I don't thing anyone knows the reasoning behind why this statistic is true, and this is based on information in the United States because they seem to keep better records than other countries for some reason. This was totally new to me so I dug into it a bit more and found some really strange reasons why this does in fact appear to be the case around the world.
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This global phenomenon is called "Black Dog Syndrome" and originates from a variety of sources, but there seems to be one major contributor to this strange situation.
Movies and TV
It seem more often than not, when a dog in a film is presented as menacing or "evil" the dog has dark fur or dark features overall. The same is true of black cats, who have been treated as evil for quite some time as well despite the fact that any dog, regardless of fur color, normally has the same opportunity for a loving temperament. This of course does not apply to Chihuahuas, who are evil incarnate.
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In films, scary guard dogs are frequently depicted as Rottweilers or Dobermans, two breeds that are normally dark colored and do have the propensity to be menacing, but just like any dog breed, that is entirely up to the owner. Why do people not have the same fear or a German Shepherd, which is arguably just as powerful and dangerous an animal as these breeds?
It all comes down to perception and there is no denying that films and TV have an impact on how people perceive certain things in the world, including dogs.
In a 2002 Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science study found that dark colored dogs and cats tended to stay in shelters a considerable longer amount of time than lighter colored animals and are eventually euthanized in far greater numbers.
Recently one of our donors (thanks by the way) forwarded a post from a local animal shelter talking about how despite the fact that 3 of their dogs have wonderful personalities and display no violent tenancies towards humans or other animals, they are continually passed over for other, lighter colored animals.
A counter-argument might be that they appear to be menacing breeds but this is negated by the fact taht they have had other, similar looking dogs that were adopted in the same time frame with lighter coats.
Thankfully, this information comes from a "no-kill shelter" so Jake, Zoe, and Jethro are in no danger of being euthanized.
Therefore I want to put this information out there to any potential would-be adopter when you go to the local shelter to help a poor pup get a forever home. Perhaps pay special attention to the darker colored ones since this trend, however it came into being, seems to be pretty universal and also quite sad for the dogs in question.
I have had many dogs in my life and their temperaments were all wonderful and I can personally attest to something that most dog owners already know: It is entirely up to you, the master, how it is that your dog ends up behaving and their fur color has nothing to do with it.
If you would like to see how you can help out, or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
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Weirdly enough it's the same for humans. Skin colour matters not in the grand scheme of things but it's often portrayed in negative undertones in the movies and other media.
Colour should never be a defining mark of someone be it human or animal. Actions are what make a man.
What an odd statistic. I could imagine that being true for cats because we all know the fairytales, but dogs? I've had 3 dogs in my life and 2 of them were black.
Black is a pretty common color for a dog. My college dog was a rescue and was a black lab mix. She was probably the best-behaved dog that I ever had.