Coming into the world as a black dog is to be born under a terrible curse. Not only is Tucker black, but he's also mixed-breed, male, and relatively large. That's four deadly strikes against him. Society is rife with misconceptions about black dogs, particulary if they're large and male-- it's widely believed that they're meaner, more ill-behaved, and in general have significantly worse temperaments than lighter-colored dogs. Some call this big black dog syndrome. Without intervention, such dogs who wind up in shelters are virtually doomed, because they just don't get adopted.
There is absolutely no evidence that black dogs aren't just as friendly, submissive and trainable as any other dogs. And yet dogs of this color are euthanized at horrifying rates. If they're large, mixed-breed and male, the rates are even worse. That's one of the reasons we rescued Tucker-- if we hadn't done so, he wouldn't have had even a glimmer of a chance.
It took a long time, but we finally found an enlightened adopter to make Tucker his own. We believe that big black dog syndrome is the major reason that it took as long as it did, even though he's a marvelous dog. He's a little rough around the edges, but so are most rescue dogs. He now has a caring and dedicated owner, who has added a wonderful companion to his family.
Here are links to websites and an article regarding black dog syndrome:
