# Dogs and Asians



## martmart (Jan 26, 2012)

Someone once told me that Asian people are scared of dogs. I didn't have a dog at the time so I never really noticed until I had my chihuahua. This is when I started to notice whenever I walked past a group of Asians, especially female, who seemed quite scared and it wasn't just the occassional one who was scared, it seemed more like the occasional one who didn't seem scared. 

Are there any Asian people here who have dogs or maybe know if theres a reason why it seems that Asian people are afraid of dogs? or does anyone know any Asian people with dogs?

Please... I know this is a decent forum and this thread is not intended to provoke any kind of racist response, so I ask that there be no racist comments...racism is something I can't tolerate. :001_smile: ...its sad that I even feel the need to type that, lol. 

anyway, Im just curious.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

there is an asian member on here with 2 dogs. But could it be that pets are not so normal in the Asian culture therefore they are not brought up around dogs. Sadly there is a big chunk of white British too that are scared of dogs.


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## Firedog (Oct 19, 2011)

I think the muslims believe that dogs are dirty.If i am wrong i am sure someone will correct me.


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## SpringerHusky (Nov 6, 2008)

When I had my Springer most would avoid me but since having a malamute it's a total flip, they ask to take photos with her, want to pet her etc 

I have an Asian friend who isn't scared of dogs but she explain most Asian people's fear is in places like Taiwan, China, Japan etc lots of dogs are stray and feral, they have diseases and are aggressive, even more when they are in packs. When she was walking to school with her brother, her brother was badly attacked by some feral dogs hanging around the school. She also said very few people keep large dogs as pets they are either a food source or guard dogs so not very friendly. The ones kept as pets were small toy breeds where they were carried in case they were attacked by feral dogs.


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## bluegirl (May 7, 2012)

Bjt said:


> I think the muslims believe that dogs are dirty.If i am wrong i am sure someone will correct me.


I thought that too, but also stand to be corrected.


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## mimi g (Mar 10, 2009)

Originating from Bradford and then moving to Leeds ive lived alongside Asian communities and there do seem to be alot especially female that have a fear of dogs. I think only a small percentage keep them as pets...infact ive only ever seen 1 asian man in a shop with a staffy no females, women or children with dogs. 
Afew days ago we were walking around a local reservoir with my 2 and a group of young asian couples passed us. All the females moved to the farside of the path and one said as passing..'ive been scared of dogs since one licked me' ??


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## bearcub (Jul 19, 2011)

We used to live near Bradford and one of our regular walks was always very busy with Pakistanis/British Asians at the weekends. Some of them, especially children and younger women would make a huge fuss when a dog was walked past them, especially bigger ones. Although I don't think it's a normal reaction, as most would just ignore the dogs or step away. 

That said, at our local shop which was run by a Sikh, he used to come out every time I went over with Florence and hold her for me while I popped in. He absolutely loved her  

Anyway, I think it's just a cultural thing - I suppose the attitude to it within some Asian cultures is the same as my attitude to pet tarantulas - I can understand why some people would have them but no way would I want to interact with one


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## Bagrat (Jun 4, 2012)

My son- in -law is a British Asian and a Muslim. I think it's because traditional Muslims don't have animals in the house, a hygiene issue with all animals is their perception. I don't know about other Asian religions. In fact I am a bit ignorant. He gets on fine with my dog and my son's Staffy but his Mother and Sister are terrified of dogs. I guess if you are not used to pets it may all seem a bit strange. My grandchildren are ok but grandson loves dogs he says and granddaughter "only loves Barney" - now at the Bridge. She hasn't met the new resident yet.


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## Shadowrat (Jan 30, 2011)

My best friend recently spent a year in Australia, and stayed with some people who had some annoying precocious dogs that were crawling all over her and totally undisciplined. 
She calmly picked one off her lap and placed it down on the ground and the owner turned and said 'don't you like dogs?' with this shocked look on her face. 
My friend said yes, she liked dogs, just not when they crawled all over her and got in her face.
The woman then said 'Mmmm.....Asians don't like dogs either, you know?'

She told me this story, but its the first I'd heard of this concept, myself.


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## shetlandlover (Dec 6, 2011)

My mums partner of 10 years is Asian, he's scared to death of dogs. He once went to my aunts house and came face to face with her tiny little dog and ran out of the front door and into on coming traffic. 

Until 2 years ago I lived in the city, alot of Asians in the area I lived in would rather walk in the road (with prams and young children) than walk on the path near my on lead dogs. 

I have only met a handful of Asians who are not fussed about dogs, apparently from talking with them its about how they were raised. If there parents were scared of dogs (because in Pakistan and India stray dogs and vicious rabid dogs are not exactly rare) and the parents raised their children with the same caution then its bound to pass on. 

My mums partner says he finds dogs dirty, he said their nose is really dirty because its wet. I am not sure if that's just his personal opinion or how the Asian culture has been taught to them. 
My mums partner will NOT come near my house, nor will he allow me to go to my mums with any of my dogs when he's around. 

My mums dog gets the outside treatment when he's around because he's just that scared of them. It's a shame because dogs are truly wonderful companions.


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## Jazmine (Feb 1, 2009)

*waves*

I'm of Indian descent and I have two dogs... been mad about animals since I was little and grew up with cats and rabbits.

I'm not saying you don't have a point I just thought I'd mention that I clearly seem to be an exception, as do my family. All of us have cats though I'm the only one with dogs


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

martmart said:


> Someone once told me that Asian people are scared of dogs. I didn't have a dog at the time so I never really noticed until I had my chihuahua. This is when I started to notice whenever I walked past a group of Asians, especially female, who seemed quite scared and it wasn't just the occassional one who was scared, it seemed more like the occasional one who didn't seem scared.
> 
> Are there any Asian people here who have dogs or maybe know if theres a reason why it seems that Asian people are afraid of dogs? or does anyone know any Asian people with dogs?
> 
> ...


I was pretty certain that I had read somewhere that in certain Asian cultures its a hygine problem/ritual regarding dogs and the saliva shouldnt touch them
or in certain cultures anyway. Ive checked because I didnt want to give inacurate advice as it was something I had read ages ago. Ive double checked and this seems to confirm what I remembered is true, or as far as the Muslim culture goes.

Muslims In Britain - A Guide for Non-Muslims - 9. Hygiene


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

'Asians' covers a very wide population and varied cultures.

Some Asian cultures do not traditionally have pets, or animals in the house.
My Japanese sister-in-law belives dogs should be kept out side for hygiene and cleanliness reasons.

It's a myth that the Koran (sp) states that dogs are impure or dirty - I belive in fact there is a part of it that refers to some Cave Dwellers who shared their home with dogs as 'Good Believers' 
However there is a strong tradition that dogs are impure and dirty. 
I think this is a shame as my limited understanding is that nothing is unlwaful unless directly prohibited by God Himself and again from my limited knowledge (I don't wish to offend anyone who has studied the Koran (sp) - especially as I don't even know how to spell it  ) God has not written anything that has prohibited contact with dogs.


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## thronesfan (Jun 20, 2012)

My neighbour is from South East Asia and loves dogs. 

I used to work in an office next to a pub that had a resident dog (a Jack Russell). Some of the Muslim (mostly Indian) guys at the office wouldn't buy food at the pub because they felt the dog was dirty (they'd still go there to play pool at lunch time though), but one of my colleagues was an Indian Muslim and he didn't care about the dog and would eat at the pub quite happily.


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## emmaviolet (Oct 24, 2011)

I've heard that but it seems a stereotype to me.

The asian lady i meet on a walk loves alfie and always gets her grandchildren to say hello nicely.


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## Polimba (Nov 23, 2009)

The term Asian is a broad term. My next door neighbour is British of Indian decent and she says it's a culture thing that In that region of the world they don't have pet dogs and a lot of dogs are feral and diseased. She used to be scared of dogs but now has two Tibetian Mastiffs 

I know quite a few Asian people with cats and some with dogs, however most of them are British born and have grown up in a Britsh culture.


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## Bagrat (Jun 4, 2012)

My son- in -law is a British Asian and a Muslim. I think it's because traditional Muslims don't have animals in the house, a hygiene issue. I don't know about other Asian religions. In fact I am a bit ignorant. He gets on fine with my dog and my son's Staffy but his Mother and Sister are terrified of dogs. I guess if you are not used to pets it may all seem a bit strange. My grandchildren are ok but grandson loves dogs he says and granddaughter "only loves Barney" - now at the Bridge. She hasn't met the new resident yet. If anyone is interested this link explains better than I can about Muslim attitudes esp. as they abhor cruelty to animals.

Islamic Concern: Dogs in Islam


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## cinnamontoast (Oct 24, 2010)

There is a large Pakistani community round here and today, a middle aged woman very obviously went out other way to avoid the B boys. It's a shame that they're missing out when others like to say hello and get to know people in the community. (Had a massive chat with the guy from number 1 today who also has a springer, never met him before, bit shamed at that given there's only 16 houses in the street )

The Pakistani children two doors down are petrified of the dogs and scream if they see them  One little Pakistani boy screamed and ran behind his mum on my way back from the walk  I think parents should encourage their children to be unafraid of dogs: there's an awful lot round here!


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## Howl (Apr 10, 2012)

My muslim friends all seem to like my dogs. I asked one girl why you don't see as many asian dog owners. She said she didn't know, she owned a northern breed who lived outside but they used to sneak her into the house at night when they were younger. She currently owns a cat.
She said they sleep outside because it's something they believe about dogs letting spirits into the house but other than that she didn't know. Where I used to live you did see some families with dogs but more cats.


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## cbrookman (Jun 12, 2011)

May be wrong but I understood that in the Koran it says that it is OK to "keep" a dog to do a job for you but it has to be kept outside of the house and not as a pet. I too have had very negative reactions to my dogs from Asian Muslims especially children who run screaming and their mums who keep them away from getting too close to the dogs.


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

I used to live in a mostly muslim area and could clear the bank or a bus simply by walking in with my dog. People would cross the street to avoid him and god forbid he actually got near any of them, there'd be a right old hissy fit, screaming, arm waving and all sorts. I asked some of the muslim people I worked with about it and was told that dogs are generally seen as unclean and that although it's okay to have a dog as a working animal they have to wash after handling them and dogs as pets just isn't normal in their culture.

Where I live now is also very anti dog as we're mixed in with Turkish immigrants. Their reaction to a dog getting near them though is to hit it with anything they have to hand. The younger ones will also wind dogs up to try to get a reaction then get violent when they do. It's no real surprise to me that Spencer has issues with them given their behaviour towards dogs. I have to say though that they pretty much leave me and Spen alone now, possibly because unlike a lot of the dog owners I don't try to provoke them and go out of my way to avoid incidents.


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## northnsouth (Nov 17, 2009)

It is the fact that rabies is common in their home lands, or so it was expalined to me by my visiting overseas fellow employees.


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## Kinjilabs (Apr 15, 2009)

My first ever dog Monty for some reason didnt like Asians, he once chased a little boy and grabbed his trousers, never did it to anyone else, perhaps he knew he was scared


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## Starlite (Sep 9, 2009)

cbrookman said:


> May be wrong but I understood that in the Koran it says that it is OK to "keep" a dog to do a job for you but it has to be kept outside of the house and not as a pet. I too have had very negative reactions to my dogs from Asian Muslims especially children who run screaming and their mums who keep them away from getting too close to the dogs.


I believe the above is true. A dogs saliva is considered dirty and you are supposed to clean it in sand or soil  There was a recent story of a Muslim bus driver who refused to let a guide dog on as he said they were doncidered dirty in his religion, he was promptly sacked. Its not his place to say who can get on the bus but the companies.

Asian is very broad. As some have pointed out it can be due to in their homeland dogs are dangerous. Many keep dogs as gaurd but not pet. The guy who runs the local off licence "Joe" is muslim and has a german import rottweiller in the shop. great theif detterant, he breeds them for his friends for their shops too. He isnt strict with all the Muslim code tho, he's married to a white catholic girl from the scheme


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## northnsouth (Nov 17, 2009)

Starlite said:


> I believe the above is true. A dogs saliva is considered dirty and you are *supposed to clean it in sand or soil * There was a recent story of a Muslim bus driver who refused to let a guide dog on as he said they were doncidered dirty in his religion, he was promptly sacked. Its not his place to say who can get on the bus but the companies. Asian is very broad. As some have pointed out it can be due to in their homeland dogs are dangerous. Many keep dogs as gaurd but not pet. The guy who runs the local off licence "Joe" is muslim and has a german import rottweiller in the shop. great theif detterant, he breeds them for his friends for their shops too. He isnt strict with all the Muslim code tho, he's married to a white catholic girl from the scheme


This is the rabies thing as well . I learnt a lot working with Muslims for two years.


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

My daughters last boyfriend was of Asian origin, well he was English but his parents were Indian and he adored Teebs.  He spent loads of money on him for a bed, toys collars etc for when Teebs stayed at his house and he still misses him now. 
The English boyfriend that she has just dumped treated him like something you find on the sole of your shoe, didn't tolerate him well at all. 

I think people from Pakistan (from what a Pakinstani doctor told me )sometimes feel dogs are dirty and shouldn't be in the house but not the English folk with family from abroad. On the whole though I think many foreign cultures think we treat our dogs like humans, I have worked with many people from various parts of Africa who are either scared of dogs or wouldn't have them in the house, although they quite like them too.


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## lozzibear (Feb 5, 2010)

I have a friend who is Asian, and she loves my dogs. Her family don't like dogs though, and my friends has always told me it is because dogs are seen as being dirty. They do not like dogs to be in places they pray, so my friend had to keep it very quiet that Jake has been in her car, because her mum would take a fit  On long journeys, they pray in the car... and it would be a massive no for them, for a dog to be in the house.

There are quite a few people from Congo around here, and I have noticed that every single one I have seen, are scared of the dogs... particularly the children.


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## Reverie (Mar 26, 2012)

I thought this was just me! There are quite a lot of Muslims around here and there are a couple of women who always look absolutely terrified of her! It actually really annoyed me today because we were walking past a bus stop and Buffy was excited because everyone else was cooing her, and we walked past a Muslim woman and she was backing away looking aghast and I said actually said 'It's alright she's not going to kill you!!!'  Was having a mega stressy day and not in the mood for someone to be terrified of my tiny puppy in a pink harness.


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## lozzibear (Feb 5, 2010)

Reverie said:


> I thought this was just me! There are quite a lot of Muslims around here and there are a couple of women who always look absolutely terrified of her! It actually really annoyed me today because we were walking past a bus stop and Buffy was excited because everyone else was cooing her, and we walked past a Muslim woman and she was backing away looking aghast and I said actually said 'It's alright she's not going to kill you!!!'  Was having a mega stressy day and not in the mood for someone to be terrified of my tiny puppy in a pink harness.


Totally off topic, but your puppy has the same date of birth as mine  

And just to make it on topic  I once had an Asian man practically run into heavy traffic to avoid me walking with Jake... the pavement was wide, I even put Jake on a short lead on the inside because I could see he looked nervy... But, he choose to jump a few feet into the road, and have all the traffic driving around him...


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I live in an area where a large percentage of the population are asian, I find that a lot of them arent keen on the dogs, many of them are openly afraid but almost all of them are grateful that I dont allow my dogs to approach them, I dont really care if they (or anyone else) doesnt like dogs, as long as they arent openly hostile about it. I have noticed that the younger men are more likely to be ok with dogs and often come over to meet them.


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## Pupcakes (Jun 20, 2011)

I have one friend who is from Bangladesh and is a Muslim and she is very scared of dogs, even little tiny dogs, she thinks they're dirty and scary but I have another friend who is the same age and from China and she loves dogs and has 2 dogs herself and finds cats and dogs very sweet.

My gran and grandad are from Barbados and my gran thinks dogs are dirty and should be kept outside and arent for inside. Back home in Barbados they are for guarding and "being dirty", thats it!

My grandad loves dogs and loves GSDs and loves petting them but gran recoils in horror if Charlie puts his paws on her! Hahah! "Diiiirty dawg" 

I dont think Charlies too offended though :lol:

xxx


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## lennythecloud (Aug 5, 2011)

Fleur said:


> It's a myth that the Koran (sp) states that dogs are impure or dirty - I belive in fact there is a part of it that refers to some Cave Dwellers who shared their home with dogs as 'Good Believers'
> However there is a strong tradition that dogs are impure and dirty.
> I think this is a shame as my limited understanding is that nothing is unlwaful unless directly prohibited by God Himself and again from my limited knowledge (I don't wish to offend anyone who has studied the Koran (sp) - especially as I don't even know how to spell it  ) God has not written anything that has prohibited contact with dogs.


Whilst you're right that the Koran doesn't mention dogs as unclean, it IS mentioned in the hadiths. The hadiths are the secondary litritures of Islam that suppposedly echo the sayings and actions of Muhammed and so many muslims do lead their life by them.


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## jenniferx (Jan 23, 2009)

My sister is in South East Asia right now and talks a lot about the dogs in Thailand- there are so many of them, semi-feral, Bangkok is overwhelmed and it is a high risk rabies country which no doubt influences how people regard them there. 

She is in a rural area near the Burmese border right now and there are packs of dogs that live on the fringes of the villages- I think the tribes people see them as a sort of pest. My sister was telling me that she hears the dogs fighting at night and that they cannibalised one of the puppies hanging around, I suppose they are terribly hungry. She buys food for them when she can- (these people don't have clean running water, toilets, or electricity so feeding non-essential animals isn't exactly high priority). 

Though the couple she is living with do have a few pet kittens that I think are well treated.


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## Phoolf (Jun 13, 2012)

I've always lived in Muslim areas, most Muslims seem to really dislike dogs. I was walking with a friends once and it sniffed a boys hand, the boys parents were really upset and said they had to take him home to wash at once as he was unclean and couldn't go to pray. It seems a cultural/religious thing from what I can tell, but it really doesn't help because lots of dogs are now scared/aggressive towards people in muslim dress (most people round me are orthodox so wear a veil etc) as none of them have ever been friendly. Often people will cross the street or shriek from ages away when they see me coming, I'm just used to it now. I've never heard anything about another religion though so I wouldn't say it's 'asian', just quite a few Muslims.


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## ozrex (Aug 30, 2011)

A lot of religious prohibitions start with sound reasons usually related to health and hygene but then persist inappropriately.

The Muslim belief is that dog saliva is impure and that contact with the saliva renders a person unclean. Logical where rabies is an issue. However it's not so logical now.

The trouble is that once a belief has taken hold it is very hard to erradicate it. My mother used to (and still will) scream and jump away from any animal with a naked tail such as a rat or a mouse. She was OK with guinea-pigs and gerbils! It was REALLY standard behaviour in women of her generation to scream and behave like an idiot if they saw a mouse. I know women of my age who behave the same and younger women who behave like fools if they see a spider....


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## Melissa27 (Mar 15, 2012)

In my area we dont have a huge Muslim population, but I have noticed that with the exception of my previous neighbours (a very sweet family that loved my dogs) most that are here do seem to be afraid or repulsed by my dogs and will glare at me if I am out with them. I understand that not everyone is a big fan of dogs for any number of reasons and will usually give someone a wide berth when I'm walking my three if I can tell they aren't overly keen on them.

We do have a pretty high number of people from China and Japan in my state though. Usually the young people I meet (particularly those that are born in the US) from those countries are great with my dogs and make all over them, and the older generation varies between individuals.

My uncle is from China and my younger cousin (his daughter) is half Chinese my uncle tolerates them in his home but I think if it werent for his wife and daughter he wouldnt have them. He wasn't raised with pets in the house, and he politely ignores my dogs when he is over. My cousin loves all animals. She has a cat, a Soft-Coated Wheaton Terrier and a Catahoula Leopard Dog cross herself. She even adores my snakes and ferrets and has her picture taken with Apophis, my Royal python whenever she is in town.  While you can only barely see one of his paws, Doom is perched on the sofa behind her back in this picture.

(Warning for the snake-phobics)


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## Dober (Jan 2, 2012)

In some parts of the world the religious governments har actually 'banned' pet dogs, saying that it is a western obsession and against their religion. I don't believe it is really enforced, but if you are importing you need to have the dog listed as a working dog (hunting, guarding ect) apparantly they brought in the regulations as younger generations are beginning to have 'status dogs' like dobes and rotts and take them out and about with them. 

My religious knowledge is sketchy at best, so don't quote me on it, but I remember hearing that in their stories in one part it says dogs are dirty and dangerous, but in another a woman was forgiven for a life of prostitution as se brought a dying dog water in her shoe. Cats I know are generally much more approved of.


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## Starlite (Sep 9, 2009)

Dober said:


> In some parts of the world the religious governments har actually 'banned' pet dogs, saying that it is a western obsession and against their religion. I don't believe it is really enforced, but if you are importing you need to have the dog listed as a working dog (hunting, guarding ect) apparantly they brought in the regulations as younger generations are beginning to have 'status dogs' like dobes and rotts and take them out and about with them.
> 
> My religious knowledge is sketchy at best, so don't quote me on it, but I remember hearing that in their stories in one part it says dogs are dirty and dangerous,* but in another a woman was forgiven for a life of prostitution as se brought a dying dog water in her shoe*. Cats I know are generally much more approved of.


you are right, the woman was forgiven for her "job" because of her act of kindness. many believe there are parts of the Quran which state animals should not be kept in homes or zoos as it is against their teachings, just depends who you talk to about it x


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## harry12 (Feb 20, 2012)

I've noticed this too, but on 2 occasions the only dog i've seen an asian with was a husky both times and that's it and I suppose that was rare to see an Asisan with a dog because I had always noticed they seemed scared of them and you never see them with one.


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## Pointermum (Jul 2, 2010)

Bjt said:


> I think the muslims believe that dogs are dirty.If i am wrong i am sure someone will correct me.


There are a lot of Muslims at the kids school, the adults use to sacrifice the children to the dogs to save themselves :lol: They would use them as shields as my dogs walk calmly past them ut:


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

Fleur said:


> 'Asians' covers a very wide population and varied cultures.
> 
> Some Asian cultures do not traditionally have pets, or animals in the house.
> My Japanese sister-in-law belives dogs should be kept out side for hygiene and cleanliness reasons.
> ...


I read somewhere that at the time the Koran was written, rabies was prolific in the middle east. If that's true, it would explain how dogs came to be seen as unclean in it. However, even in Muslim countries, dogs have been used through the centuries for hunting/stock guarding/herding, but not in the house as pets. Salukis are a breed originating and developed in Muslim countries.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

martmart said:


> Someone once told me that Asian people are scared of dogs. I didn't have a dog at the time so I never really noticed until I had my chihuahua. This is when I started to notice whenever I walked past a group of Asians, especially female, who seemed quite scared and it wasn't just the occassional one who was scared, it seemed more like the occasional one who didn't seem scared.
> 
> Are there any Asian people here who have dogs or maybe know if theres a reason why it seems that Asian people are afraid of dogs? or does anyone know any Asian people with dogs?
> 
> ...


It is mainly because in their own country they only keep dogs as guard dogs, never as pets. They have learned to be wary, obviously.

5Rivers (can't remember his full name) is an Asian member on here with an Akita and an American bulldog (I think). I used to regularly see an Asian lady walking a golden retriever, but she was very westernised. It is an unusual sight.



Bjt said:


> I think the muslims believe that dogs are dirty.If i am wrong i am sure someone will correct me.


I was on a lesson with a muslim pupil once. I had been teaching her for ages and this one day I showed her a very chewed up Ralph Lauren baseball cap that was in the car and obviously one of the dogs had got. Then I gave her the key and she went extremely quiet. After about half hour she pulled over, got out wet wipes and wiped the steering wheel, the gear lever, her hands, the handbrake...........in fact every single thing that she had touched. She told me that I had touched something the dogs had had, then handed her the key and now she was unclean.

I tried very hard to keep a straight face. This was someone who was born and raised in England as well. When I dropped her off, I could not resist telling her that I give my dogs a big kiss and cuddle before I pick her up and I don't intend to start washing my hands afterwards!

This is a cultural thing though, not a religious one. One muslim woman (much more westernised) told me that they are not allowed to keep dogs in the house because the angels are afraid of dogs and won't come in. When asked why an immortal being such as an angel should be afraid of anything, she had no answer.


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

Burrowzig said:


> I read somewhere that at the time the Koran was written, rabies was prolific in the middle east. If that's true, it would explain how dogs came to be seen as unclean in it. However, even in Muslim countries, dogs have been used through the centuries for hunting/stock guarding/herding, but not in the house as pets. Salukis are a breed originating and developed in Muslim countries.


I'd forgotten that about Salukis - I found an interesting article about them 


> In Islamic culture, dogs are generally seen as unclean, but salukis are exempt. Men of the desert held them in such high esteem that they honoured the animal as al hurr, "the noble one". There is even a legend that the Prophet Mohammed himself owned a saluki that he used for hunting. This would perhaps explain the animal's mention in the holy Quran, in which the training of hounds for hunting is encouraged, as long as it is done so in a manner directed by Allah.


Salukis - The National


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## katielouise88 (Jun 25, 2012)

Yes I live in Turkey, a Muslim country and alot of people here are afraid and very cautious of my puppy. They are brought up to think they are dirty and not meant to be in house etc, hence why animal cruelty here is a big problem, as are "street animals"...
However also there is a large number of people who are ok with her..but these people tend to be in tourism industry...


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