Black & White Dog Photos – Don’t Judge a Dog By It’s Colour
Life is not Black and White, however dog photos can be. Like this one of Kilo the Rescue Pug against the snow today.
Did you know that black cats and dogs like Kilo can apparently be harder to find homes for in some cases?
During the pet adoption process, many potential owners are influenced by appearance (eyes, ears, shape of face, size, hair).
Some may associate the colour black with aggression, evil, depression or misfortune (there is a common superstition that black cats can be unlucky, bad dogs and witches in movies are often black, storm clouds are dark, moods can be dark ). This bias may transfer over to their choice of dog.
Additionally, many shelters and rescues feature photo profiles of their dogs on their websites. Black dogs can be harder to photograph well, so cute photogenic lighter-coloured dogs may have an advantage with potential adopters browsing the site.
There have been adoption and euthanasia studies that both dispute and support “black dog syndrome” and results can vary by breed, age, size, location and other factors. However, it does seem to be generally accepted that predominantly dark animals may take longer to be adopted than their lighter counterparts, and that large dogs may take longer to adopt than small ones, especially in cities.
There is no doubt in our minds that widely sharing good, well lit photos of black dogs taken against light bright backgrounds can really help find homes for pets and we love the fact that are lots of talented photographers using their skills for rescues including our friends Trish, Aria and Colleen.
Check out our Rescues Rock campaign, Pawsome Pet Photography and some websites like Petfinder if you are thinking of adopting. Consider the right breed and age for your lifestyle and personality
“Don’t judge a dog by it’s colour!”
Have a great PuppyBowl Snowball Sunday- be safe.
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