Dalmatians - The Spottiest Dogs

When I was little, I was obsessed with Disney’s 101 Dalmatians. I fell in love with those cute white dogs with those wonderful black spots. After begging and begging my parents for a couple of months to get one they finally gave in and let me get one. That was the happiest day of my life. I was on top of the world, but that happiness soon left when my Dalmatian got older, because she started to develop a lot of health problems.

Due the popularity of 101 Dalmatians, the Dalmatian became the “It” dog to have. Because of this high demand, unfortunately, breeders became irresponsible and bred high numbers of puppies to keep up with the demand. As a result of this, it weakened the blood line and caused a numerous amount of puppies to have health problems. Of course, that led to their new owners abandoning them because it was very expensive to keep the dalmatians due to the high health related issues. This eventually led to the formation of Dalmatian rescue societies. The Dalmatian was one of the most abandoned dogs in the 90’s.

Don’t get me wrong! I wouldn’t have traded my Dalmatian for anything. She was a wonderful dog. Unfortunately, she was very dominating and extremely aggressive to outsiders. She became allergic to grass, go on laugh, but it is true. She also was highly allergic to wheat so we had to make her food for a while until the dog food companies finally came out with a food that didn’t contain wheat. The one thing that wasn’t wrong with her is, she wasn’t deaf, which is very common in Dalmatians. Experts have no clue as to why Dalmatians seem to carry this gene and why it occurs in them so often. You would think they would have figured it out by now since the Dalmatian is a very old breed. They are considered to be first dog in which man deliberately breed for specific characteristics.

I bet you are wondering about the whole Dalmatian and Fireman thing right? Well way back in the day when they had horse drawn fire engines, Dalmatians served a great purpose. Not only are they very compatible with horses but they are easily trainable. Dalmatians would run in front of the fire carriage and clear the path for the horses and lead them to the fire. They also served as rescue dogs when needed and served the firehouse as watchdogs to watch over the firehouse and the equipment. Most importantly, they guarded the fast and powerful horses that the firemen used, which were tempting targets for thieves.

So if you are interested in getting a Dalmatian please take in consideration all of their health problems and do your research on your breeder. Ask for references of previous buyers to see how their dogs turned out. Also, if you see the puppies before they are 6 weeks old and they don’t have spots, don’t be alarmed they are born without them. As they get older they will start to come in. Finally, also be aware that Dalmatians also come in liver spots not just black. My Dalmatian has black spots everywhere except for her stomach where she has liver spots.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian