Coat Color of Shelter Dogs and Its Role in Dog Adoption

Abstract Coat color influenced the likelihood of a dog being reclaimed from a shelter as well as the length of stay (LOS) of abandoned dogs at the shelter. The shortestLOSwas found in brindle and multicolor dogs (median time until adoption: 17 and 18 days, respectively) followed by white, fawn, red, brown, black and tan, and grey dogs. Black dogs had the greatestLOS(median 32 days). In lost dogs, coat color had no significant effect on the time spent at a shelter, the median time until a dog was reclaimed by his/her caretaker being one day, irrespective of the coat color. However, the results of our study suggest that black, brown, and brindle dogs are more likely to be abandoned by their caretakers, and that fawn, black and tan, grey, and red dogs, if lost, have a better chance of being reclaimed by their caretakers.