Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for black dogs. I have always liked labs and border collies, and not long after we adopted Pepper my brother told me about a phenomenon known as "black dog syndrome". What is it? In short, it means that black dogs are the hardest color dogs to get adopted and end up being the most euthanized color dog in shelters. No one can say exactly why; some theories are that people think black dogs are vicious, people think black dogs are bad luck just like black cats, or black dogs don't photograph well because shelters are poorly lit. It could just be that black is most common color for dogs, therefore it stands to reason that more black dogs don't make it because of the sheer numbers. Whatever the reason, it is heart breaking.
A few months after we adopted Pepper I went in search of a friend for her - a black friend. I found shelter on the web site of rural, high kill shelter (the same shelter Pepper came from). His picture was not stunning, and he really didn't look like the kind of dog that would catch your eye. He was just one of a dozen or so black dogs that would be put down if no one adopted them. He looked silly and sweet, and I had to have him. I'm pretty sure Di thought I had lost my mind, but she's good at humoring me, so we made arrangements to adopt him. Shadow has turned out to be the most loving, lovable, respectful, and obedient dog. We aren't sure of his pedigree, definitely lab and "something Asian", according to our vet. Whatever he is, he is fabulous!
And here we are: 1 year after adopting Pepper, 9 months after adopting Shadow, and 10 foster dogs later, we are adopting another dog. No, not keeping one of our foster's, as many have expected. I went back to the same rural, high kill shelter and stumbled on what I hope is the perfect dog for us. Of course, he's black. He appears to be a border collie/newfie mix - which is a best guess, of course. He is also heart worm positive (hence my rant about people not taking care of their pets in an earlier blog). Since he has heart worm, we have to wait another 6 weeks or so to adopt him. He is a bit of a looker, so I think if we hadn't picked him someone else would have - and I can't wait to me him! Right now his name is Asia, but I think we will be changing it to Chance, since we are taking a chance that he will fit with our pack and get along with our cats. I'm sure we'll be fine. If we can break Shadow of chasing cats, we can we break any dog :)
So Chance will make 3, and then we done adopting, but not fostering. I have come to the conclusion that, as long as you have a fenced yard, it doesn't matter if you have 2, 3, or 4 dogs. If you have to walk more than 2, best to bring a friend. My back can attest to that. Look for more about Chance (or whatever we decide to name him) in the future.
So, would you adopt a black dog? If you have never considered it, please do. Our rescue currently has several black lab pups that need homes. They are sweet dogs that aren't vicious, they aren't bad luck, and they need homes. They offer unconditional love and lots of happy tail wags - and who doesn't want that? Check them out at www.all4pawsrescue.com
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