American Canine Association

Breeds

Dalmatian


History

Much controversy surrounds the origins of the Dalmatian breed from where it was first created, to what bloodlines and breeds created it. What we do know as facts is that the Dalmatian breed was used as a hunting and hound breed around the 1800's and shortly after that, it was known for being carriage dogs. Not long after all of this, this breed became a staple in the USA for being at and next to fire trucks and fire stations all around. Today, this breed isn't seen that often, however when it is, you can be sure that they are loved family companions.

Appearance

The Dalmatian is a large breed dog with males and females measuring 20-24 inches in height and weighing an average of 50 pounds in weight. This breed is built tall and lean with an oblong shaped head, rectangular muzzle and two pendant shaped ears hanging along side of their face. This breed has two round eyes that can be blue, brown, black or bi-color. A unique trait of this breed is that their nose can be black, blue, brown or dark gray in color. The Dalmatian has toe nails that can be solid black or black in white in color. Their single, short layer coat is available in black and white, white with brown spots, lemon, dark blue, tri color, brindle or solid white.

Temperament

The Dalmatian requires a lot of daily physical and mental exercise. This breed does not do well if left home alone for long periods of time and would not be best for a family who has full time jobs who are gone everyday. This breed can do well with children he or she is raised with, only if their exercise needs are met daily; when the Dalmatian doesn't receive enough physical and mental exercise they become very destructive and high strung, which isn't safe for small children or other pets. This breed requires a firm and consistent owner who can provide for all of this breeds daily needs as well as love and affection. This breed is generally very happy and up-beat, however they absolutely must participate in early obedience classes and it is highly recommended that they continue through obedience classes as they mature.

Grooming

This breed sheds daily and heavily twice a year during season changes. Brush daily and bathe when needed.

Special Notes

This breed is not meant for everyone. Please properly educate yourself about the Dalmatian breed prior to adding one to your home to ensure that you are able to provide both physical and financial needs for your new addition. This breed requires a properly fenced in yard, a lot of exercise and a lot of obedience training. Please note that this breed is prone to deafness, urinary issues and skin and food allergies. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.

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