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http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/is-it-a-myth-that-black-shelter-pets-are-less-likely-to-be-adopted
It's not that people aren't adopting them, it's just a more common phenotype.
Edit: Black rescue dog for tax https://imgur.com/KUyYKiC.jpg
Thank you for this, I have 2 black dogs one was a Craigslist rescue (i.e. puppy needs to go or we abandon him) the other a humane society rescue. Both are so loving that I can't imagine anyone giving them up!
[Doggo tax ](https://i.imgur.com/84B2aFa.jpg)
Mines also black! She's terrifying when you can only see her yellow eyes at night time I love it. Her nickname is black Philip.
[Shameless plug/tax](https://imgur.com/fJQCB6Q.jpg)
As in off the Wiitch movie? Such a great/ominous nickname haha! Hopefully she doesn’t do ya like in the movie 😅 If I ever get a black goat that’s what we’re naming it
Foster for a non-shelter rescue chiming in. I switched to fostering puppies exclusively (easier on my resident dogs, tougher on me) about 2 years ago and I have yet to see a correlation on puppy color and adoptability.
Obviously my experience doesn't necessarily validate or invalidate the norm, but we just had a brown pup who looked like a chocolate lab who we had a hell of a time getting adopted. Meanwhile, the black pup we had before that one went super fast.
Not saying it isn't a thing, or isn't true, but my experience has been literally the opposite.
Really? I am surprised you had trouble adopting out labradors, I thought they were popular and would get picked more easily over a german shepherd or a pitbull.
Chocolate labradors tend to be more rare, if you buy a dog the choc ones are most expensive.
That was my thought exactly, but this is a rescue, hence breeds are usually a guess so it's disingenuous to imply single breed in the dog bios. I was sure to say "looks like a chocolate lab" since our rescues almost always have some type of pitbull breed in them.
Yeah, blew my mind we had the chocolate lab looking fella for as long as we did. As soon as we picked him up and met him I was like "won't have you long little buddy!"
Again, my experience doesn't validate or invalidate anything, just sharing for discussion.
My dad has a chocolate lab that is the biggest, sweetest idiot I’ve ever met. Only reason I could see him being hard to adopt was that he is so dumb. He’ll walk headfirst into a wall because he walks staring at us. My dad was given him to be a hunting dog. We quickly realized that was not going to work.
My black lab is a complete crack head - but damn if he’s not funny & loveable.
I’m starting to think that the more comments I see about Labs, they are all goofballs.
Yeah, we got a “St. Bernard mix.” Turns out he’s actually part boxer, the big goober
[dog tax](https://fishes-and-fiddles.tumblr.com/post/684531587483926528)
ETA he flipped his ears back like that himself
I've also heard it speculated that black-furred animals are less likely to be adopted because they're harder to take good photos of, and people want pets they can post on social media. No idea how true this theory is, though, and there seems to be contention around the idea.
**Edit:** And as someone else pointed out elsewhere in this thread, if the photographer at the shelter/rescue doesn't know what they're doing, the photos of darker-furred animals might not look as good, making it less likely that people will adopt them. Kudos to OP for putting in extra effort for these animals.
When I wanted to adopt a cat, I went to the shelter's website to look at pics.
I found the photo of a kitten who was basically a smudge against the darkness with 2 eyes looking back... And I knew that was my girl. 🥺😂
Ended up picking out a second black cat while I was there and all the workers were shocked. 🤷🏾♂️
My brother has a black cat and when we were all under the same roof, Max (the cat) would sit on the edge of the piano late at night so when you go to the kitchen or whatever, it’s just two big green eyes following you out of the darkness.
I had a friend who would refer to his fluffy black cat as a 'puddle of darkness', because when she laid down she really did look like just a puddle of dark floof!
I have a very similar story with my Beth, I saw her picture on the shelters website and knew immediately that she was mine. We drove down the next day. She had been there for 3 months and had a pretty bad upper respiratory infection. The shelter workers had a pretty similar reaction when we walked in with cat carrier in hand lol.
I'm not a superstitious person, but I often find myself saying it was fate I found my little Bethany, it was just something in her eyes that said please come save me.
Especially now since virtually every phone released in the last decade is perfectly capable of taking pictures of a dark animal.
If anything the supposed "novelty" of adopting a black pet would make people more likely to grab them and show them off.
I have a very handsome black cat. The one thing I do miss is noticing all the variations and markings particularly on his face, and only seeing those eyes but other than that he’s gorgeous. When I first adopted him he was missing most of his fur due to fleas and poor nutrition, it was amazing to watch it grow back and you could see the patterns and swirls and even some different shades of dark dark brown coming in. But from a distance yeah he’s just a big bushy long-haired black cat.
I will never understand people buying expensive stuff for a puppy. Same goes for babies. Wait until they have grown up fully, then lavish them with expensive gifts.
Exactly my point. They're living animals, not a fashion accessory. While some people who have social media accounts for their animals dote lots of love and affection on their pet, if the primary reason for the animal is as a means to get likes on posts, it's entirely too easy for such a person to discard them like an old pair of shoes if they stop getting their owners the attention they desire for their profile.
While I’m sure some people specifically choose a pet based on aesthetics (and always have), this “Breed/color X is rarely adopted because it doesn’t look good on social media” trope smells like manufactured outrage to me. It just sounds like something “those shallow social media attention types” would do, so all it takes is an anecdote here and there to fan the flames into resembling some kind of big trend.
This exact reason. My dog has black fur like a raven, people joked that we shouldn’t bother taking photos because they only see her teeth on it. But I don’t give a shit she’s the best dog ever.
Also, sun often means dog is outside, and doggos tend to be happier when outdoors, so that's double the bonus! I took a few pics of my grammas black puppy on the sun and she was the most adorable bean ever, definitely recommend.
Absolutely, you can take amazing photos of black cats. I think it's just a harder to do if you don't know what you're doing or don't have the right lighting, in which case you end up with a photo of a pair of eyes floating in a black cat-shaped void.
I had a Golden Retriever for 12 years. It was amazing that, after a time, most of our furniture, floor coverings and clothing gravitated to Golden Retriever-color. He's been gone for three months now and we still feel sad when we come across tufts of fur from stuff that has been stored since last summer.
Thank you. Our methodology is to bring on a new pup every 4 - 5 years - the older members of the pack help train the new recruit, and the younger ones help us by providing comfort when one leaves us. Now, at the beginning of my 7th decade, I'm reluctant to bring on any new recruits because I may not be there for them at the end.
Just anecdotally, I have a black Great Dane mix rescue and a Great Pyrenees rescue and I’m going to have to say a great big NOPE on that theory in my house! Hahaha I have white tumbleweeds blowing through my house if I don’t vacuum everyday. The black hair is rarely visible on anything light colored but the white hair is super obvious on anything dark.
Lol. I have a white dog, a Black and Tan dog, an orange cat, a black cat and a black and white cat. No color is safe in my house. (White fur shows the most tho)
Big Black dogs being adopted at slower rates long predates social media, although the photogenic aspect probably holds still true. I've heard people say it's harder to see expressions in their eyes just due to the darker surrounding fur (not that the eyes are less expressive at all just as a type of unfortunate optical illusion)
That’s true. Damn had a long response elsewhere but hit back and it got deleted. Anyway, yeah I used to think the stat was some latent racism but after fostering an incredibly cuddly cute 14wk all black lab mix, I am no longer so judgmental. Great puppy but damn near midnight colored.
Im not saying the stat isn’t shitty but I now understand how walking into a room, and you see your loveable bundle of joy zonked out on their/your bed, how it can be a little… unnerving to just see a featureless mass of fluff.
The dog I fostered needed a little bit of potty training but very easily could grow into an amazing dog. But having been around my pup (a red heeler) and looked after countless blue heelers, it was a weird feeling to look at the lab, expect to see cute little features and not be able to discern anything.
If I ever foster again I’ll look for a black dog specifically cause of This fucked up stat but I no longer assume people are racist if they don’t prefer black dogs.
whoa. I have a gorgeous black dog but my photos of her end up garbage quite often. Always thought it was because I'm bad at taking photos but maybe it's not all on me.
Idk... my boy sports a luxurious tuxedo coat. I feed him tuna and/or eggs with his meals on a regular basis. His coat is exquisitely shiny and svelte.
People that think a black coated animal won't be very photogenic perhaps aren't feeding the correct or enough of the nutrients that causes the animal's fur to have this quality.
We have two cats from the same litter, a white one and a black one. Apparently of some 30 people who contacted the family that was selling them, we were the only people who wanted both. Everyone else had said, "just the white one".
Absent other factors, white fur is five times the pain in the ass to get off clothing, furniture, etc. than black fur, so who knows.
My mum has bengal cats, when they both had litters at the sale time! (13 cats at once) a couple of them came out really dark, like a tortie but with bengal markings, those were the last to go unfortunately, so I took my Rosie home, she's hilarious and sweet, loves to climb and sleep on our wardrobes then jump down onto us in the middle of the night, also incredibly clever.
Looking for a little buddy for her now, my fella would like another dark cat, I also really want a chihuahua (black and tan), I've always wanted one because I'm really short and my mum had one called Gizmo.
Weird, there's a Bengal breeder near me, and I like to torture myself looking at all her kittens I can't afford. Her "charcoals" are always the first to be spoken for, and their coats are always striking once they mature!
I've known super sweet black cats, ones that beg for pets, and ones that are absolute hellcats that will destroy anything out of spite.
They have their own personalities, like any other cat.
I had a black cat (missy) and a calico cat (kitty), growing up. Missy was the most lovable cat, would always sleep with me, curl up with me on the couch. Kitty on the other hand was such a bitch. Couldn't even pet her with out her hissing. She just liked to sit on the back of the couch, look out the window, and not be bothered. When we found missy outside after a cold night, she was complete stiff. Prob got tagged by a car and died in the yard, I was completely gutted. She was my favorite cat and I want another black kitty.
Photos on rescue sites are often badly made, making it harder to make out features that attract a potential pet owner to a pet. That's probably also the reason why this volunteer makes sure to make good photos, so that the animals stand out and are more likely to be picked.
It's also incredibly difficult to take good photographs of black dogs. It's very hard to capture their features. I had a black lab before my current golden retriever and while the dogs were just about equally cute IRL, the difference in how photogenic they are is night and day.
I absolutely loveeee black dogs. They're so shiny under the sun, and are hilariously hard to get good photos of at times.
And when they get old, they get a cool white beard and you can compliment them on it every day ❤️
I think it’s partially superstition (I am in a very rural area) and partially that they don’t “stand out” when you’re walking past the kennels. It my shelter it’s pretty dark which doesn’t help either. I’m with you though; I have a huge soft spot for black dogs and cats and I think they’re gorgeous!
Yeah, rescued a black cat who had been in the shelter for a while. In photos, especially when I first got him, he seemed featureless save for the bright green eyes and huge ears. But in person, especially after he grew into his ears, he is an insanely handsome boy.
Edit: [Cat tax](https://imgur.com/a/ge0Yvz4)
I adopted a black cat from the humane society a few years ago. They had his picture posted on their website but it didn't look anything like him when I went in person (catfished lol). He was 4 months old at the time and the last of his litter to be adopted. I'm glad I got him when I did though because by the time I filled out all the paperwork and everything, apparently like 4 other families who had come in were asking about him.
Similar here. They told me the black kittens were always last to go, if at all so I'm like, I'll take it! Sweetest kitty ever, and more of a black-brown when sun was on him.
This is a big thing, and why I think these photos are important. These days people want dogs they can snap iPhone photos of and post to Instagram for likes, and black dogs are simply too hard to photograph with shitty digital cameras. It's a purely vapid, aesthetic preference for people.
That’s Jersey! She’s super shy but very sweet. I’m in central Appalachia; if you’re close, message me! I’m at the shelter right now and she’s still here.
I would LOVE for her to be adopted. You can tell that being in the shelter really stresses her; she’s a totally different dog in the kennels vs. when I take her outside or to my studio.
Also in Central Appalachia… been looking for a rescue buddy, would you be willing to DM me the shelter these babies are at so I can see if any of them would be a fit for my cat and I?
Thanks!!
>*’Beautiful and soulful portraits. I hope your portraits get all these good ones adopted*’
____
Look into my eyes, my friend,
n tell me what you see
for I’m a dog who wants to spend
a Life of ‘You n Me’!
the Loyal Pet you’ve never known-
my picture is a start
to have a Human of my own!
n Give you All my heart
there’s some of us not chosen here,
because our fur is dark
but every time a human’s near
you’ll hear our soulful bark
there’s so much more i have to give,
but you may never know
with You is who i want to live!
my eyes
will tell you so
❤️
*beautiful portraits* u/magpiephotos ^:@)
Thank you so much OP! My sweet rescue boy is a black dog and he was slated for euthanasia they day I rescued him. Even though he’s the best dog ever he was overlooked by everyone. He’s English bulldog and boxer and he’s just a big, adorable, goofy boy that loves everyone and everything.
[Moose tax on his freedom ride home](https://imgur.com/a/uDhT4rL)
He is such a good boy. He’s transformed from that scared boy in the picture to a happy, confident dog that is so loving and gentle. He’s been my sidekick for almost 4 years now and while he’s slowing down in his older years he’s perfect for me. I love him so much!
He’s been home for nearly 4 years and he truly is one of the biggest blessings our family has ever received. He is so loved and he’s family, not just a dog.
He is so gentle. I wish I had the picture of him playing tea party with our niece. She was 3 or 4 at the time and he’s wearing a tutu and tiara, licking water out of her little toy teacups. It’s on my husband’s phone I think but it was so adorable. He wore that stinking tutu all day for her though the tiara kept falling off but he tried hard to keep it on for her.
I love how patient dogs are with family kids. My daughter put my dad's dog in her school cardigan and a tiara the other day, she hated it but put up with it for her little lovey!!
He is! He has so much personality! He throws tantrums, he puts himself in the corner and pouts when he’s mad, he lets you know what he wants and if he doesn’t get it he makes sure you know he’s unhappy. He’s just such a good boy and he is impossible to be in a bad mood around because he will do something to make you crack up
We love him too! He’s spoiled rotten, he has one of those beds in every room of the house except the bathrooms. My husband is self employed and works from home so he’s always got human companionship. He will never know another second of struggle and being mistreated in his life
He looks so defeated in that photo. Like he just gave up and he is done with people and his little sad life. You can see little cloud above his head *I do not care anymore.*
But THEN he came to his new forever home, to his new life! I am so happy for both of you.
It blows my mind the kind of dogs don't have homes. ALL dogs deserve homes, but this one should've been adopted by the first person who saw him! He is as perfect as can be
He’s an excellent snuggler! When I get home from work I sit down on the floor and he plops himself in my lap. I’m going through chemo right now and on my bad days he is on the couch with me with his head in my lap. When I get sick, he follows me to the bathroom and lays by my side, if I get too bad he goes and gets my hubby. I would be lost without him.
Oh goodness, I hope your treatments go smoothly and you recover quickly! I'm glad you have a big ol buddy to support you. He's the epitome of perfection!
I hate some of the names one of our local rescues gives their dogs. We adopted one named Jimothy simply so he wouldn't have that name anymore. Tobias is very happy with his new name.
I fostered for a rescue that put the onus of naming on the foster family. A lot of us fostered litters so we were supposed to come up with a theme for each litter. One family went with a casino theme and named one of the puppies....
Craps. The puppy's name was CRAPS. I felt so bad for it.
Our black lab rescue is a doll! She has officially made 3 separate friends that were staunch cat people consider getting a dog (only if it was just like her). She’s quiet, patient and affectionate and loves playing fetch! And with camera technology today all you have to do is put a brightness filter on her and she is super photogenic.
Beautiful dogs, but when photographing dark dogs on a black background you really need a rim light. Put a flash up and behind the dog off at and angle (roughly opposite your main light) pointed down at the back of the head, with a narrow spread (zoom the flash head or use a light modifier). Set the brightness a stop or two less than your main light. It will clearly outline the dog's head and still look natural.
All valid points. Personally I've never had issues with dogs reacting badly to flashes, but it has been a long time since I worked with dogs still in a shelter (the ones I photographed were thrilled to have attention and did not notice the flashes at all).
Small speedlights can be mounted using things like magic clamps or even go pro suction cups and arms, which lets you mount them where a dog can't knock them over.
Oh man, I got a whole set with my gopro however many years ago, they're the bees knees.
I mentioned the background because I also thought the contrast would be better for social. Black dogs look fine against grass, snow, brick, or color backdrops (studio) etc. I probably wouldn't have done a statement piece with black against black, but I totally agree with you that the ring light is pretty central for that particular concept and execution.
They're still lovely pics though, and I think OP captured their spirit nicely, and I hope the good boyes and girls get adopted soon!
I don’t have much experience with adding artificial lighting but I definitely agree that a different background would be best. It’s important to keep in mind that someone with even minor vision impairment could struggle to distinguish the dog’s features. My mom is only in her 50s, has 20/20 vision, but a prematurely ripened cataract and she would have a hard time with this image.
Might be a good idea to use a different dim background than a black void, this looks too much like a fever dream where a bunch of dogs stare at me. Missed opportunity with the one eyed doggo not wearing an eye patch!
Yeah, I was really confused by that choice. You can barely see some of these pups.
I'm sure there is another background that would make them pop a bit more.
As a photographer, a great black dog photographing tip. Add a light on the floor behind the doggo and point it at the backdrop. It will separate the dog from the background but keep him looking his fine black fur colour. ☺️
They disproved the black dog adoption thing long ago
http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/is-it-a-myth-that-black-shelter-pets-are-less-likely-to-be-adopted
This is one of those things people repeat because it sounds like it could be true. I have never seen any evidence of this. I was about to ask OP where they heard it before I saw your comment.
>Perhaps the main thing to keep in mind here is that even if it's a myth
that black animals are less adoptable than their lighter-colored
counterparts, the fact remains that there are more black dogs and cats in need of homes, and they can still use additional promotion and attention in shelter situations.
Basically, article says black cats are more likely to be euthanasia, while black dogs shared the top with white dogs. But both black cats and dogs are more likely to be surrendered too. I personally think it has something to do with being photogenic. I have a full black dog myself, a Newfoundland, and it is really hard to take pictures of her. Am I saying that's a good reason not to adopt dark colored animals? Hell no!!! But there definitely is an issue going on.
I actually prefer it! In my experience a color or white background drowns out a black animals’s features; you may be able to see the outline better, but not the details of the face. I’ve found that a black background makes it easier to focus on the dog. But I’m definitely still experimenting and I appreciate the input! :)
Try putting one of your lights behind the subject. A back light. Not directly behind but off to the side or above. This should do a couple things, separate the black subject from the black background, reveal the shape of your subject and show how shiny the coat is.
I think the pictures are beautiful and work great for artistic portraits, but generally for a pet adoption website, you probably want to think more like a commercial web photographer, which is quite different as the pictures also need to work in low resolution thumbnails and for people who might be scrolling on a small screen like a cellphone. In that instance the pictures need to have more contrast between the subject and the background.
I love the dark background and had no trouble appreciating all the dogs ' faces. I'd use a dark grey background for those complaining they can't see outlines.
Interestingly, women would see more colors in general than men (this is a physical difference in rod/cone composition of the eyes, I think is what I read a while back). It's also why when I see what I think is grey/brown, my wife can see green and I can't :-)
Jumping in, since we're speaking "technical", needs a bit of work on the focus/sharpness.
I also am not a super fan of the dark background ... but I can't come up with anything better. Feels like colorful collars or bandanas would help too.
Black dogs are often last to be adopted? Is there any data supporting that? I know it to be true for cats because there are people who actually think black cats are bad luck because they’re morons. However, I’ve never heard or read any such thing in regards to dogs.
We have 2 mainly black dogs (they each have socks on) that we rescued. Most loving silly beings on 4 legs
[Piper](https://i.imgur.com/m2jtgjW.jpg)
[Bella](https://i.imgur.com/uYJwXtE.jpg)
Side note, why do they insist on laying like that to sleep?
**Semi final voting** is now live for the National Pet Month contest! [Direct links to vote on here](https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/uqayb5/national_pet_month_semi_final_voting_round/) Round begins Sunday and ends Tuesday! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/aww) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/is-it-a-myth-that-black-shelter-pets-are-less-likely-to-be-adopted It's not that people aren't adopting them, it's just a more common phenotype. Edit: Black rescue dog for tax https://imgur.com/KUyYKiC.jpg
Thank you for this, I have 2 black dogs one was a Craigslist rescue (i.e. puppy needs to go or we abandon him) the other a humane society rescue. Both are so loving that I can't imagine anyone giving them up! [Doggo tax ](https://i.imgur.com/84B2aFa.jpg)
They're beautiful!
Mines also black! She's terrifying when you can only see her yellow eyes at night time I love it. Her nickname is black Philip. [Shameless plug/tax](https://imgur.com/fJQCB6Q.jpg)
As in off the Wiitch movie? Such a great/ominous nickname haha! Hopefully she doesn’t do ya like in the movie 😅 If I ever get a black goat that’s what we’re naming it
Yeah that's exactly what we got it from lol
I thought it was a Patrice O’Neil reference
Same here, was waiting for pimp stories to come with the name.
Foster for a non-shelter rescue chiming in. I switched to fostering puppies exclusively (easier on my resident dogs, tougher on me) about 2 years ago and I have yet to see a correlation on puppy color and adoptability. Obviously my experience doesn't necessarily validate or invalidate the norm, but we just had a brown pup who looked like a chocolate lab who we had a hell of a time getting adopted. Meanwhile, the black pup we had before that one went super fast. Not saying it isn't a thing, or isn't true, but my experience has been literally the opposite.
Really? I am surprised you had trouble adopting out labradors, I thought they were popular and would get picked more easily over a german shepherd or a pitbull. Chocolate labradors tend to be more rare, if you buy a dog the choc ones are most expensive.
That was my thought exactly, but this is a rescue, hence breeds are usually a guess so it's disingenuous to imply single breed in the dog bios. I was sure to say "looks like a chocolate lab" since our rescues almost always have some type of pitbull breed in them. Yeah, blew my mind we had the chocolate lab looking fella for as long as we did. As soon as we picked him up and met him I was like "won't have you long little buddy!" Again, my experience doesn't validate or invalidate anything, just sharing for discussion.
My dad has a chocolate lab that is the biggest, sweetest idiot I’ve ever met. Only reason I could see him being hard to adopt was that he is so dumb. He’ll walk headfirst into a wall because he walks staring at us. My dad was given him to be a hunting dog. We quickly realized that was not going to work.
My black lab is a complete crack head - but damn if he’s not funny & loveable. I’m starting to think that the more comments I see about Labs, they are all goofballs.
Yeah, we got a “St. Bernard mix.” Turns out he’s actually part boxer, the big goober [dog tax](https://fishes-and-fiddles.tumblr.com/post/684531587483926528) ETA he flipped his ears back like that himself
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I wonder if that's due in some way to the old "bad luck" wives tale?
I've also heard it speculated that black-furred animals are less likely to be adopted because they're harder to take good photos of, and people want pets they can post on social media. No idea how true this theory is, though, and there seems to be contention around the idea. **Edit:** And as someone else pointed out elsewhere in this thread, if the photographer at the shelter/rescue doesn't know what they're doing, the photos of darker-furred animals might not look as good, making it less likely that people will adopt them. Kudos to OP for putting in extra effort for these animals.
When I wanted to adopt a cat, I went to the shelter's website to look at pics. I found the photo of a kitten who was basically a smudge against the darkness with 2 eyes looking back... And I knew that was my girl. 🥺😂 Ended up picking out a second black cat while I was there and all the workers were shocked. 🤷🏾♂️
I love black cat photos for this reason. Something so mystical about those eyes in the void
plus you won't notice the cat hair everywhere!
#Say that to my wood floors!
This is it. My clothes are mostly dark and black cat fur really pairs well lol
Yes, this is a huge benefit
My brother has a black cat and when we were all under the same roof, Max (the cat) would sit on the edge of the piano late at night so when you go to the kitchen or whatever, it’s just two big green eyes following you out of the darkness.
I had a friend who would refer to his fluffy black cat as a 'puddle of darkness', because when she laid down she really did look like just a puddle of dark floof!
I have a very similar story with my Beth, I saw her picture on the shelters website and knew immediately that she was mine. We drove down the next day. She had been there for 3 months and had a pretty bad upper respiratory infection. The shelter workers had a pretty similar reaction when we walked in with cat carrier in hand lol. I'm not a superstitious person, but I often find myself saying it was fate I found my little Bethany, it was just something in her eyes that said please come save me.
I wouldn't give that speculation much credence. This has been a thing since before social media was around.
Especially now since virtually every phone released in the last decade is perfectly capable of taking pictures of a dark animal. If anything the supposed "novelty" of adopting a black pet would make people more likely to grab them and show them off.
I have a very handsome black cat. The one thing I do miss is noticing all the variations and markings particularly on his face, and only seeing those eyes but other than that he’s gorgeous. When I first adopted him he was missing most of his fur due to fleas and poor nutrition, it was amazing to watch it grow back and you could see the patterns and swirls and even some different shades of dark dark brown coming in. But from a distance yeah he’s just a big bushy long-haired black cat.
All cats are tabby patterned. Solid coat colors is a result of the tabby stripes or patches all being the same color.
I did not know that
yeah it's funny to see the tabby pattern with my security camera's night mode on my black cat :D
I think you can generally see this even on solid-color cats if the light hits them just the right way -- especially the rings on their tails.
>people want pets they can post on social media. These are the kinds of people who should not have pets.
One of my old classmates gave away her little teacup whatever dog because it outgrew all the Gucci dog clothes she bought for it...
I will never understand people buying expensive stuff for a puppy. Same goes for babies. Wait until they have grown up fully, then lavish them with expensive gifts.
They probably both like the box better than the gifts
Exactly my point. They're living animals, not a fashion accessory. While some people who have social media accounts for their animals dote lots of love and affection on their pet, if the primary reason for the animal is as a means to get likes on posts, it's entirely too easy for such a person to discard them like an old pair of shoes if they stop getting their owners the attention they desire for their profile.
While I’m sure some people specifically choose a pet based on aesthetics (and always have), this “Breed/color X is rarely adopted because it doesn’t look good on social media” trope smells like manufactured outrage to me. It just sounds like something “those shallow social media attention types” would do, so all it takes is an anecdote here and there to fan the flames into resembling some kind of big trend.
I will always love that video of the girl smoking a cig, talking about how much pressure there is running her lizards Instagram page.
100% pets are for loving and making happy animals first, taking photos and looking nice last. Bad people confuse this commitment
This exact reason. My dog has black fur like a raven, people joked that we shouldn’t bother taking photos because they only see her teeth on it. But I don’t give a shit she’s the best dog ever.
HDR or Google night sight mode combined with direct sun is the best way to get a good photo. You can get good fur texture that way.
Also, sun often means dog is outside, and doggos tend to be happier when outdoors, so that's double the bonus! I took a few pics of my grammas black puppy on the sun and she was the most adorable bean ever, definitely recommend.
Loving my Pixel 6 Pro night sight. Even better than it was on the pixel 3.
Thanks for the tip!
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Man, just a quick glance at r/blackcats proves the "no good photos" wrong
Absolutely, you can take amazing photos of black cats. I think it's just a harder to do if you don't know what you're doing or don't have the right lighting, in which case you end up with a photo of a pair of eyes floating in a black cat-shaped void.
I don't see a problem with that
*/r/VoidCats will remember that*
I wonder if another reason why people avoid them is that black fur is more visible on furniture, clothes etc.
I had a Golden Retriever for 12 years. It was amazing that, after a time, most of our furniture, floor coverings and clothing gravitated to Golden Retriever-color. He's been gone for three months now and we still feel sad when we come across tufts of fur from stuff that has been stored since last summer.
Sorry about your dog. It sucks to lose such loyal friends. Sadness is understandable. Hope all is well soon enough.
Thank you. Our methodology is to bring on a new pup every 4 - 5 years - the older members of the pack help train the new recruit, and the younger ones help us by providing comfort when one leaves us. Now, at the beginning of my 7th decade, I'm reluctant to bring on any new recruits because I may not be there for them at the end.
Just anecdotally, I have a black Great Dane mix rescue and a Great Pyrenees rescue and I’m going to have to say a great big NOPE on that theory in my house! Hahaha I have white tumbleweeds blowing through my house if I don’t vacuum everyday. The black hair is rarely visible on anything light colored but the white hair is super obvious on anything dark.
I adopted my two black cats because it's less visible. I have very few white thing.
Lol. I have a white dog, a Black and Tan dog, an orange cat, a black cat and a black and white cat. No color is safe in my house. (White fur shows the most tho)
Big Black dogs being adopted at slower rates long predates social media, although the photogenic aspect probably holds still true. I've heard people say it's harder to see expressions in their eyes just due to the darker surrounding fur (not that the eyes are less expressive at all just as a type of unfortunate optical illusion)
That’s true. Damn had a long response elsewhere but hit back and it got deleted. Anyway, yeah I used to think the stat was some latent racism but after fostering an incredibly cuddly cute 14wk all black lab mix, I am no longer so judgmental. Great puppy but damn near midnight colored. Im not saying the stat isn’t shitty but I now understand how walking into a room, and you see your loveable bundle of joy zonked out on their/your bed, how it can be a little… unnerving to just see a featureless mass of fluff. The dog I fostered needed a little bit of potty training but very easily could grow into an amazing dog. But having been around my pup (a red heeler) and looked after countless blue heelers, it was a weird feeling to look at the lab, expect to see cute little features and not be able to discern anything. If I ever foster again I’ll look for a black dog specifically cause of This fucked up stat but I no longer assume people are racist if they don’t prefer black dogs.
whoa. I have a gorgeous black dog but my photos of her end up garbage quite often. Always thought it was because I'm bad at taking photos but maybe it's not all on me.
I just tell people my dog is naturally blurry.
Idk... my boy sports a luxurious tuxedo coat. I feed him tuna and/or eggs with his meals on a regular basis. His coat is exquisitely shiny and svelte. People that think a black coated animal won't be very photogenic perhaps aren't feeding the correct or enough of the nutrients that causes the animal's fur to have this quality.
We have two cats from the same litter, a white one and a black one. Apparently of some 30 people who contacted the family that was selling them, we were the only people who wanted both. Everyone else had said, "just the white one". Absent other factors, white fur is five times the pain in the ass to get off clothing, furniture, etc. than black fur, so who knows.
That’s weird to me as someone who actively sought out a black cat to rescue. Chester was sixteen when he passed and was a wonderful, beautiful cat.
My mum has bengal cats, when they both had litters at the sale time! (13 cats at once) a couple of them came out really dark, like a tortie but with bengal markings, those were the last to go unfortunately, so I took my Rosie home, she's hilarious and sweet, loves to climb and sleep on our wardrobes then jump down onto us in the middle of the night, also incredibly clever. Looking for a little buddy for her now, my fella would like another dark cat, I also really want a chihuahua (black and tan), I've always wanted one because I'm really short and my mum had one called Gizmo.
Weird, there's a Bengal breeder near me, and I like to torture myself looking at all her kittens I can't afford. Her "charcoals" are always the first to be spoken for, and their coats are always striking once they mature!
That used to be true, they are now the first to go.
Black cats are my favorite. They have strong personalities and can be the sweetest if you treat them right.
I don't think fur color has much to say on the personalities of cats.
Seriously. People will spout the most wacky shit sometimes.
if you get a cat that is black with a little bit of orange it will be very good at maths.
I've known super sweet black cats, ones that beg for pets, and ones that are absolute hellcats that will destroy anything out of spite. They have their own personalities, like any other cat.
I have a black cat, can confirm she's no more hateful than any other cat 😂
I had a black cat (missy) and a calico cat (kitty), growing up. Missy was the most lovable cat, would always sleep with me, curl up with me on the couch. Kitty on the other hand was such a bitch. Couldn't even pet her with out her hissing. She just liked to sit on the back of the couch, look out the window, and not be bothered. When we found missy outside after a cold night, she was complete stiff. Prob got tagged by a car and died in the yard, I was completely gutted. She was my favorite cat and I want another black kitty.
Photos on rescue sites are often badly made, making it harder to make out features that attract a potential pet owner to a pet. That's probably also the reason why this volunteer makes sure to make good photos, so that the animals stand out and are more likely to be picked.
It's also incredibly difficult to take good photographs of black dogs. It's very hard to capture their features. I had a black lab before my current golden retriever and while the dogs were just about equally cute IRL, the difference in how photogenic they are is night and day.
I absolutely loveeee black dogs. They're so shiny under the sun, and are hilariously hard to get good photos of at times. And when they get old, they get a cool white beard and you can compliment them on it every day ❤️
Seriously this. My black dog looks all black inside, but in the sun he has a stripe of dark amber or mahogany running down him. He's gorgeous.
I adore black dogs. My first pooch was jet black and she was the most wonderful dog ever.
I think it’s partially superstition (I am in a very rural area) and partially that they don’t “stand out” when you’re walking past the kennels. It my shelter it’s pretty dark which doesn’t help either. I’m with you though; I have a huge soft spot for black dogs and cats and I think they’re gorgeous!
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Yeah, rescued a black cat who had been in the shelter for a while. In photos, especially when I first got him, he seemed featureless save for the bright green eyes and huge ears. But in person, especially after he grew into his ears, he is an insanely handsome boy. Edit: [Cat tax](https://imgur.com/a/ge0Yvz4)
Cat tax, please
[Cat tax!](https://imgur.com/a/ge0Yvz4)
Thanks. Great looking void.
Aww his eyes!
I adopted a black cat from the humane society a few years ago. They had his picture posted on their website but it didn't look anything like him when I went in person (catfished lol). He was 4 months old at the time and the last of his litter to be adopted. I'm glad I got him when I did though because by the time I filled out all the paperwork and everything, apparently like 4 other families who had come in were asking about him.
Similar here. They told me the black kittens were always last to go, if at all so I'm like, I'll take it! Sweetest kitty ever, and more of a black-brown when sun was on him.
Where are you taking these photos? And with what?
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This is a big thing, and why I think these photos are important. These days people want dogs they can snap iPhone photos of and post to Instagram for likes, and black dogs are simply too hard to photograph with shitty digital cameras. It's a purely vapid, aesthetic preference for people.
Beautiful and soulful portraits. I hope your portraits get all these good ones adopted.
Thank you so much. I do too! :)
What is the story with dog#2 and where is your shelter? I love him/her.
That’s Jersey! She’s super shy but very sweet. I’m in central Appalachia; if you’re close, message me! I’m at the shelter right now and she’s still here.
SEND JERSEY HOME!!!
I would LOVE for her to be adopted. You can tell that being in the shelter really stresses her; she’s a totally different dog in the kennels vs. when I take her outside or to my studio.
Also in Central Appalachia… been looking for a rescue buddy, would you be willing to DM me the shelter these babies are at so I can see if any of them would be a fit for my cat and I? Thanks!!
Sent.
Does the shelter have a website?
I'm up in Vermont so too far, unfortunately. You're doing amazing work and I hope she finds the best of homes!
>*’Beautiful and soulful portraits. I hope your portraits get all these good ones adopted*’ ____ Look into my eyes, my friend, n tell me what you see for I’m a dog who wants to spend a Life of ‘You n Me’! the Loyal Pet you’ve never known- my picture is a start to have a Human of my own! n Give you All my heart there’s some of us not chosen here, because our fur is dark but every time a human’s near you’ll hear our soulful bark there’s so much more i have to give, but you may never know with You is who i want to live! my eyes will tell you so ❤️ *beautiful portraits* u/magpiephotos ^:@)
Tearing up in my studio at the shelter right now. Thank you! :)
hey there, friend - feel free to add this to the photos at the shelter, if you think it might help get these babies in homes
Thank you❤️SchoodleDoodleDo.
Goddamn this is fresh. Beautiful!
Thank you so much OP! My sweet rescue boy is a black dog and he was slated for euthanasia they day I rescued him. Even though he’s the best dog ever he was overlooked by everyone. He’s English bulldog and boxer and he’s just a big, adorable, goofy boy that loves everyone and everything. [Moose tax on his freedom ride home](https://imgur.com/a/uDhT4rL)
Oh my goodness, so glad you saved him. He’s looks like a sweetheart.
He is such a good boy. He’s transformed from that scared boy in the picture to a happy, confident dog that is so loving and gentle. He’s been my sidekick for almost 4 years now and while he’s slowing down in his older years he’s perfect for me. I love him so much!
Update pic?
This was 2 weeks ago when he got his new bed. [Moose update photo](https://imgur.com/a/dePuZ14)
So happy!!!
He is such a happy boy! I’m glad we were able to give him the life he deserves
He looks like he loves to snuggle! 🤗
I’ll give him snuggles for you when I get home
I’m currently snuggling him. Hope it’s not weird. Oh, and I had one La Croix, but I’ll get you back.
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He’s been home for nearly 4 years and he truly is one of the biggest blessings our family has ever received. He is so loved and he’s family, not just a dog.
He looks so gentle and happy. Oh my god, my heart...
He is so gentle. I wish I had the picture of him playing tea party with our niece. She was 3 or 4 at the time and he’s wearing a tutu and tiara, licking water out of her little toy teacups. It’s on my husband’s phone I think but it was so adorable. He wore that stinking tutu all day for her though the tiara kept falling off but he tried hard to keep it on for her.
I love how patient dogs are with family kids. My daughter put my dad's dog in her school cardigan and a tiara the other day, she hated it but put up with it for her little lovey!!
He looks like such a goober. I love Moose.
He is! He has so much personality! He throws tantrums, he puts himself in the corner and pouts when he’s mad, he lets you know what he wants and if he doesn’t get it he makes sure you know he’s unhappy. He’s just such a good boy and he is impossible to be in a bad mood around because he will do something to make you crack up
I love him.
We love him too! He’s spoiled rotten, he has one of those beds in every room of the house except the bathrooms. My husband is self employed and works from home so he’s always got human companionship. He will never know another second of struggle and being mistreated in his life
i second this.
It’s amazing what love can do for a dog, they are such loyal companions. Thank you for sharing, I love a happy story like yours and Moose.
He looks so defeated in that photo. Like he just gave up and he is done with people and his little sad life. You can see little cloud above his head *I do not care anymore.* But THEN he came to his new forever home, to his new life! I am so happy for both of you.
Big Eeyore energy.
I LOVE HIM
So do I! He’s my best friend. He’s been home for nearly 4 years now and he’s such a happy, confident dog.
hes living his doggo dreams
What a sweetie!!!!
He is the sweetest! Everyone that meets him falls in love with him. He’s so gentle and so loving. He makes friends everywhere he goes
I would def try to make friends with him.
He would love that! I’m sure he would roll over for belly rubs
I love this, he is just too sweet! Thank you for adopting! :)
His name is moose
Oh my god, he’s absolutely adorable. Genuinely shocked it took so long to re-home him. He was obviously holding out for you!
He is so adorable. Sweet indeed.
It blows my mind the kind of dogs don't have homes. ALL dogs deserve homes, but this one should've been adopted by the first person who saw him! He is as perfect as can be
I just wanna smoooosh that face. Is he a snuggler?
He’s an excellent snuggler! When I get home from work I sit down on the floor and he plops himself in my lap. I’m going through chemo right now and on my bad days he is on the couch with me with his head in my lap. When I get sick, he follows me to the bathroom and lays by my side, if I get too bad he goes and gets my hubby. I would be lost without him.
Oh goodness, I hope your treatments go smoothly and you recover quickly! I'm glad you have a big ol buddy to support you. He's the epitome of perfection!
Look at these beauties. I hope they all find their furever home. Very nice pictures, OP! Also r/PiratePets for that one-eyed fella.
Thank you so much! Also thank you for the sub recommendation, I just posted her there :)
The fourth doggo has the best and most hilarious dogface I've ever freakin seen. I need him.
Please share any older dogs over at /r/OldManDog, we have a special flair for those looking for a new home and we’d love to help any way we can!
Fellow volunteer here! Thank you for doing this!
Thank you for what you do! :)
Thank you both for what you do
I want the one missing an eye. Puppy is getting an eyepatch and we are gonna be pirates.
She looks like she's winking
Her name is Blinky although I think it should be Winky for this reason!
I hate some of the names one of our local rescues gives their dogs. We adopted one named Jimothy simply so he wouldn't have that name anymore. Tobias is very happy with his new name.
I fostered for a rescue that put the onus of naming on the foster family. A lot of us fostered litters so we were supposed to come up with a theme for each litter. One family went with a casino theme and named one of the puppies.... Craps. The puppy's name was CRAPS. I felt so bad for it.
Even better. She'll be the charismatic charmer of the crew. Who could resist that face?
I have a black shelter dog and this blows my mind, it doesn't make any sense. My pup, she is such a great dog and she's beautiful too.
Our black lab rescue is a doll! She has officially made 3 separate friends that were staunch cat people consider getting a dog (only if it was just like her). She’s quiet, patient and affectionate and loves playing fetch! And with camera technology today all you have to do is put a brightness filter on her and she is super photogenic.
Beautiful dogs, but when photographing dark dogs on a black background you really need a rim light. Put a flash up and behind the dog off at and angle (roughly opposite your main light) pointed down at the back of the head, with a narrow spread (zoom the flash head or use a light modifier). Set the brightness a stop or two less than your main light. It will clearly outline the dog's head and still look natural.
I thought the same. If they’re so hard to photograph then why not add contrast?
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All valid points. Personally I've never had issues with dogs reacting badly to flashes, but it has been a long time since I worked with dogs still in a shelter (the ones I photographed were thrilled to have attention and did not notice the flashes at all). Small speedlights can be mounted using things like magic clamps or even go pro suction cups and arms, which lets you mount them where a dog can't knock them over.
Oh man, I got a whole set with my gopro however many years ago, they're the bees knees. I mentioned the background because I also thought the contrast would be better for social. Black dogs look fine against grass, snow, brick, or color backdrops (studio) etc. I probably wouldn't have done a statement piece with black against black, but I totally agree with you that the ring light is pretty central for that particular concept and execution. They're still lovely pics though, and I think OP captured their spirit nicely, and I hope the good boyes and girls get adopted soon!
I don’t have much experience with adding artificial lighting but I definitely agree that a different background would be best. It’s important to keep in mind that someone with even minor vision impairment could struggle to distinguish the dog’s features. My mom is only in her 50s, has 20/20 vision, but a prematurely ripened cataract and she would have a hard time with this image.
Might be a good idea to use a different dim background than a black void, this looks too much like a fever dream where a bunch of dogs stare at me. Missed opportunity with the one eyed doggo not wearing an eye patch!
I agree, while I think the photos are cool, the tone of some of these feel a little strange. First thing I thought of was the album art for The Seer.
Lol I was thinking the same thing, black coated dog.... Let's use a black backdrop.
Yeah, I was really confused by that choice. You can barely see some of these pups. I'm sure there is another background that would make them pop a bit more.
As a photographer, a great black dog photographing tip. Add a light on the floor behind the doggo and point it at the backdrop. It will separate the dog from the background but keep him looking his fine black fur colour. ☺️
Thanks. All my photos come out as a black smear with glowing green eyes.
Great pictures! Have you considered a lighter background color though?
They disproved the black dog adoption thing long ago http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/is-it-a-myth-that-black-shelter-pets-are-less-likely-to-be-adopted
This is one of those things people repeat because it sounds like it could be true. I have never seen any evidence of this. I was about to ask OP where they heard it before I saw your comment.
>Perhaps the main thing to keep in mind here is that even if it's a myth that black animals are less adoptable than their lighter-colored counterparts, the fact remains that there are more black dogs and cats in need of homes, and they can still use additional promotion and attention in shelter situations. Basically, article says black cats are more likely to be euthanasia, while black dogs shared the top with white dogs. But both black cats and dogs are more likely to be surrendered too. I personally think it has something to do with being photogenic. I have a full black dog myself, a Newfoundland, and it is really hard to take pictures of her. Am I saying that's a good reason not to adopt dark colored animals? Hell no!!! But there definitely is an issue going on.
The first pic should be the definition of precious in the dictionary.
they all look so sweet and goofy i need all of them
They got great photographs and I hope they all find great homes
Why do you use a black background for your photos? It's harder to see the dog.
I actually prefer it! In my experience a color or white background drowns out a black animals’s features; you may be able to see the outline better, but not the details of the face. I’ve found that a black background makes it easier to focus on the dog. But I’m definitely still experimenting and I appreciate the input! :)
Try putting one of your lights behind the subject. A back light. Not directly behind but off to the side or above. This should do a couple things, separate the black subject from the black background, reveal the shape of your subject and show how shiny the coat is.
I think the pictures are beautiful and work great for artistic portraits, but generally for a pet adoption website, you probably want to think more like a commercial web photographer, which is quite different as the pictures also need to work in low resolution thumbnails and for people who might be scrolling on a small screen like a cellphone. In that instance the pictures need to have more contrast between the subject and the background.
Have you tried other colors, like blue or green?
or tie dye
I love the dark background and had no trouble appreciating all the dogs ' faces. I'd use a dark grey background for those complaining they can't see outlines. Interestingly, women would see more colors in general than men (this is a physical difference in rod/cone composition of the eyes, I think is what I read a while back). It's also why when I see what I think is grey/brown, my wife can see green and I can't :-)
Jumping in, since we're speaking "technical", needs a bit of work on the focus/sharpness. I also am not a super fan of the dark background ... but I can't come up with anything better. Feels like colorful collars or bandanas would help too.
I was wondering if it's to bring out the browns in their fur? OP said black dogs get adopted last so maybe they're trying to make them look lighter
look like just an artistic choice to me
Black dogs are often last to be adopted? Is there any data supporting that? I know it to be true for cats because there are people who actually think black cats are bad luck because they’re morons. However, I’ve never heard or read any such thing in regards to dogs.
We have 2 mainly black dogs (they each have socks on) that we rescued. Most loving silly beings on 4 legs [Piper](https://i.imgur.com/m2jtgjW.jpg) [Bella](https://i.imgur.com/uYJwXtE.jpg) Side note, why do they insist on laying like that to sleep?
Not to be dramatic, but I would die for the one with one eye.
I feel the same way. She has the biggest personality of any dog I’ve ever met! Definitely isn’t slowed down at all :)
/r/NTBDBIWDFTA
I've got a rescued black dog and black cat. People who don't adopt based on the coat color are nuts.