Does the size and color of a dog mean that dog is more or less friendly to strangers? No, but people’s behavior suggests they believe it does.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, researchers found that people would go out of their way to avoid large and dark-colored dogs far more frequently than smal, pale-colored dogs. From the abstract:

Direct observations of 427 passersby’s behavioral responses while passing a dog on a sideway were acquired, and 126 persons were interviewed. It was suggested that large-dark dogs seemed to be more  threatening than pale or small dogs. Passersby confronted with pale dogs of equal size changed their way far less than when confronted with dark dogs. Significant differences were noted for the type of effect  assessed and the reason for this behavioral response. The results showed that only the small-pale dog appeared to be friendly because of its size (P = 0.000). All other dogs were stated as friendly because of individual factors including breed and own dog experiences (P = 0.000). None of the dogs were mentioned as threatening. Our results show that some dog features have a significant effect on behavioral responses and the subjective perception of dogs by people in public.

Blecker D, Hiebert N, Kuhne F. Preliminary study of the impact of different dog features on humans in public. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research. 2013;8(3):170-174.