Black Dog Syndrome Even For Black Labrador Retrievers

Regardless of what kind of dog you are looking for you may want to consider a lab mix puppy. The only type of dog that really does not work for a lab mix puppy are dogs from the toy category. In general these dogs are desirable because of their small size, but when you mix them with a Labrador they will no longer retain that tiny size. However, just about every other class of dog will work in for a lab mix puppy.

Black Dog Omen

Black dog syndrome is used by people who work or volunteer in animal shelters. For some reason, all black dogs, even purebred black Labrador Retrievers are almost always passed over in favor of other colored dogs. Any other color dog does better even if they are the same breed. This also happens to black Labrador Retrievers, especially in shelters. A golden, yellow, white or chocolate Labrador Retriever will almost always be picked over black Labrador Retrievers.

Superstition

Although we claim to not believe in superstitions, our subconscious proves we do. Quite often, we pass over anything black because of the negative bias towards the color black. The only things that seem to escape this bias are diamonds and horses. However, there are a lot of myths, legends and stories about black dogs being somehow bad. One of these is that vampires can change into black wolves or black dogs (even black Labrador Retrievers).

Probably the most famous bad black dog was the Hound of the Baskervilles, which went after the legendary Sherlock Holmes. Many scholars and psychologists think the reason why the Hound of the Baskervilles is so famous is because a large black dog fits our subconscious idea of what an evil creature looks like, even a dog with floppy ears like a black Labrador Retriever.

Hecate And Paganism

In some pre-Christian pagan religions, black dogs were seen as sacred. One of the most powerful and respected Goddesses (still worshipped by modern day Pagans) is Hecate (or Hekate), known as the Goddess of Witches. One of her symbols was the black dog. It was said that She could appear to people in the form of either a black snake, a black mare or a black dog.

Whenever Christianity overtook paganism, anything associated with the old Deities was immediately demonized. This is probably what happened to all black dogs, even in this modern day and age, causing the black dog syndrome seen today in pet rescues and animal shelters.

A Good Dog Is Never A Bad Color

If you are considering adopting a dog (and good for you), then please be sure to take a second look at all of the black dogs in the shelter. Perhaps they will look ordinary, but that's only on the outside. If you specifically want to adopt a Labrador Retriever, be sure to tell the breed rescue or animal shelter that you would accept a black Labrador Retriever. You will certainly gain not only the shelter worker's respect, but the friend of a lifetime.