I had a racist dog that was never trained to be

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I've known a whole lot of dogs, and I've never even heard of one who behaved that way. However, I've seen dogs who go crazy when they see someone wearing a certain type of hat, or uniform.

It doesn't mean anything--just a conditioned reflex. Dogs have no ideology. Something made your dog think black people were dangerous. My dog doesn't want to go into a local store--I think the door hit him one time. He's gotten better about it, but he's still very wary. Another dog I had was terrified of broken umbrellas on the street--and couldn't stand other dogs.

All you had to do was get a black person who is good with dogs to spend some time with him, give him some treats. They can learn their prejudices are wrong. They aren't like us.

Animals, any animal, may develop a prejudice for a number of reasons; in OP's example of the 'naturally racist' dog, it could even be something simple, like the dog thinking anyone not Caucasian is not part of his family, or something. My aunt breeds bull mastiffs, and has taken a few in as rescues; one had been abused so horribly that in addition to a hefty vet bill right out of the gate, the dog was terrified of men and men's shoes. Turns out the former owner (a man) used to kick the dog frequently when he would beat it. That dog fell in love with my aunt, but would growl at and cower from my uncle, who would *never* hurt an animal. That poor dog couldn't be retrained, so my aunt kept it, and she was the only one the dog trusted; the dog never warmed up to any male. It just demonstrates that a dog tries to figure out how the world works as best it can; some are afraid of men, others of Blacks, others with a red bandana...whatever that animal has put together in its head as being the key to staying safe, being loved, and doing 'right' by its pack-family. So no animal is really 'being racist', not in a real sense, like some humans. It may never make sense to us, but on some level, it makes sense to them.

A friend of mine had a Dobermann that went nuts on people if it smelled the combination of garlic and lamb.

Mostly arab people but in all everyone that the dog didn't knew. He only got the answer when he started asking people. Took a while. But ultimately the dog flipped out when the older dog passed away and had to be put down.

Still don't know why it reacted like it did. Perhaps something in its infancy, or something it was born with.

Familiarity builds trust. If your dog never saw a black person before his reaction was because he was not used to it and reacted in defense. Your dog was not a racist. As the person above recommended and you might have already done it. Start bringing him around black people in neutral settings and he will learn.

Certain dog breeds are worse than others,i think pit bulls should be banned as pets.