Judging a dog by its color?

March 22, 2009 4:14 PM

"The general public is not aware of how doomed black dogs are when they are brought to a pound.” Does Does black dog bias influence rescuers when it comes to adoption? Empirical evidence doesn't exist, but rescue groups insist that it's a real concern. Now some groups, including Black Pearl Dogs and Start Seeing Black Dogs are raising awareness and providing free PR and Marketing materials to rescue organizations in an attempt to decrease time spent in shelters and euthanasia rates for black dogs.
posted by Ufez Jones (61 comments total)

Missoula, Montana appears to have no such bias. Apparently, a black dog is issued to each new resident. You can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a black dog.
posted by ikahime at 4:20 PM on March 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

You have no idea how hard I was checking the date when I saw this.
posted by Rubbstone at 4:24 PM on March 22, 2009

I started reading that article with an interested and open mind, but labs? I wouldn't adopt a lab because I've never met one who wasn't a lunatic (NOT LAB-IST). Certainly they're energetic, and their biggest fans would admit that they require either a big yard or, like, fifty walks a day. When the second example was a newfie, a friendly but gigantic shed machine who would knock over your kid and cost a fortune to feed, I gave up on the lady. I don't doubt that Big Black Dogs are harder to place, but there seems a more obvious reason than the color.
posted by moxiedoll at 4:26 PM on March 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

But then the LA Times article says one shelter director who kept track found 27% of the dogs coming in were black, as were 28% of the ones going out.

In Louisville we'd find ourselves in the midst of apparent black dog conventions or club meetings when just going for a walk in the park (with out small black rescue mutt - and most of the others we knew were also shelter dogs). Loads of them here, too, it looks like.
posted by dilettante at 4:28 PM on March 22, 2009

As the proud house-mate of a black lab / newfie mix and a black lab / rottie mix, there is no such bias in this house against black dogs. If anything, owning a black dog is the norm in this family.

I think the bias is more that large breeds that are black are generally the larger of the large breeds that end up in shelters and rescues - labs, newfies, etc. When most families pick a large breed dog, its going to be a smaller large breed (goldens or chocolates, vs black labs, for example. Show me a scottie that's not been placed for three years, and then I might accept this is an issue.
posted by strixus at 4:35 PM on March 22, 2009

My dog-loving friends and I joke that the black labmix and/or rottiemix is the official Michigan state dog. I have two black mutts with some lab in 'em, and the second one I adopted in part because of the overpopulation of black mutts in area rescues. I (half-kiddingly) tell friends that it's OK to have any kind of dog(s) you want . . . as long as you also get at least one medium-to-large black mutt per household.

I do think sheer prevalence (as well as the size and energy issues) does account for most of it.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:52 PM on March 22, 2009

I adopted a black lab. When she turned two, she settled right down. I have no idea what any of this is about.
posted by rusty at 4:54 PM on March 22, 2009

This is one of the dumber things I've ever read. If only because most big dogs I can think of (Rotties, Newfoundlanders, Mastiffs, Great Danes, etc) are often black. Most people don't want big dogs, regardless of the color.

I didn't finish reading the article, but is there any mention of how quickly adopted white, or brown, or brindle dogs are when they're big?
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 5:03 PM on March 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

There is some history of discomfort / fear of black dogs, vaguely akin to fear of black cats. "A black dog is the name given to a spectral being found primarily in the folklores of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal spectre, often said to be associated with the Devil, and its appearance was regarded as a portent of death" (text from wikipedia). I wouldn't be surprised if some of this lives on in some areas.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:10 PM on March 22, 2009

When I worked at a animal shelter for a couple months, we had two whole litters of black lab puppies show up within a couple weeks of each other (and this was a small shelter with maybe 15 other dogs in the whole place). They were cute but they were trouble! When I've thought about getting a dog, labs (both black and yellow ones, actually) always seemed sort of boring and obvious, like ordering vanilla ice cream. Now that I know there are so many of them in need I may reconsider!
posted by naoko at 5:14 PM on March 22, 2009

Conclusions drawn from so small a sample can't be taken Sirius-ly.
posted by Cranberry at 5:15 PM on March 22, 2009 [6 favorites]

This isn't nearly as inane as people are making it out to be. Just browse some shelter pics on Petfinder and compare the photos of yellow labs to black labs; it's hard to get a good picture of a black dog.
posted by Jeanne at 5:16 PM on March 22, 2009

For my money, a black lab / German shepherd mix with a mostly black coat but Shepherd showing through in the right places (legs, belly, eyebrows, ears) is about the most beautiful dog possible. They also tend to be insanely smart. Energetic, yes, but the simple solution to having a high energy dog when you're short on walking time is to put it in the back yard with your friend's high energy dog for an hour.

A complete non-sequitor, but I love my mostly black dog and had to share.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 5:19 PM on March 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

I've often been told by shelters and rescues that there's a bias against black cats, but I don't have any firm evidence.

[hugging my own black cat]
posted by HopperFan at 5:19 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Some of my most favorite dogs have been black. (lolbutseriously)
posted by DU at 5:19 PM on March 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

Empirical evidence doesn't exist

So these claims are unfounded, then?
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:21 PM on March 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

When I've thought about getting a dog, labs (both black and yellow ones, actually) always seemed sort of boring and obvious, like ordering vanilla ice cream.

You've been getting the wrong kind of vanilla ice cream.
posted by jock@law at 5:29 PM on March 22, 2009 [6 favorites]

No shit?
posted by Pecinpah at 5:34 PM on March 22, 2009

Huh. Had a big black dog (130 lbs. (no, not fat at all) lab/rot mix. He was a sweety -- and yeah, who doesn't love the Black Dog - the real problem in my town seems to be with Pits and Pit Mixes, if you want to talk about bias.
posted by nnk at 5:36 PM on March 22, 2009

I adopted a black lab. When she turned two, she settled right down. I have no idea what any of this is about.

Did she get a lobotomy for her birthday? My parents have an 8 year old chocolate lab and he's just as wild as ever.
posted by sugarfish at 5:45 PM on March 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

and yeah, who doesn't love the Black Dog

But did the black dog ever cure an infected leg?
posted by CKmtl at 5:54 PM on March 22, 2009

our black dog never made it to the shelter, we adopted her from our neighbors! but she's soooo gentle. (chow+rottweiler mix)
posted by rubah at 6:15 PM on March 22, 2009

No one's linked to this.
posted by marxchivist at 6:25 PM on March 22, 2009

I have a black rescue greyhound, and having spent many hours at a greyhound rescue center, I can safely say that there is not an anti-black-greyhound bias. However, there is a very reasonable anti-greyhound-puppy bias, because greyhound puppies are born with ten mile long legs and no brains.
posted by BabySeven at 6:40 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

We got a little black dog from the Humane Society, about a year old pit-bull/chihuahua(?) mix. He'd been hit by a car and his left rear leg was gimpy. Doesn't slow him down a bit. He's about the size of a Jack Russell.

Best darn dog ever. He is incredibly alert, energetic, but not frenetic. Almost never barks, so when he does, he gets my attention - we ran a coyote out of the yard a few weeks ago, and it was because I could tell from his bark that there was something up.

He absolutely loves to cuddle, and I mean, cuddle - when I sleep on the couch, he will burrow under my arms and stick his snout right on my face. People sit on the couch and he sits against them and leans into them - never fails to elicit a laugh.

We got him to keep our other rescue dog company. Turned out to be a very smart move, the other dog was pretty neurotic - he still is - but it really brought him out of his shell. They love each other like you can't believe two dogs would. They play together all the time.

Yeah, I love my little black dog. I can see that certain breeds and colors would have a harder time than others getting adopted, but there is just no accounting for taste.
posted by Xoebe at 6:45 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

How much does this actually matter? I doubt the black dog bias, even if it exists and can be proven, changes the absolute number of dogs adopted. If you convince people to start adopting more black dogs, presumably they'll start adopting less dogs of other colors, and then those dogs will be doomed instead.
posted by Mitrovarr at 6:47 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think this is nuts and I'm not sure I believe it. Also, if color is the first thing you're worrying about when adopting a dog, well, you might not really want a dog after all. Consider, perhaps, a chair. It could match your wallpaper!

I always wanted a big thumpy black dog, but my guys found me first - some of us don't choose dogs; they choose us.
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:53 PM on March 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

Well... you do know who also suffered from a fear of black dogs, I expect? That's right.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 7:18 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Xoebe, you should post a picture; having a hard time imagining a chihuahua/pit mix...did one dog stand on a crate?

Don't buy the black dog prejudice, either; seen more minature black weiner dogs and poodle-mixes than you can shake a stick at.

Labs are wonderful dogs, but way too high maintenence. A nice mild-mannered mutt of any color would suit me fine, but not till our dog-hating* cat dies.

*Also hates; all other animals, all women including me, most men besides my husband, and anyone wearing a hat. She's 14, so we're just gonna wait her out.
posted by emjaybee at 7:23 PM on March 22, 2009

We had to wait almost two months to take home our black cat, Sonny, when I was a kid. Apparently, we couldn't be distinguished from the "Satanists" who supposedly adopt and then sacrifice them around that time.

Sonny was the coolest cat ever, though, until he finally died at the age of 19 two months ago. He came when called, would lick your hand like a dog, he hung out with the dogs and slept outside with them in the doghouse (by choice) during the harshest months of winter, he survived a coyote attack, and the day he died he looked and acted as bright as he did when I was chasing him around as a kid. You couldn't have guessed this cat was a day over three or four years old, except for the scars he carried under his fur...

This was a total derail, except to say that I loved my one black cat very, very much...And when I finally can have a cat or a dog in my apartment, black will be the first color I look for, thanks to him.

RIP Sonny: 1990-2009
posted by rollbiz at 7:46 PM on March 22, 2009 [15 favorites]

Ooops, we had to wait because "that time" was Halloween...
posted by rollbiz at 7:47 PM on March 22, 2009

Fuck I hate people.
posted by turgid dahlia at 7:53 PM on March 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

I know that at the San Francisco SPCA there are added incentives for adopting black cats. I'm unaware of specifics but when a friend of mine adopted a black cat I believe they gave her all the freebie toys, not just one of her choice, and shots and such were free.

I didn't know this was a problem for dogs too. That's sad. Black Labs in particular are wonderful dogs.
posted by Barking Frog at 7:56 PM on March 22, 2009

It must vary by region, because at the greyhound adoption shelter at which I volunteered black dogs were harder to adopt. Fawn greyhounds, then white/patch, then brindles, then black greyhounds were the order in which people picked them. Actual blue greyhounds didn't even get the chance to be adopted randomly - there was a waiting list for them.

The fact that greyhound puppies are sixty pound kittens is completely true everywhere, though. I came home one day and found my girl on top of the entertainment center chewing buttons off the remote, and she was eighteen months old at the time.
posted by winna at 8:09 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

I was at the big Oregon Humane Society animal shelter yesterday and it certainly holds true there. The vast majority of the dogs in there -- and almost all of the long-term residents -- were big and black.
posted by dacoit at 8:11 PM on March 22, 2009

Funny that people are doubting this. I've heard it for years and in many parts of the country. Ask around at the shelters - black dogs, in particular big black dogs that shed, don't get adopted very often. Many are given up. If you own a shedding black dog, you know the battle against hair if nothing else. That said, it's a silly bias. But I have every reason to believe it exists.

And yes, I adopted a big black shedding dog from a shelter.
posted by Muddler at 8:31 PM on March 22, 2009

When we adopted our greyhound, the agency asked specifically if we'd consider a black dog if one was available. I said color didn't matter; ended up with a dark red brindle.
posted by Oriole Adams at 8:42 PM on March 22, 2009

I can understand the skepticism, and certainly I won't pretend to have the answer, but I thought it could make for an interesting discussion. I'd be fascinated by a hard study to see if it's true, but I doubt that'll happen given that there's not a profit to be made. The people that could do it effectively are probably yoo busy studying focus groups to determine the color scheme that maximizes french fry size upgrades anyhow.

Also, you don't know how much fun the "Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Everything is *awesome*!" attitude of Labs is until you throw a cup of "What am I supposed to be doing, nah it's cool, I can go on twenty minutes of sleep a day" Border Collie in for fun.

Yeah, I guess you could call my (mostly black with white paws and chest/neck - the one whose smiling mug is in my profile) dog high-energy, but she matches my lifestyle pretty well. Even after a ten-hour workday spent on my feet, I'll take her for a 45-60 minute walk most every night that it's not pouring down rain. It does wonders for me mentally and physically and is my favorite way to decompress. And I happen to think she's the prettiest damn dog ever.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:50 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

huh. my first dog, chiquita, was black. i found her scrambling for meat scraps behind a tortillaria in tepoztlan. she was the most beautiful dog i'd ever seen, even as a pup. i asked the owner of the shop if i could take her. he said she was his garbage disposal and he wanted 50 pesos. i brought her back to my apartment and de-bugged her. she was awesome. smuggled her back into the states and had my vet cousin give her a full checkup. he looked at her teeth and told me she was mostly coyote and she'd never housebreak. ultimately she did, but she'd run off for a few days every month or so, even after she was spayed. she always came home.
now i live on the road again and she lives with my best friend. she's incredibly protective of his two kids and i get to see her once in a while.
that was really the best, back when i had a bottle of knob creek and chica. now it's just the knob creek. but the best dog i ever had was a small black dog from mexico. gnight.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:56 PM on March 22, 2009 [6 favorites]

Yeah marxchivist, first thing I thought of too.
I had a black Lab (Mas Oyama). He was pretty energetic as a pup. He liked to run away. So one day just as the off season started I let him run and chased him down. Then I made him run with me. About 15 miles (got a ride back). Never had a problem with him after that. He'd slip the leash and start to run and then his gait would change up and he'd look back at me with an "Oh...yeah..." look in his eyes. He'd still try to run when my mom walked him though. He just loved getting out in the open and going full tilt though. Ok most of the time. Got him in trouble in high summer though. He'd go like a bat out of hell through a field and then head for water dragging his tongue. Like "Oh, yeah, *pant* sun...*pant pant* I'm black...yeah *pant*...ok." Good dog though.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:04 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Do modern mutts just default to a black coat?

I don't remember black dogs everywhere when I was a kid, but in this decade nearly all the Rescue Dogs I know are black as night -- with a white spot on the chest. They include mixes of pit, lab, German shorthair, Samoyed, chow ... even the Pomeranians lean black now. They were red when I was growing up. Any geneticists around on Metafilter?

My own black mutt was drowning in a neighbor's half-empty swimming pool five years ago. He's the best dog ever, and he's snoring on the couch right now.
posted by kenlayne at 9:19 PM on March 22, 2009

Anyone wanna explain why this could POSSIBLY be an issue? If people are adopting a dog, that would otherwise be euthanized, who gives a fuck what species it is?

Why you keepin' the black dogs down, man?
posted by graventy at 9:50 PM on March 22, 2009

Oh my god this is the saddest thing ever ...

right now, I'm an apartment dweller. my building doesn't allow big, proper dogs. Soon as I've got a house, I'm off to the pound. The only thing I'm afraid of is coming home with all of their big black dogs.

I'm utterly poleaxed that this is going on. Big black dogs are the best kind - people are even more goddamn whacktarded than this misanthrope assumes.
posted by EatTheWeak at 10:17 PM on March 22, 2009

...and yeah, who doesn't love the Black Dog...

Note to Vineyard visitors: only tourists wear ‘Black Dog’ t-shirts...just as only those “passing through” the Commonwealth wear Harvard or M.I.T. themed clothing.
posted by ericb at 10:29 PM on March 22, 2009

Our local animal shelters say that black cats have to wait longer to be adopted than cats with other coat colours. But I'm not sure if that's due to superstition or shedding. Our big black long-haired cat had been four months in a shelter before we adopted him. We're fine with everything we own covered in black fur, but I guess it's an issue with many people. In any event, we're glad all those other people left our sweet companion for us.
posted by angiep at 10:40 PM on March 22, 2009

As I said, I volunteered sixteen hours a week for a couple of years at the greyhound adoption center, and what I heard over and over was that black greyhounds could be mistaken for aggressive breeds. There's also the shedding, and then also that they're supposedly less pretty.

I don't see it. There's nothing not pretty about a glossy black coat on a lovely happy dog.

We had a woman return a greyhound once because it didn't match her furniture once, though, so maybe it's the same thing.

(It's very, very hard when you get a return for a reason like that not to heap abuse on the person. You have to breathe deeply and chant 'the dog is better off here, the dog is better off here' the entire time. It was better when the potential adopter demonstrated their unfitness before they got the dog, like the lady who casually mentioned she kept her cat chained in the garage as we were walking through the kennel. No, lady, one of my darling floppy-eared friends is not for you.)
posted by winna at 11:08 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Funny that people are doubting this.

Not really. People generally offer no data to support it, just sad stories about supposedly unfairly ignored doggies. They might be right, or they might just be repeating stories from email their mothers forwarded to them. It might be, though I hesitate to say it here, confirmation bias. Who can say for sure if people don't come up with some figures? If you work in a shelter, you could make notes: the date the animal arrives, whether it is black, and then the date the animal is adopted. After some time, divide the data into black and non-black and compare. It's a bit simplistic, but it would be a lot more convincing than random anecdotes.

In the LA Times article, a guy who does have some numbers says it's a myth:

Reliable quantitative studies on the problem are few, and Ed Boks, general manager of the Los Angeles Animal Services department, said his data indicate black dog syndrome is a myth.

In the last 12 months, he said, 27% of the 30,046 dogs taken in by his department were predominantly or all black. Of those that were adopted, 28% were predominantly or all black, he said.

I wouldn't be surprised if a small percentage of people reject black pets because they think black fur is more obvious on clothes, or because kids fall for pets with colorful patterns, but I would want to see some real numbers before I'd think of contributing to the Save the Black Doggies League.
posted by pracowity at 12:11 AM on March 23, 2009

Sensing a desperate need for slogans, I generously donate the following:

Black dogs are local dogs and local dogs are fresh.
posted by Spatch at 5:09 AM on March 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

My girlfriend works at a shelter so I did a little research through her. Black dogs are harder to get adopted than non-black dogs, in her shelter they end up kenneled for much longer. Some of this is because they're perceived to shed more visibly than other animals which from what I can see is true. We're fostering a black rottweiler as she recovers from cancer. She's a really sweet dog but man, does she change the colour of the carpet!

Their shelter is aware of this and tries to put a little more effort into finding homes for the dark coloured dogs. Ultimately I still just donate money to the shelter with no strings attached. I figure they know where the funds are best spent and from reviewing their business they manage to do good work with very little overhead.
posted by substrate at 5:40 AM on March 23, 2009

Labarador Retrievers are the most popular breed of dog in the US. The most common color of lab is black. Somehow I'm not seeing this "black dog bias" thing. Maybe its an urban issue and people don't want big dogs in their small apartments?
posted by Pollomacho at 5:48 AM on March 23, 2009

Interesting point raised by Jeanne above; I agree that it's much harder to get a decent photo of a black, glossy-coated dog than one of any other colour.

(I currently have 3 greyhounds at home - two black one brindle).
posted by primer_dimer at 6:52 AM on March 23, 2009

All you who don't believe this phenomenon is accurate are killing me. I know it's true, because my own eyes tell me so every week when I deliver another load of dogs of all sizes and temperaments to rescues. Out of 20-25 dogs sent to rescues each week, there might be one black one on the transport. The rest of the black ones are still back at the shelter, waiting.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:56 AM on March 23, 2009

My shelter-adopted dog is so black he's ghetto. There's German Shepherd, Rottweiler--and he's got a little blue spot on his tongue and I wonder if that means there's a little Chow in there. Thug life represent!
But he has no testicles and he pees like a girl.
posted by Restless Day at 7:41 AM on March 23, 2009

Some of my friends are black dogs!
posted by davejay at 7:48 AM on March 23, 2009

Just take advantage of Led Zeppelin song with that title. All you need is Robert Plant screaming "Hey hey mama like the way you move like the way you scream like the way you groooove!" while dozens of Labrador retrievers start howling along. Pretty soon all the aging stoners will adopt all the black dogs, but you will have to lock up your trash can to prevent your neighbor's mutt from foraging for Doritos.
posted by jonp72 at 8:36 AM on March 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

Once, on the way to a muddy creek for a solo fishing trip, I found a black puppy trotting down a dirt road, tongue hanging out and happy as can be. He was maybe a few weeks old, with so many ticks on him he probably halved in weight once I had picked them all off. He frantically ran circles around me while I fished, pouncing at butterflies and rolling around in the mud. I took him home with the intention of passing him off to a well-intentioned friend who was a sucker for strays, only to find that said friend was all full-up on dogs and therefore I was stuck with this creature. I had, and still have, no idea what manner of dog he is. My father, who generally hates dogs but adores my dog, reckons he’s half-lab half-goat. My vet calls him a purebred Mississippi mongrel.

After leaving Mississippi, he lived with me in the mountains of North Carolina, and that winter was the first time he’d ever seen snow. He stepped off the porch with gusto and promptly disappeared into a four foot high drift, bounding out a minute later in a giddy explosion of black and white. He moved with me to New Orleans, and sat in traffic with me for hours on end while we evacuated from two hurricanes. He terrifies visitors who knock on the door with a barrage of ferocious barks, but greets them once they are inside with relentless cheer, making him both the best and worst burglar deterrent ever. My father is not the only dog-hater he has converted. He has been a neighborhood celebrity in every neighborhood we have lived in.

Eight years after finding him that morning and begrudgingly taking him home, I can’t imagine not having this stupid black dog. He’s seen a wife, and a few girlfriends, come and go, one or two going, in part, because they can’t handle this damned dog sleeping with us on the bed every night. He may be the only consistent thing in my life, and as he gets older, and I get older, I sometimes find myself dreading the day he will be gone.

He is not allowed on the bed anymore, but I can hear him jump off as soon as I put the key in the front door after work, and I find a warm, 55 pound dog-shaped indention on the sheets. He always greets me as if we have been separated for weeks, not hours. I once spent eight hours slow cooking a pork shoulder, left it on the counter to cool while I went around the corner for a pack of cigarettes, and returned home five minutes later to find him standing in the middle of a pork disaster, his smiling face glistening with fat. I could probably make a new dog every week or two from the amount of hair he sheds. He is getting slower and a bit fatter, but he still pounces at butterflies and rolls in the mud when I take him fishing. He is a mess, but I love him, because he is the best dog ever.
posted by gordie at 9:24 AM on March 23, 2009 [18 favorites]

My dogs are multicolored, but I can assure you that the bits that are black are mostly evil. (the nose that roots out illicit food, the foot that casually nails you in the crotch when you are sitting, and the head that takes out your leg when you are walking.)

Evil I say.

My black cat rules though.
posted by quin at 9:24 AM on March 23, 2009

My boyfriend and I adopted beautiful (what we thought was a) lab puppy two months ago. He's gotten so massive! Tons of energy, but man is he cute. Not sure what exactly he is, but we think he's some mix of lab, german shepherd, and doberman. That is going to be one big dog (he's already doubled in size)! I love my black Savage.
posted by Night_owl at 9:52 AM on March 23, 2009

Anecdotally, among the duck hunters my SO runs with, all prefer black dogs (labs, obv.) Yellow labs are the distinct minority; of the 50 or so duck-hunting dogs we are acquainted with personally, only 4 are yellow. None are chocolate. In the eyes of these guys, chocolate labs don't hunt*.

*Our own black lab was the last of the litter to be picked because he had a chocolate-colored head. It turned glossy black once his puppy fur grew out. His head is still made of solid bone, however, with a tiny cavity about the size of a key lime for his brain.
posted by jamaro at 9:59 AM on March 23, 2009

fyi, Wild dogs pretty much default to yellow. Around here, they bring in dogs from shelters in the South, because Southern Maine appears to be full of responsible dog lovers; most dogs get adopted fast. Really large dogs tend not to get adopted because people don't have room, and because they're expensive to feed. If there's a surplus of black labs, let me know where, we're looking for a 2nd dog.
posted by theora55 at 11:47 AM on March 23, 2009

Both my dogs and one of my cats are black. Mostly because I wear primarily black. Ergo, lower visible hair spectrum. That was my logic. Not really how it worked out...but whatcha gonna do?

My lab/chow was a rescue, in that someone chained her up on a post, I mean UP on a post, about 5 feet off the ground, wrapped chain around her and left her there in downtown Dallas. Guys at the motorcycle shop helped get her down. She may be the greatest dog ever. My lab/greyhound was a pound puppy...and bless her heart, she's just the goofiest dog on the planet. Regularly runs into things, barks at said thing, wags her tail, then tears off to run into something else. She's just not that bright.
posted by dejah420 at 1:21 PM on March 23, 2009