How to Know whether a Dog is Dangerous: Myth, Superstition and its Influence on the Human-dog Relationship

The relationship between humans and dogs is complex and ambivalent. The dog was the first animal that Homo sapiens domesticated. This means that the human-dog relationship has lasted longer than any other human-animal relationships. Despite all this, mythological, symbolic and folkloristic traditions often depict dogs in a negative light and as a dangerous and threatening force from the underworld. Due to the belief that seeing an unknown dog can lead to misfortune, accident or even death, people were often afraid of dogs. People had to invent certain rules that could help them determine which dog was dangerous and which was not. Those rules had to change over time based on the fact that human-dog relationship is culturally and historically defined. The author analyses stories from in the Glasovi (Voices) collection to show that, in the last few centuries in the territory of modern Slovenia, black dogs where most feared by humans. In contrast, nowadays the most feared dogs are those of the Pit Bull and some other breeds. Nevertheless, the folk superstitions and prejudice toward black dogs is still present in modern Western societies. In the English language “black dog” symbolizes depression. And some are still reluctant to adopt large black dogs from the animal shelters