animal exposed to noises such as construction workers?

Socialization is about exposure. Puppies need to be exposed to everything in your life. More important, puppies really need to be exposed to everything outside of your life. To get a puppy bored with everything we humans take for granted, get out of your comfort zone and look for opportunities.

If you think that looking for every opportunity is enough, forget it. You can start all over again. Dogs also need exposure and interaction with other puppies. Most pet owners do not have a readily available supply of playmates. A diligent owner finds a way to make this happen. Puppy socialization classes are the route most people take.

The dog who was socialized only with one or two playmates is particularly vulnerable. How often do you hear an owner say, “My dog was fine until one day, one dog bit him.” No, it is not right of a dog to be running at large and biting. But the victim also lacked the necessary buffer socialization would have provided. A well-socialized dog has the experience to see an attack as an exception. Socialization is an insurance policy that you hope carries enough coverage and hope you never need to use.

As for your dog, your chances for success depends on a number of factors such as the severity of the problem and age of your dog. More important, you need to have a way of exposing your dog in a safe and positive way to people of different ethnic backgrounds.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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