Happy "National Black Dog Day"

Happy "National Black Dog Day"!

I jokingly refer to all my pets as dogs: "Groucho" is my little dog, "Nova" is my medium sized dog, and "Jet" is my big dog... and, yes, they are all black!

Are you familiar with Black Dog Syndrome? It's a phenomenon where black dogs are passed over for adoption in favour of lighter or more colourful-coated dogs. While some people might dispute this, everyone I've spoken to who are involved with shelters have agreed that "black" is not a particularly popular colour.

Perhaps not coincidentally then, black cats are known to suffer from the same phenomenon. Rather than refer to Black Dog Syndrome or Black Cat Syndrome, in our Western culture I think we should simply refer to it as "Black Animal Syndrome".

The reason for black-coated animals being less popular could be tied to one of a variety of different reasons or, more likely, a combination of different reasons. I tend to think that, these days, people think of black-coated animals as 'ordinary' and, instead, want a more unique or brighter colour in the same way that people seem to want more unique breeds: It's more about the aesthetic than anything else. Just my personal opinion though...