Don't worry, I'm not talking about white Dobermans.
I worded the title the way I did, instead of just "...Which is Better?" because our security needs are going to vary by individual (if you consider that your dog plays a security role for you at all – I know not everyone does).
We know that Herr Dobermann wanted an all black dog for his security purposes. The historical accounts say Dobermann had a few jobs, and at least one of them included making rounds at night. He wanted a black dog for this purpose.
It's made sense to me, and I've agreed for many years now. For tactical purposes, I want to be able to have stealth when I choose. This has held true in situations where there is not really a security threat against me but, well, a recent example is: I was taking Oji to the nearby park at night for a quick outing and someone started driving up our street. We have no shortage of nefarious activity in our neighborhoods on a nightly basis. So I hastened us into the park and put a decent amount of distance between us and the end of the street so that the car's headlights wouldn't really shine on us (we were also standing a bit uphill, so the beams wouldn't really be shining on us). I wanted to observe this drivers activities without them knowing they were being watched. My black (and rust of course) Dobermann remained cloaked nicely in the dark of night.
Another example would be if I needed to hide from someone in some instance – say I was fleeing an attacker or otherwise needed to move us out of a dangerous or undesirable situation and wanted to disappear.
I suppose there could arise a situation where my dog and I get separated – either I have to let him loose (not a common scenario) or I had to leave him on a stay for some reason and I needed him to not be noticed. Black wins here.
Except in snowy conditions!
The other side of this is: Sometimes I want people to know that I have a dog with me. Sometimes I want the bad guy or potential threat to realize I have a sizable dog with me. Here, a white dog would be the most desirable. Sure, I could have my black dog bark and accomplish this aim, but it's not always advisable to have your dog bark and disturb / draw attention from others. Sometimes it would be fine, sometimes it would not be good.
Then, we have to also address the intimidation factor, both at nighttime and daytime. I've talked about this somewhere on here before, but I believe a black dog, other things being equal, provides a more intimidating appearance. We could get into the psychology of this.
Thoughts?
I worded the title the way I did, instead of just "...Which is Better?" because our security needs are going to vary by individual (if you consider that your dog plays a security role for you at all – I know not everyone does).
We know that Herr Dobermann wanted an all black dog for his security purposes. The historical accounts say Dobermann had a few jobs, and at least one of them included making rounds at night. He wanted a black dog for this purpose.
It's made sense to me, and I've agreed for many years now. For tactical purposes, I want to be able to have stealth when I choose. This has held true in situations where there is not really a security threat against me but, well, a recent example is: I was taking Oji to the nearby park at night for a quick outing and someone started driving up our street. We have no shortage of nefarious activity in our neighborhoods on a nightly basis. So I hastened us into the park and put a decent amount of distance between us and the end of the street so that the car's headlights wouldn't really shine on us (we were also standing a bit uphill, so the beams wouldn't really be shining on us). I wanted to observe this drivers activities without them knowing they were being watched. My black (and rust of course) Dobermann remained cloaked nicely in the dark of night.
Another example would be if I needed to hide from someone in some instance – say I was fleeing an attacker or otherwise needed to move us out of a dangerous or undesirable situation and wanted to disappear.
I suppose there could arise a situation where my dog and I get separated – either I have to let him loose (not a common scenario) or I had to leave him on a stay for some reason and I needed him to not be noticed. Black wins here.
Except in snowy conditions!
The other side of this is: Sometimes I want people to know that I have a dog with me. Sometimes I want the bad guy or potential threat to realize I have a sizable dog with me. Here, a white dog would be the most desirable. Sure, I could have my black dog bark and accomplish this aim, but it's not always advisable to have your dog bark and disturb / draw attention from others. Sometimes it would be fine, sometimes it would not be good.
Then, we have to also address the intimidation factor, both at nighttime and daytime. I've talked about this somewhere on here before, but I believe a black dog, other things being equal, provides a more intimidating appearance. We could get into the psychology of this.
Thoughts?