"I can't touch her right mommy."

Said a little girl pointing at my Rottweiler puppy.

"But I can touch him"

she said eagerly almost grabbing my 15 pound jack Russell .
This stuck with me as we walked our dogs through the dog park. It was Zoeys, the rotty, first time to the dog park.

Let me paint you a picture of Zoey. She is 9 months old and about 50 pounds which is actually underweight.
And is the sweetest girl you'll ever meet. The only danger you stand with her is being licked to death.

Everyone seems to be immediately scared of her. People cross the street when near us and parents pick up their little kids to "save" them when she walks by. Even though she is calm and proper on the leash .

At the same time a yappy little dog is barking and chasing a kid on a bike. Why was he even off leash when he was out of the dog area and clearly his owner had no control as the dog easily ignored the owners command to stop and return. Even if I had expert control over Zoey I could never let her loose all the nervous energy around her would be setting her up for confusion.

On other blogs I've heard of "black " dog syndrome there are even blogs about it as on Pawcurious blog by dr. V.

I just didn't believe . On my block there is a huge white wolf hound and this dog is massive but every one is so friendly to her.

There is a grumpy old jack russell whom we call evil Tulip because he looks like our dog only more evil. Evil Tulip walks his owner every evening barking and growling at his pleasure as his small shy owner smiles doing nothing to show him his behavior is wrong.

That little girl at the park was more than willing to pet Tulip but already had it clear in her head that touching the big black doggie was a no no. That little girl will grow up to walk past a rotty at the shelter because of a lifetime of misconceptions.

A dog is not safe or dangerous because of his breed or size. Any dog under the control,or lack of, an incompetent ignorant owner is a ticking time bomb . I have to take Zoeys training much more seriously because she will not be allowed any mistakes.

One time while walking home a small dog bitt husband on the leg ,nothing was done about it. If my Rottweiler puppy were to be in the same situation for whatever reason would be deemed dangerous and could be forced to be put down.

Dogs need strong leadership,rules and limitations no matter their size breed or color. Big dogs and especially black dogs have a bad rep. After all the question begs who's afraid of the big bad wolf not who's afraid of the Pomeranian .

Let's educate ourselves and our future adopters the kids who today need the tools to know better tomorrow.