[Mackenzie’s Admin]

I am so happy to see Conroy has a home visit soon! It’s always extra exciting to see a black dog find a forever home! It’s difficult for me to relate to black dogs having a challenge finding someone to adopt them, because I am drawn to large, black dogs. You only need to look into their heart to see they are not ominous.

[Mackenzie’s Admin]

I concur; I don’t know why no one really sets out to adopt a big black dog.

[Mackenzie’s Admin]

I spent some "goodby" time with Conroy yesterday. He is one of my favs. He sure loves toys – he played for the whole 40 minutes except for when I had him do his tricks. He did all the usual ones plus one more. Whenever I held out my hand and said "shake" or held up my hand and said "high five" his paw came up. I’m so happy he is going home but I will miss him. Maybe I brought him luck – my plant from the Griffins walkathon had his picture on the "stick".
Carol

[Mackenzie’s Admin]

I don’t get the thing about black dogs and especially male black dogs not being as adoptable as others. For the longest time in my home all of our pets (dogs and cats) were all black with touches of white. Not by design, just by happen stance. Then touches of grey and red entered the picture. Not because of their color, but because of who they were. That’s ideally how it should be.

[Mackenzie’s Admin]

I wonder if it isnt people going out and purposefully picking dogs that arent black but if it just turns out that way by chance. Maybe the black dogs just dont catch their eyes like some of our brighter dogs do. I dont know its just all strange to me

[Mackenzie’s Admin]

Apparently black dogs, and big black dogs in particular, are seen as evil by the majority of the population. Look at the Rottweiler in the movie "Omen" that portrays pure evil, or Doberman’s shown as aggressive junk yard guard dogs on drama or action TV shows. We have the media to thank for some of it, but it also stems from folklore. Big, black dogs just seem to induce fear on sight. Even the medical condition of depression has been called "the black dog". Isn’t it amazing what people will believe? You and I know differently. It’s about as silly as the Pit Bull syndrome.

[Mackenzie’s Admin]

I also think it is a more subconsciuos "by chance" type thing. Maybe partly has to do with the photographs used to display those dogs for adoption online. The lighter color dogs more naturally show up brighter and more defined in the photos online. So it takes extra efforts (which are well worth it!) to ensure proper lighting, creative settings and eye-catching props for photos of black dogs. But aside from online photographs, that still leaves me wondering about the black dogs that people see IN-PERSON at the shelters…. I can see how Diane’s comment could make sense for that too.

[Mackenzie’s Admin]

Speaking of black dogs – I recently read to big, black dogs Babe and Turner. There’s nothing ominous about either of these love bugs!
Half my time with Babe was spent laughing. She liked to be close to me some of the time and would stand & lean into me. Well, she is so big that she scooted me & the crate all the way back to the wall. LOL (For those of you that are unfamiliar with Mackenzie’s – we sit on a plastic "milk" crate while reading to the dogs.) Babe is a real sweetheart and her comedic ways are absolutley adorable!
Turner, being the people oriented guy he is, lie right by me with few distractions. He did get up once & started spinning when another dog walked by, but he quickly returned to his resting position near me. He seemed genuinely interested in the story I was reading! Of course, continual pets was a great motivator for being next to me.

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