True colors

Why do we judge dogs based on color?
If you work in the shelter system you have heard of the black cat/dog problem. The dogs that don't photograph well, the plausible stigma behind owning them. You traverse the show world you see it all the time. The desire for the perfect markings, color, favor for one color over another. Preference for even border collie white neck, with socks that come just so on both sides.  Preference for coat is its own collection of problems.
I am not immune to this. I hate all white jack russells, even with ticking, I do not find it pleasing to the eye. I try to not let it cloud my judgement or quality of the dog but alas it does. Just recently in light of Gus I have started to catch myself judging him. He is a phantom marked poodle and a poorly marked one at that. His markings are silver and subtle, handsome in its own way but nonetheless people judge him. He can't show AKC because he is not solid and the UKC will allow him but the phantom standard says they prefer the clean markings.
There is perfect reason for banishing some colors in breeds due to the linkage between certain color genes and genetic disease. Lethal white is the most common issue in a variety of mammals. But some color 'rules' are just plain silly. Dog 'color racism' is prevalent all over. Assuming certain colors or markings are attached to personality or behavior ( theoretically certain heritable traits could connect to color). I keep trying to tell myself that the color doesn't matter, only the dog underneath it does.

Wrong dog, wrong job and it's very right

I had a moment of realization today. I was moving 6 horses by voice from one pasture through a barn to the next. My dogs a english jack and a standard poodle were trotting around calm and happy like every other morning. The jack, Doodles was moving ahead keeping them from falling off the path and then running behind to make sure they moved and back again to the sides. The poodle, still a pup was keeping his distance unsure still of how to make them turn but following my lead staying behind keeping them going forward weaving back and forth while I walked straight ahead.
This wasn't a trained behavior, it became our morning routine this summer with just a few reassuring words and 'wait ups' when they tried to cut in front of the herd for a few days and they mastered the horses. The idea that my 13 pound jack can move over a thousand pounds with just his sheer presence probably isn't the ego boost he needs. He has been around horses most of his life and as a jack is predisposed to being good with horses. It took two real sessions with the poodle to keep him from barking at the horses, probably 15 minuted total, in which he learned rather quickly the horses wouldn't get wiggy as long as he stayed quiet.
Among everything else, my jack is one of the best retrievers doesn't matter what I drop, throw or loose. If he knows its name (or even if he doesn't) he will do anything in his power to return it to me. And lets just say the poodle learned today that shaking the dummy bird leads to the dummy smacking you in the face. Yes the jack still will catch mice and go-to-ground. Yes the poodle, still coming into himself, finds great pleasure in diving into the water after a retrieve. But no it's not what they do.
People say match your dog to your lifestyle. You take that by saying my active lifestyle matches well with high energy dogs. I love working with my dogs, I need dogs that are intelligent and quick to learn. I am regularly in public space, I need dogs with good social skills. Many of these key features are breed features and can't be taught. But today I realized that there is a very grey area in which  my jack has learned herd and find pleasure in it.

The dogs and the herd later that afternoon

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Not sure why but all the old images here were deleted. Sorry for any weird blank spaces.