Black History Lesson: Curious pic of Dr. King and 'intimidating' police dog
Was the police dog meant to scare him or just sitting in the backseat?
Lately, I’ve run into some pet tales that are difficult to verify: Did the Little Rock Nine really have a therapy dog? Did Dr. Martin Luther King have a dog named Chip? Was Harriet Tubman being followed around by a dog named Dolly? Although I’ve read about all three iconic people and groups in books and movies, I have never heard anything about these dogs. But there is one photo that really gets my attention. It’s a photograph of Dr. King in the backseat with a German Shepherd that’s apparently a police dog.
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Snopes has been unable to verify whether this German Shepherd was put into the police car to intimidate the orator and activist. I’ve owned a German Shepherd for nine years and a German Shepherd crossbreed for 13 years. And neither one was letting you sit in front of their face like that. No teeth are showing. Dr. King’s hand is visible near the arm rest by the window. At one point, he’s looking out the window and talking to another Black man who approached the car.
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And while this second guy is leaning against the window, the dog is looking the other way. Guard dogs do not do this. I’m finding it hard to believe that even a guard dog would see a stranger in the opposite window and not stick its head out the window to make the stranger move back or greet the stranger. And why is Dr. King grinning when the dog appears to be snuggling up to him?
When a dog is approaching with the intention of being intimidating, the last thing a person should do is turn their entire head away from the dog the way Dr. King did — unless you really trust that this dog will not harm you. There have been many studies confirming not to look a strange dog in the eyes; it’s translated to them as a challenge. I don’t know how chummy Dr. King was with a dog named Chip, but he does not seem to be even slightly scared of this dog. The intimidation story is not checking out. Then again, Dr. King was arrested 29 times before his assassination in 1968. The only other explanation is the dog got used to seeing him.
Shamontiel is a dog lover to her core: 622 completed walks with 99 dogs, eight dog-housesittings and six dog boardings at the time of this publication.
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