If you do, you are in the minority. I read a very interesting article yesterday that highlighted how dog owners knowing or unknowingly choose to bring home dogs that are NOT black. You can read the article here.

The author talks about how the number of black dogs in shelters across the US, and perhaps worldwide, is overwhelmingly more than dogs of any other color. Black dogs simply don’t seem to be the natural choice of pet owners. There are several reasons for this discrimination. They may range from superstition, to color aversion, to simply the fact that black is one color that people easily relate to qualities like “grim”, “scary”, “fierce”, and “unlucky”.

Many dog owners with black pooches may find the report strange, but I can see where the author is coming from. I own two black INDogs myself. They are jet black—and jet black INDogs are hard to come by. From the beginning, I have noticed how visitors to my house, and sometimes even my mother and grandmother shrink away from them.

In fact, my grandmother has told me a number of times that your black dog scares me when she looks at me with those “burning eyes”. Burning eyes? Kalzie is the gentlest soul I know. It’s not her fault that she is jet black and has bright eyes. But then my octagenarian grandmother has an aversion to all black animals including my magnificent and rare Angelfish.

It has taken a lot of time to condition my family to Kalzie and now she has a doppleganger of a daughter called Zilka. My mom and grandmother dote over her. Time does make a difference in perception. My family had the time to spend with these dogs and get to know them. Unfortunately, most dogs in shelters don’t have so much time in their hands.

Do you know that most of the dogs that are put to sleep in shelters are black in color? People don’t trust the color; what they fail to understand is that the dog’s soul may be pristine and hungry for love.

After reading this article, I paid visits to two blogs in the Paws network: Houndsgood and Save a shelter pet. 99% of the dogs listed in these two blogs are predominantly black. It is likely that most of them won’t make it.

This is an appeal to everyone who is looking to bring home a pet dog. Please adopt one, and give the black dogs a chance. They make wonderful pets.