Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Can a dog be "prejudiced"?

What a ridiculous comment, this, made by "Tamar Geller, a California-based celebrity dog "life coach" who trained Oprah Winfrey's puppies..."

""the dog has to be very well mannered. We need to make sure that the dog is not afraid of loud noises because he may hear loud arguments in the Oval Office, and he mustn't be afraid of people with beards and turbans and so on because he is going to meet a lot of foreign dignitaries." "

This is from an article on the BBC website about the Obamas' choice for a new dog for their girls. Maybe this woman should stick to "coaching" celebrity dogs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7714480.stm

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's so strange about this? Many dogs react badly to people looking "different." One of my girlfriends has a dog who freaked out when she dressed up as Cleopatra for halloween. The dog was fine until my friend put on her headdress, then she went nuts, barking and growling.
It's not a bad idea to get a dog accustomed to everything he or she might have to deal with.

Anonymous said...

Who said anything about prejudice? Dogs are generally a little neophobic. If they aren't used to seeing people with beards or turbans, they can be frightened by the new experience.

It is quite common.

Despite the ridiculous "celebrity life-coach for dogs" tag, Tamar Geller does actually know what she is talking about.