Who is the Dalmatian?
Breed Origins
Dalmatians were originally bred to run alongside carriages and coaches during travel, and then to guard them at night and patrol borders. This posed the need for dogs with incredible speed, stamina, watchfulness and an instinct to work alongside horses. While most modern day Dalmatians don't need to fill this role, these qualities are still prevalent in a well-bred dog, making this no pet for the faint of heart. These dogs are high energy, inquisitive and bright, with incredible athleticism and an acute awareness of presentation.
Appearance
While the classic Dalmatian is pictured in regal black and white, there are actually quite a few different colors and styles of coat. These include:
- Black
- Liver
- Tri-Color
- Lemon
- Long-Coat
While these are all naturally occurring genes in purebred Dalmatians, some of these are quite "rare" or seldom seen. Unfortunately some breeders have tried to take advantage of selective breeding to a detrimental extent, often line-breeding and severely inbreeding dogs that carry these color or long coated genes, focusing only on producing uncommon dogs instead of breeding for quality and temperament. If you are looking for one of these special dogs, make sure you are working with a reputable breeder and they can provide you with detailed lineage records and COI data before you decide to purchase.
Personality
A well bred, healthy Dalmatian should be moderate-high energy, intelligent, and very affectionate. These dogs are generally easy to train because of their high intelligence, but this also means that they will test boundaries and have the potential to be manipulative, or destructive when left alone for long periods with no mental stimulation. These are classic "Velcro" dogs that thrive on human interaction and want to be with their families at all times. While they can be very good with children and other pets, they need to be socialized from very early on and monitored for compatibility. For the most part, the Dalmatian has very clear body language and it should be easy to see if your individual dog will be compatible with others in the household. These dogs also love to run and can be quite the escape artists, so a good recall command is a must early on to keep your pet safe.
Health + Diet
The Dalmatian is a generally healthy dog, but has a few genetically inherent concerns that may arise.
- As with any dog that carries a high white content, deafness can be present in the dog. A responsible breeder with have every puppy BAER tested before placing in a home.
- Most Dalmatians are known as HUA (high uric acid) dogs, which can cause crystals or stones to form in the urinary system, potentially causing serious health problems when not fed a low purine diet. While raw feeding is the healthiest and most natural food for dogs, even raw fed Dalmatians should be fed low purine meats, and no organ meat, instead being supplemented with certain fruits, veggies, etc. The number of breeders that are selectively breeding out this HUA gene is growing, and you can now find puppies with LUA (low uric acid) which do not need to follow certain dietary restrictions.
- Due to the conversion to house pets in most modern dogs and the Dalmatian's being highly food motivated, obesity is unfortunately common in the breed. A properly proportioned Dalmatian should have muscular legs, a moderately deep chest and a thinner, tapered waist. These dogs are often mistaken as a larger breed than they are, because of so many overweight dogs.