Evenbiggerknickers: Friskya: There may be a reason for that, subby. (new window)

I am very familiar with this phenomena. I have a black lab/great dane cross - all black. People are terrified of him. However, people are happy to approach my fawn-coloured pit bull.

Could that be related to size??

I'm assuming the Great Dane / Lab may be larger than the Pitty.

/Plus Pittys are generally very sweet pooches.

So they posed the black dog with a BASKETBALL?

Way to troll, Portland dog shelter folks.

Black dogs are just fancier:

The Onanist: Evenbiggerknickers: Friskya: There may be a reason for that, subby. (new window)

I am very familiar with this phenomena. I have a black lab/great dane cross - all black. People are terrified of him. However, people are happy to approach my fawn-coloured pit bull.

Could that be related to size??

I'm assuming the Great Dane / Lab may be larger than the Pitty.

/Plus Pittys are generally very sweet pooches.

QFT. My pit mix (we think it's part shepherd but who the hell knows) is a total lovebug. He hasn't figured out yet that he's not lapdog sized.

Friskya: There may be a reason for that, subby. (new window)

I have a big black German Shepard/Lab mix. I think the reason I was able to get him from the shelter so easily was because they expected to have a hard time getting some one to adopt him. They really hassled me when I went back for a second dog. He's a great dog, by the way. His coat color didn't factor into my decision to get him, although many people are afraid of him.

The white elephant in DC will be half off in a few weeks.

Good deal! That's less than 3/5.

Sounds like Portland is the the place to go to score some fine black biatches.

Meh, adopting black kids is cheaper too.

//Has a brown dog. And 2 brown kids.

And you don't necessarily need to pick a big dog - even the small ones qualify.

"Let's call him Webster!"

Continuing the theme...

Boss Bailey (94 lb jet-black, retired racing greyhound) approves. Only time he ever hurt someone was when he stepped on my bare foot.

Adopt a Black Dog today!

Both of my dogs are black for this very reason. And yeah, people are instinctively afraid of them. Specifically my male mix. He's mostly sausage shaped as he poses a deadly threat to hotdogs and catfood, but people cross the street when we're out.

Works for me though. Workmen that come to the house are immediately leery of the big woofs coming from the back so I feel safer that someone a little shady might think twice.

Adopted a black dog without any idea that they were harder to place... made no difference in the selection process. Stories about the difference broke a few months after the adoption... I really don't get the issue. But:

brigid_fitch: black dogs are usually Labs or Lab mixes. People are into tiny accessory-like dogs

... might be on to something. I'd be curious to see adoption rates by color after controlling for dog size. The whole issue may be mis-attributed?

If there is a color-related difference, the biggest thing, I think, is that black dogs don't photograph well, and a lot of people seem to search for dogs online. (Come to think of it, I'd be curious to see if the "black dog issue" is a trend correlated with increasing online shopping for a pet vs. just going to the shelter and picking something out?)

If you run a rescue, put a bit of effort into the photos for your black dogs -- put a bright scarf on them, make sure the lighting is good, get 'em running around a bit so they have a big, sweet/goofy open-mouth pant going when you take the picture, etc. Makes a -huge- difference over the typical terrible, poorly-lit, lost-in-a-dark-background shots many listings have! The rescue operation from which our dog came started putting more effort into their dark-dog photos, and saw a -substantial- increase in interest in them.

But, whatever you get, whatever the color, whatever the breed, *rescue*. And rescue an adult, while you're at it!

Friskya: There may be a reason for that, subby. (new window)

My wife didn't want a black dog because you can see their hairs everywhere when they shed. At least a lighter color dog's hair blends in with the carpet or couch better.

Would have been funnier if they'd done it in February. Not "ha ha" funny but "d'oh" funny.

It's great if an unwanted animal can find a home,but should you really encourage people who really don't want a pet to get one?

It doesn't really matter what it is, bird, fish, cat, dog or snake they all require daily care even if it's just giving them food and if you didn't care enough to want one without a promotion maybe you shouldn't be a pet owner.

/my cat is whining because she had to wait 30 minutes for me to put food in her dish and her litter box is full of shiat. Okay, well, not really. I scooped it out and it is now empty of shiat but still smells like it. Damn gooshy food makes for stinky cat poop.

Black dogs are much hotter in summer and hard to keep clean.

Wait, maybe that's cars...

Happy Hours:
It doesn't really matter what it is, bird, fish, cat, dog or snake they all require daily care even if it's just giving them food and if you didn't care enough to want one without a promotion maybe you shouldn't be a pet owner.


Even a somewhat negligent pet owner will provide a better life for these animals than being stuck in a cage for a few days and then put to sleep.

Subby, that headline was absolutely brilliant in it's subtlety.

/its a reference to the GOP being a bunch of white folks whose votes are for sale
//just incase the rest of ya'll missed it
///its true, btw

Most animal shelters also stop showing/adopting black cats in early September and don't bring them back out until Thanksgiving because they're afraid people will adopt them for Halloween and either abuse them or simply return them after the season is over (like a Christmas puppy).

I had a black lab/collie cross from a shelter. A great big softie, all the local kids loved her, and even came round occasional to see if she wanted to play.

I remember one kid had a serious speech impediment when talking to humans, but was fine talking to the dog. We let them spend ages together because we figured it would help him in the long term.

Happy Hours: encourage people who really don't want a pet to get one?

I don't think it is this as much as maybe giving a nudge to people
who are thinking about it anyway. YMMV

Approves.

mytdawg: Black dogs are much hotter in summer and hard to keep clean.

Wait, maybe that's cars...

I think that applies to dogs too.
When I went to get my first dog, the place was overflowing with dalmatians because that disney movie had come out in the past couple of years, and when I went to get my second dog the place was 80% huge, unruly, loud black lab mixes. I wonder if it's less a colour thing than a huge, unruly, and loud thing, because that's what stopped me from even thinking about one, that's for sure.

We got our little guy last October during the local shelter's "half-off black & orange" event... Didn't know this until I went to sign the papers & pay the fees (he's a black w/ white chest chihuahua/dachshund, put a bowtie on him and he's ready for the ball!). I think he was in his last days, they caught him as a stray in July... Felt good to rescue him!

Tsk-Tsk....

four95: [i2.kym-cdn.com image 150x134]

Nah, but this might have been (new window).

who the hell would want to adopt half of a black dog