Combat the phobia of Black Dog Syndrome: Adopt a black pet
The myth behind the devil hiding in black dogs
Writer’s note on May 31, 2025: The R&B Money Podcast “This Week in R&B” has made it more than obvious that I’m doing a terrible job of keeping up with new music. When I was an entertainment journalist, I was so much better at this. (How on Earth did I not know who Samoht was until yesterday?) Then, I ran across a story today about Taylor Swift that confirms I’m equally bad at keeping up with pop music.
I feel the same way about Swifties as I do the Beyhive; I claim I’m neither until somebody says something stupid about either woman and then I’m instantly upset. I suppose I’m an involuntary member of Beyhive and the Swifties. Either way, I love “The Black Dog” song — and I’m sure the London restaurant got some extra tourists popping up just to see what the big deal is about whomever Taylor Swift was digitally spying on.
But what I love more about “The Black Dog” story is how ad agency BETC Paris and SecondeChance.org teamed up to get actual black dogs adopted by naming them after Taylor Swift. As baffled as I still am by the Black Dog Syndrome, if it works, so be it. I’m four years in, and I cannot imagine my life without Junee!
ORIGINAL POST: February 1, 2022
Today is the first day of Black History Month, which usually leads me down a path of trying to scope out more activities to do than I’m already doing the other 11 months in a year. I’m not quite sure how I ended up on a particular Amazon page during my search, but I saw a tank top in pan-African colors with the words “Black Dogs Matter.”
I rolled my eyes with the same energy that I give to mattress sales on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s federal holiday celebration. Some folks will do anything to market their products. Even worse, the username for this tank top has the words “Funny Black Lives Sayings.” In real life though, there’s nothing funny about the Black Lives Matter movement nor black dogs being least likely to be adopted. I’m not laughing.
Recommended Read: “The funniest trending topic on Twitter: Black dog parents ~ Black folks and their hilarious relationship with dogs”
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I choose to continue promoting intriguing products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. All five of my Substack publications now include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site, not just the Amazon Black-owned logo, to verify this.) If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
According to the American Kennel Club, the Governor of Medina came to the Prophet Mohammed regarding concerns over stray dogs found all over the city. Due to worry about rabies, the original resolution to deal with the strays was to “exterminate” them. But a day later, he changed his mind for two reasons: 1) He felt that because dogs were Allah’s creation, they shouldn’t be killed. 2) He felt that “he who created the race should be the only one to dictate that it should be removed from the earth.”