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[ElizK]

I have 3 dogs that are mostly black. One is a tri-colored beagle, one is a tri-colored beagle/cocker/sneaky-neighbor dog, and one is a mostly black-with-a-smidge-of-white 100% mutt.

All 3 were adopted.

 

[dislal]

I have a black kitty and my home is next to a cemetary, we put the house up for sale last year and the realtor told us that a certain culture (that is big in my area) did not want to go into my home (due to superstition and proximity to the cemetary) but the few that did go in to see it freaked out when they saw my black kitty inside. So there are some religions/cultures that think black cats are bad luck, and apparently liv ing next to a cemetary is bad for them too. Me & the realtor did not know. And the combination of the two meant I was a witch. Oops!

BTW, quietest neighbors I have ever had.

My FIL and SMIL live next door to a really big cemetary and they say the same thing, it is the best neighbors they ever had.

My MIL has 3 black dogs and they are all very sweet, we have had black cat too.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

I have two mostly black cats. Both were shelter cats. Our shelter had a black and white sale (and all adult cats) half off the day after Thanksgiving ($35 to adopt).

 

[Jockaroo]

I have an LBD (little black dog). All 3 of my Scotties have been jet black. Most people think Scotties only come in black, but they are also wheaten (blond) and any shade of brindle. Only white is penalized. I like black dogs. A well-cared for black dog walking in the sunlight with blue or red highlights is a beautiful sight. My current Scottie is black but had a wheaten mother. When the sun hits her coat just right, her fur has copper penny-colored hightlights--she looks like she is on fire.

People dump animals (especially kittens) at my vet's office. They will not adopt out any black cats during October. I've heard that black dogs are the last to find homes in shelters. I can agree with the comments on the expressive faces. My neighbor's blond cocker spaniel has the most expressive eyes. Between the long eyebrows and the black hair, I rarely see my dog's eyes. And Scotties are very hard to photograph.

 

[princesslibby]

We have an all black 6 month old pomapoo. May I say as his Momma he is adorable! We were looking for a bigger dog 20-25 lb. However there was a big litter of all male, all black Pomapoos and the owner said he HAD to get Rid of them I didn't care for his wording or tone so now we have Perry.

 

[safetymom]

We have a black tuxedo cat. She is the sweetest cat ever! She was found wandering around by my son as a kitten. She has been a great cat. I don't understand people hurting cats and dogs.

 

[perdidobay]

Positively frightening!

Too cute!

 

[kacaju]

All my dogs have been black. I had a black poodle as a child. In my teens I got a black Lab mix. My first dog I bought was a black and white border collie. I then got a black and tan shep mix and most recent we have a tri color (black white and tan)smooth collie.

Yes, I can tell you people are more scared of my *big black* dogs vs. dogs of the same size but tan/brown colored.

I walk with a friend who has a golden. I walk the collie. My dog goes off the path to poop and other walking by will come pet her golden, I come back and the people leave.

We have had over the last year 1 rough sable collie (lassie) and a smooth sable. (these dogs don't belong to us, my daughter was showing them so they stayed with us for a while) Both of those dogs when i walked them people stop me and want to pet them. The only time I ever get anyone come up to the tri dog is if it is someone who happens to either know he is a collie (which is rare) or thinks he is a collie mix and they themselves owned a collie at one time so they want to pet him.

I just took the collie to a nursing home in a urban city like area for pet therapy (he is certified) and the staff was all scared of him. Many of the residents, once they saw how *big* he was only wanted to see him from the door.

 

[Ember]

I've had two all black cats in my life. I would have had a third after my fur-baby passed away, too. There was this charming 2 year old cat at the Humane Society who made a good try at stealing my heart. But then the little tabby crawled up, licked my nose, and then purred her silly heart out until I agreed she had to come home. It was a ruse, though! I brought her home and while she is indeed very loving, she's also a little demon who gets into absolutely everything!

 

[Nolcrest]

Interesting thread.

I would rather not have a black dog. It has nothing to do with them looking mean. I used to own a very sweet Doberman. I also owned a black lab. The reasons for me not wanting a completely black dog would be:

they don't photogragh as well
they turn gray as they age (hey, I know I do too)
their hair can be altered by sunlight
they show dandruff
they have black nails and that makes it harder for me to clip their nails
overall I'm attracted to multiple color

I never really quite thought about this in depth before - now I feel kinda bad.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Our dog is black and she's been rescued from the pound. She's a very sweet dog!

I didn't even consider color when picking a dog. I wanted a female dog of a certain age (about 1-4 years) and of a certain breed (herding dog mix) and her personality had to be nice with the kids. We got a great dog who met all qualifications!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

It's absolutely true. The rankings on desirable patterns in cats are:

1. Siamese
2. Calico or Tabby
4. Tortoiseshell ala "tortie"
5. All black
6. Tuxedo

I don't work with dogs, so I don't know that ranking, but do know that black dogs get adopted last.

I have seriously thought about starting a rumour amongst the neo-pagan among us that black and tuxedo cats make the best familiars, b/c there is nothing more spoiled than a cat familiar, if you're of that belief system, LOL.

The longer you work in cat rescue, the more mono and bi chromatic your cat household becomes. . .

 

[Ephany]

We have a yellow lab and a black/brindled lab mix. Both are rescues, our yellow girl we adopted because she loves kids and was already trained. Our black baby came to us by accident, she was found by a friend of a friend who couldn't keep both pups. I originally asked for the brown puppy because we were told that one was female, but we adopted the black one because they had gotten the sexes mixed up. To us, having a female was more important than color. She definitely looks more ferocious than our yellow, and it's a lot harder to tell what she's thinking (or plotting).

I've heard of this before, think it's called big black dog syndrome or something similar. As for cats, I grew up with calicos so that's my preference, but we aren't picky. Currently we have a long-haired grey female and a short-haired orange male. I'm not sure I'll do an orange male again though, he's the most needy, talkative, picky fellow! He's almost as much work as the other three combined.

 

[Jockaroo]

Interesting thread.

I would rather not have a black dog. It has nothing to do with them looking mean. I used to own a very sweet Doberman. I also owned a black lab. The reasons for me not wanting a completely black dog would be:

they don't photogragh as well
they turn gray as they age (hey, I know I do too)
their hair can be altered by sunlight
they show dandruff
they have black nails and that makes it harder for me to clip their nails
overall I'm attracted to multiple color

I never really quite thought about this in depth before - now I feel kinda bad.

The wonderful thing about dogs is they come in all "flavors"!

I will say that my male Scottie who passed at age 14 1/2 was very distinguished with his grayed beard. The most handsome boy ever--oh, how I miss him....

I refuse to try to clip nails. I take my dog to the vet for this. I'm terrified I'll "quick" her. Luckily she is very active and we don't have to do nails often. You are correct, they don't photograph well at all. But, I will have you know my pooch does not have dandruff.

Personally, I can't imagine having a solid white dog. I've seen some pretty dingy Westies and Bichons. One other plus for black dogs--can't see tear stains!

Ember, the best pets are the ones that choose us.

 

[mrs_hower726]

I have 2 siamese girls (sisters) and 2 black cat boys.

I grew up with siamese so that is what DH and I started out with when we moved in together.

I didn't even think of owning a black cat until I was volunteering in a cat shelter and there was this handsome little guy that was so serene and calm and when I opened the cage up, he licked my hand and looked up at me. I was hooked.

 

[chisnpeke]

We had one around here. I feel so sad for the animals that can't get adopted because people are so superstitious.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I hardly know anyone with black dogs, unless it's a very specific breed (like a chihuahua). Sadly here it's simply "not in" to have a plain black dog. People think they are too boring, not interesting. Everyone I know wants the popular/rarer breeds with interesting colorings. People want the attention an interesting pet brings, wants to be seen as "cool", be popular in their circle of friends, to show the pet off.

Very sad, but like in so many aspects of life, appearances always matter.

 

[Piecey]

That was probably my thread.

I posted that our local humane society waived all fees for people on Black Friday willing to adopt a black/dark furred animal.

I would have gone and gotten another kitty but DH couldn't get leave from work. We both agreed we'd rather pay the adoption fee than for me to get a cat for "free" that he didn't approve of.
(I put it in quotations because I probably would have still made a donation to them.)

I volunteered there in high school and remember in my training that the darker animals were most likely going to be around the longest.
I adopted a black tortie (she does have a white belly!) but she was set to be euthanized. All her brothers/sisters got adopted but her.. and she was a kitten! Just a baby when she got there. She's currently sitting on the back of my desk chair purring.
I had to stop volunteering shortly after that. I kept wanting to bring them all home with me!

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

DH and I have 3 cats. a black one, a white one, and a gray one.

not only have i heard the "superstition" about black cats but i've also heard one about white cats. when we adopted our last cat, the white one, the woman at the shelter was telling us that white cats are sometimes hard to adopt out too, because people think they look "spooky" and don't like them.

i've never seen an animal that looked "Spooky" based on their coloring. but then again i think i'm biased because i think all animals are cute. even when they have the ugliest dog contests i'm always the one going "but he/she's so cute!!" lol

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

That was probably my thread.

I posted that our local humane society waived all fees for people on Black Friday willing to adopt a black/dark furred animal.

I would have gone and gotten another kitty but DH couldn't get leave from work. We both agreed we'd rather pay the adoption fee than for me to get a cat for "free" that he didn't approve of.
(I put it in quotations because I probably would have still made a donation to them.)

I volunteered there in high school and remember in my training that the darker animals were most likely going to be around the longest.
I adopted a black tortie (she does have a white belly!) but she was set to be euthanized. All her brothers/sisters got adopted but her.. and she was a kitten! Just a baby when she got there. She's currently sitting on the back of my desk chair purring.
I had to stop volunteering shortly after that. I kept wanting to bring them all home with me!

that's exactly why DH doesn't want me volunteering or working for an animal shelter/clinic/vet office lol he said i'd just keep bringing them home! but honestly, that's what i would love to do.