Are Black Dogs the Black Sheep of the canine family?
Monday, January 26th, 2009Everyday people go to shelters and rescue kennels, browse through online adoption profiles, while trying to find the perfect furry companion to add to their family. As much as we all like to think that we don’t judge books by their cover, to an extent we really do. So what dogs do you pass up based on the basic information that you see in a profile, or in a picture? Do you pass on the dogs who are too big? Too small? Have long hound ears? Have wiry fur?
Well no matter the ears, fur, and size there is one common trait that turns people away from certain dogs: color. Specifically the color black. Statistically shelters and rescues have a much more difficult time adopting out black (or dark brindle) dogs than any other color. Some people state it’s because their coat color is “boring”, others believe that the darker dogs (especially in the larger size) look more intimidating and aggressive.
Personally, I find them to be magnificent looking. My first dog love was when I was volunteering for a Greyhound Rescue kennel. We had space for 9 dogs there, and at the time 6 of them were black. Again, no one wanted the black dogs. There was this one big boy, Max. Solid black shiny coat, standing tall at 30+ inches and around 85 pounds . . . absolutely gorgeous. He would trot the perimeter of the fenced in the kennel yard, patrolling like a guard dog, alerting if he felt anything was amiss. He would sit in my lap as I massaged him and would nuzzle me as I groomed him. At the time I was not living anyplace where I could have a dog, so I sadly had to say good bye to Max a few months later when the rescue closed down (don’t worry, he got adopted out). Because of Max I have an absolute love of big black dogs, and it makes me sad that people would automatically rule out a dog simply due to coat color. I just urge you all to take a second look at a dog you may usually dismiss simply based on looks alone . . .
-Alyssa
