Dalmatian

Breed Profile

During the 1800’s Dalmatians were used as carriage dogs that ran beside and guarded horses and carriages, especially when their master was aloof or out of town. Later, they were used as mascots for fire departments. They’ve also been used as guards and hunters. Its roots hails from Croatia and specifically to its historical region of Dalmatia. Today, it is a popular family pet and many dog lovers are keen on entering their Dalmatians into kennel club competitions

Temperament

Dalmatian is a vivacious dog with an unlimited capacity for exercise. He loves attention and is such a pleaser,  making him easy to train through positive reinforcement such as food rewards, praise, and play. He’s a smart dog with a sly sense of humor, and bend over backwards to make you laugh. The Dalmatian is alert and interested in everything that goes on around him, which makes him an excellent watchdog. Like every dog, the Dalmatian needs early socialization

Color & Coat

Coat: Dalmatian coat is lovely to touch, being short, satiny, and fine. The tops of their heads feel almost like velvet.

Color: The base color is white with well-defined dense black or deep brown (liver-colored) round spots that vary from dime size to half dollar size evenly distributed over the coat.

Living Environment

Dalmatians are not happy campers in small, confined, crowded indoor environments unless they’re able to vent out pent up energy throughout the day. If bred and raised adequately, they can get on well with children and other pets, albeit may become a tad overactive and overexcited. Dalmatians are known to be aggressive or combative with other males of their species.

Health

Dalmatians are a relatively healthy and easy to keep breed. Like other breeds, Dalmatians are prone towards certain health issues inherent to their breed, including  deafness, allergies and urinary stones. Deafness occurs in roughly 1 in 10 Dalmatians.