The Dalmatian: A Comprehensive Guide
The Dalmatian is one of the most famous and well-known dog breeds worldwide, not only because of the Disney movie 101 Dalmatians, but also because of its very distinct black or brown spots on its white coat.
Origins
The Dalmatian is a dog breed that owes its name to the historical region of Dalmatia. Currently, almost the whole Dalmatia region territory belongs to Croatia. In fact, the FCI recognizes Croatia as the Dalmatian breed country of origin. However, there are different hypotheses that suggest that this dog breed would have originated much earlier in other places.
Historically, Dalmatians were used as a companion dog and as escort for carriages, which is reflected in its great resistance and athletic body. With the invention of the automobile, escort carriage dogs disappeared and the popularity of the breed fell. However, Dalmatians also accompanied fire engines and that tradition remained. Today they are still part of the fire departments in many parts of the world.
Characteristics
This is a beautiful, elegant breed distinguished by its particularly spotted white coat. At birth, the pups are not born with spots, which start to appear all over their body after two weeks and continue appearing during the first year of their life.
Their coat is short, fine and dense and due to the minimal amount of oil in their coats, Dalmatians lack a dog odor ("dog smell") and stay fairly clean relative to many other dog breeds.
Dalmatians are considered medium-large breed dogs and their body is very similar to the Pointer, with a height usually between 22 and 24 inches and a weight usually between 55 and 70 pounds. Their life expectancy is between 10 and 13 years.
Temperament and Behavior
Dalmatian dogs are usually sensitive, energetic, exuberant, cheerful and affectionate. They need to have an active life, because they are animals that require a lot of physical activity to burn all the energy that naturally comes with their personality. However, inside the house, the Dalmatian is a calm and serene dog, capable of relaxing without any problem.
As a general rule, they are also friendly with strangers, although they are not as sociable as the Labrador Retrievers or the Golden Retrievers. Some, however, are reserved with strangers, but innate aggressiveness is a highly unusual characteristic of the breed.
They get along very well with children, although they may be reluctant to stay with them if they are mistreated or they play too rough with them. For this same reason, it will be important to teach our children how to play with our dog in an appropriate way: always with respect and affection. The education of the dog will obviously be very important to achieve a more affable, relaxed and tolerant character.
Also, they have a strong hunting instinct and are an excellent exterminator of rats and vermin.
Health
The Dalmatian is a dog prone to many diseases due to inbreeding to which this breed has been subjected for so many years. Approximately 8% of Dalmatians are born completely deaf and 22 to 24 percent are born with hearing in one ear only.
Hyperuricemia is very common among Dalmatians, which is why they are usually considered the only uricotelic mammals. As a result, kidney and urethral stones are very common and since they cannot metabolize uric acid into allantoin, this directly affects the formation of stones in the urinary tract.
In addition, they have sensitive skin and tend to suffer from allergies and other irritations, which manifest as skin problems. Fortunately, most of them have treatment.
Other common problems in many dog breeds also affect Dalmatians. These problems include elbow dysplasia, hip dysplasia, gastric bloat or torsion, progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), von Willebrand disease, immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency, and epileptic seizures.
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