'Black dog syndrome'

[Chippy_Tea]

We used to have a black dog when i was a kid its the first time i have heard they are less popular than other colour dogs (cats etc) The guy in the video says "there is a deep prejudice about the colours of dogs and cats" does anyone here have a superstition about black dogs/cats?

What is 'black dog syndrome'?

Experts and campaigners say black dogs and cats are harder to rehome due to people's superstitions.

The problem is referred to as "black dog syndrome".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-nottinghamshire-41686518/what-is-black-dog-syndrome

 

[MyQul]

When I read the thread title I thought it was going to be about depression

 

[Gunge]

Reading this just as Zep belting out 'Black Dog'! Weird, huh? But no, 2 of our moggies are blacker than a blind cobblers's thumb and are totally ace. One of em turned up one day out of nowhere and decided to stay. So far as I can tell he's brought neither good nor bad luck. But my, he's got the loudest meeow I've ever heard!

 

[Ajhutch]

No superstition about black cats. We have a black cat and she’s absolutely lovely. We also have a tortoiseshell cat who is also lovely but pretty naughty. I’ve been told by more than one person that all torties are naughty, so I guess you could say I’ve allowed that little piece of rhyming nonsense to become an excuse for her!

 

[Irishwizard]

we had a torty that snored so loudly i could hear it when i was out the house - seriously

 

[Ajhutch]

Ours snores like me after 10 pints!

 

[Racinsnake]

I heard through a friend black dog syndrome was an expression used by the rozzers to describe unexplained rear end shunt type accidents - “I had to brake hard to avoid that black dog that ran across the road...” 🙄

 

[Clint]

Can't call or mention the word dog any where near anything to do with beer or brewing or you'll be suffering the brew dog syndrome....
We have nearly a black dog. She is very cute and very clever. Here she is with one of our cats which the Mrs found when out on a bike ride....

 

[Dexter101]

I understand to some degree that people might not get a black cat because of a superstition but a black dog?!

I know loads of people with black dogs, they are all lovely and would get rehomed in a snap (by me at least!)

I did know a Labrador who hated black dogs so maybe its not just a human thing....

 

[MagnusTS]

I heard that people don’t like to adopt black dogs and cats cos the photos don’t come out well in selfies !

Also, related to this; has anyone heard about dog ‘racism’? I heard that many dogs react aggressively to black dogs, maybe because they can’t read their body language as easily.

 

[Gunge]

I heard that people don’t like to adopt black dogs and cats cos the photos don’t come out well in selfies !

Also, related to this; has anyone heard about dog ‘racism’? I heard that many dogs react aggressively to black dogs, maybe because they can’t read their body language as easily.

One of our cats, a mostly white female, was very hostile to the 2 black ones. She's calmed down now but still either avoids them or stalks them depending on her mood. There's certainly no love lost there, but she's fine with cats of any other colour that she encounters.

 

[Thumper]

I understand to some degree that people might not get a black cat because of a superstition but a black dog?!....

It's an old Christian belief that the first person buried in a piece of consecrated ground will lead the resurrected dead from that graveyard to wherever the hell they go on judgement day (I forget where, presumably to be judged). In order to avoid this fate for their family and friends (why this fate is bad and needs avoiding I've no idea), they'd kill a dog and bury it in the newly consecrated ground to act as guide.

People being people, and I guess dogs being dogs, it soon became a common belief that these dogs guarded the graveyard after death in the form of a black dog. Hence, there all sorts of silly superstitions about black dogs.

 

[Tau]

We used to have a black dog when i was a kid its the first time i have heard they are less popular than other colour dogs (cats etc) The guy in the video says "there is a deep prejudice about the colours of dogs and cats" does anyone here have a superstition about black dogs/cats?

There's lots of folklore surounding black dogs, black wolves, cats etc. There's even black foxes that turned up around Birmingham http://www.blackfoxes.co.uk/black-fox-sightings.php
Here's a better one http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ted-Halifax-West-Yorkshire.html#ixzz4iyoqWZEA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_(ghost)

 

[Dexter101]

Ah, a bit like "the grim" in Harry Potter... A large black dog that symbolises death in the wizarding world... :geek:

 

[chesters-mild]

If I remember rightly Churchill would call his periods of depression 'The Black Dog'
As for me the only black dog I've ever known was a joy, a dog is a dog - simple as that!
Cheers

 

[Thumper]

I've been doing some digging (work is boring, anyway), and it seems that black dogs have a long history of being associated with death or being used as allegories for death and depression, particularly amongst Brythonic and Norse/Germanic cultures, that far predates Christianity. Hence their particular prevalence in Britain, I suppose, where the dominant cultures were always of those two groups.

I suspect this is an instance of native folk beliefs being incorporated into a new religion and creating new, if related, superstitions.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I've been doing some digging (work is boring, anyway), and it seems that black dogs have a long history of being associated with death or being used as allegories for death and depression, particularly amongst Brythonic and Norse/Germanic cultures, that far predates Christianity. Hence their particular prevalence in Britain, I suppose, where the dominant cultures were always of those two groups.

Hell Hound.

Imagine your local Chav with one of these on a chain. :lol:

 

[simon12]

I heard that people don’t like to adopt black dogs and cats cos the photos don’t come out well in selfies !

Also, related to this; has anyone heard about dog ‘racism’? I heard that many dogs react aggressively to black dogs, maybe because they can’t read their body language as easily.

My parents dog when it was alive hated any other black animals also people on motor bikes or mobility scooters. He was mainly black himself though don't know if he knew or not.

 

[Gunge]

My parents dog when it was alive hated any other black animals also people on motor bikes or mobility scooters. He was mainly black himself though don't know if he knew or not.

I had a dog which chased folk on a motorbike. Sorted that out by taking the motorbike off him.

 

[MagnusTS]

My black dog likes knives, and occasionally seems to be possessed. :-?