Independent Study 490A: What Were the Reasons for Why Adopters Choose a Black Dog Over Other Colors?
Abstract
Many animal shelters across the country have noticed that black dogs are not adopted as quickly as lighter colored dogs. This trend goes even further as a dog that is all black is not adopted as quickly as a black dog with one white toe or other small white flashing. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the reasons why an adopter chose a black dog over other colors. This study was performed at the Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Iowa, located in Des Moines IA. A total of 13 canine records were used in this study. The dogs that qualified for this data set had been 100% black (solid). The three questions asked of each adopter were as follows; (1) What attracted you to a black dog? (2) Have you had a black dog before? and (3) If no to question 2, are you familiar with a black dog from friends’ family or the neighborhood? In addition, the type, age, sex and how long that dog was at the ARL was also collected. A variety of dog breeds were involved in the study with the most popular all black dog breed being classified as a Labrador mix (8) respectively. What attracted you to a black dog? The most commonly cited reason for why a black dog was being adopted was based on appearance (n = 4). Next, breed (n = 2), color did not matter (n = 2) and previous ownership (n = 2) were cited. “Other” (n = 3) included an emotional connotation “he is big and smart” “I felt lucky” and “I love black dogs.” Have you had a black dog before? Of the 13 responses, 8 said that they had owned a black dog in the past (Figure 1). If no to question 2, are you familiar with a black dog from friends’ family or the neighborhood? Of the 13 responses, 12 were familar with a black dog before. Therefore in conclusion, the most common reason cited for adopoting a black dog was based on dog apperance. Even though 8 out of 13 adopters had owned a black dog before, previous ownership was only cited twice. Furthemore, the majority of adopters were familiar with a black dog and it could be hypothezied that this interaction was favorable.
Keywords: ASL R2511
How to Cite:
Carson, B. A., Johnson, A. K., Sunday, P. & Colvin, T., (2010) “Independent Study 490A: What Were the Reasons for Why Adopters Choose a Black Dog Over Other Colors?”, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 7(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ans_air-180814-168
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