The reason why numerous breed-in-movie-equals-doom stories persist is the arrogance of breed elitists who lament the idea of the unwashed masses finding out about their precious breed and ruining their fun by getting involved or buying dogs from their competition or the favorite bogeyman “backyard breeders” and “puppy mills.” Attention-seeking money pit operations like the HSUS also perpetuate these memes to drive donations and latch on to the reflected glow of media attention.
In the case of the Dalmatian the “breed ruined by Disney” mantra is actually a cover story perpetrated by the breed club and fancy to mask their own culpability in ruining the reputation of their breed by producing unsatisfactory dogs. And let’s be clear, it’s not this blog that is ruining the Dalmatian’s reputation. The internet’s opinion of them today is perfectly aligned with the New York Time’s characterization of them back in 1997.
We know that Dalmatians were not ruined by unscrupulous fringe breeders and mills, their genetic problems are universal and saturated in the breed: the genetic predisposition for deafness, the uric acidosis, and the temperament issues are all due to their unique coloring, founder effects, closed registry genetic degradation, and placing cosmetics above health. These problems plague the cream-of-the-crop Dalmatians just as much as any produced by scapegoat BYBs. Blaming the nebulous backyard breeders for the inherent genetic problems in the breed is like blaming a used car lot for the Ford Pinto. Sure, they’re selling defective products, but they didn’t create the defect and the swankiest dealership in the country is still selling defective goods.
The appeal of Dalmatians is pretty obvious: they have a unique coat pattern that defines the breed. And some claim that the Disney marketing machine has also created an enduring and repeated demand for the dogs too. I’ve already cast doubt on that claim showing that Disney magic has a poor track record if we’re to believe it’s the cause of Dalmatian popularity.
The downside of Dalmatians aren’t as obvious from the outside but are well known now. They are deaf, they are unhealthy, and they are mean. The reports of the Disney Disaster almost always include blame laid at the feet of “popularity” and “backyard breeders” ruining the breed.
That 1997 New York Times article, After Movies Unwanted Dalmatians, follows this pattern:
In the movie, the Dalmatians are cute and fun. But at home, they shed, tend to snap and sometimes bite, and often do not particularly like children, former owners complain.
…
Overbreeding is suspected in genetic defects in Dalmatians like deafness and urinary tract problems. But breeders say buyers would have fewer problems if they bought from reputable sellers and knew what they were getting into.
Notice the explicit statement that the inherent problems of the breed can be avoided or mitigated if you buy from a “reputable” source. This is nonsense, but it doesn’t stop that line of thought being repeated.
Here are some gems from an article written by Terri Hasse who founded “Save the Dalmations” based on her clearly mistaken belief that the 1996 film would bring popularity and disaster to Dalmatians:
“We began in 1996 when founder Terri Haase and a friend started taking their Dalmatians to movie theaters during the showing of “101 Dalmatians” to distribute educational flyers in an attempt to stop impulse buying of Dalmatian puppies.”
When confronted with the fact that no such increase in registrations happened, Terri blames crypto-BYBs:
It was anticipated that another increase in registrations would take place following the movie, however this does not seem to have occurred. This does not mean that fewer Dalmatians are being bred, but would seem to indicate that responsible breeders as well as puppy mills are not producing as many puppies, since these are the two main groups that register puppies and dogs with the American Kennel Club. Backyard breeders almost never register the puppies they produce and have been primarily responsible for the huge overpopulation of Dalmatians that are now flooding the shelters in the United States of America and in Canada.
Notice that Terri fails to mention that the boom and bust in Dalmatians was perfectly captured by AKC registrations from 1983 through the 1990s, but now mysteriously it’s Backyard Breeders who “never register” who are responsible for a boom that already came and went and isn’t happening again … but it is, you just can’t see it?
AKC Dalmatian Registrations 1983-2003
It is asinine to believe that the AKC and whatever people register there were perfectly willing to produce TENS OF THOUSANDS of Dalmatians per year during the last boom, but would be totally unwilling to respond to market forces again.
As the numbers of individual Dalmatian registrations declined, the Dalmatians rank in registrations as compared to other breed registrations has also fallen. Since too much popularity can ruin a breed, the decline in registrations and rank are good indicators of less puppy mill involvement. Hopefully now the responsible, reputable breeders will be able to serve the public’s needs for Dalmatians that are healthier, BAER tested for deafness and of sound temperaments, provided they can educate the public not to purchase Dalmatian puppies from pet stores and backyard breeders.
Remember that the genetic propensity for hyperuricemia, deafness, and unsound temperaments are saturated in the breed due to the universality of their color (extreme piebald) and universality of the uric acid disease gene. There are no HUA Dalmatians that are free from these problem genes and the only saving grace in the breed is that genetics is not destiny. Extreme piebald in Dalmatians leads to 3 in 10 dogs being deaf in at least one ear, so 7 in 10 escape the predisposition (one of, if not the, worst track record in dogs). Almost all of them would avoid genetic deafness if they weren’t extreme piebald. Not all traditional Dalmatians will form urate stones, and diet and water intake can be managed to lessen the risk, but the genes are still there and they will be passed on to the best of puppies. The same is true of temperament issues caused by deficient melanin. Does this preclude individual Dalmatians from being nice, well adjusted dogs? No. But it doesn’t help and like the deafness, what percentage of clinically dysfunctional dogs is ok, knowing that we could mitigate almost all that risk by doing away with the extreme piebald?
So even Dalmatians from the super-bestest most reputable show breeder who is just swell have the same genetic predisposition to disease as all other Dalmatians (save the LUA Dals which avoid the urate stone disease but are still just as deaf and just as dingy). If the public needs a dog that is healthy, can hear, and has a sound temperament, they’d best look elsewhere as there are no Dalmatians that are built to those specs. If you find a good Dalmatian, it’s only because it beat the odds which are stacked against them by vanity and the obsession with the extreme piebald coat. It’s even possible that most Dalmatians clear these hurdles and are perfectly wonderful dogs, but that’s no thanks to the breeders who continue to deny that when they are breeding for perfect spots they are also breeding for multiple defects.
The massive marketing efforts of Disney and other companies to promote sales of their spotted merchandise certainly must have influenced backyard breeders into thinking they could make money selling real Dalmatian puppies. The constant flood of cute-spotted-puppy images into the public consciousness also encouraged many families to purchase Dalmatian puppies from pet stores and backyard breeders without any thought given to whether this was an appropriate breed of dog for their lifestyle.
A Dalmatian isn’t an appropriate breed for any lifestyle except masochists. They’re dingy, they’re unhealthy, they’re defective, and they’re mean. And when the public found this out they moved on. It has nothing to do with the “quality” of the breeder who made them. It’s also amazingly disingenuous to pretend that the FANCY of all groups doesn’t follow fads and breed on the demands of other people’s whims. That’s the entire point of what they do. They don’t improve dogs, they respond to fads and enshrine novelty at nearly any cost.
Is all this publicity bad? It has had and currently is having tragic results when uninformed buyers purchase Dalmatian puppies from backyard breeders, unethical breeders or pet stores. Tragic for the Dalmatians, that is, who have been abandoned or euthanized once they grew up and were no longer cute little puppies. For the 1996 release of the “101 Dalmatians” movie, the Dalmatian-owning community in conjunction with a very cooperative press, made a heroic effort to disseminate information to the public about Dalmatians in an effort to reduce impulse buying and indiscriminate breeding of Dalmatians. Despite these efforts, the news from rescue groups and humane societies has been that large numbers of Dalmatians are coming in to them.
The tragedy for Dalmatians is that they are a show creation, made in England and named with almost no actual evidence for an exotic land to the East to give them an exclusive name for their exclusive coat color. This is no different than the Chinese Cresteds that aren’t Chinese. By being a breed created around a rare coat color the founding pool was small and the deleterious uric acidosis gene permeated. This is due to the fancy, not any backyard breeder or pet store. And the deafness and personality problems are due to the extreme expression of albino-like white on the skin and coat of the dogs. Again, this comes entirely linked with how ALL Dalmatians look and there is no separating it from their appearance. No relation to backyard breeders or pet stores at all.
Three things need to happen to improve these statistics. First, the public must be educated about the Dalmatian breed and its needs and to purchase Dalmatians only from reputable breeders or rescue organizations.
Well, I’m doing my part to educate the public about the breed. Stay away.
If you’re not ok with 30% deafness and neurological issues, then there are no reputable breeders who can sell you a Dalmatian puppy that isn’t predisposed to that. If you’re ok with deafness and muddled brains, but pissing sharp rocks is not ok, then you should only seek out a LUA Dalmatian breeder.
Second, backyard breeders must be put out of business, whether by regulations or by lack of business. The backyard breeders are the true villians in the Dalmatian tragedy, even worse than Cruella DeVil because they are literally responsible for the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Dalmatians.
Here’s where Terri Hasse shows us her membership card in AFART, the Authoritarian Fascist Asshole Redirection Team, where idiots deflect blame and responsibility by calling for governmental tyranny to enforce some draconian law on vague boogeymen while avoiding the simple truth that the problem could be solved by a handful of people in the breed club passing an updated breed standard that allowed new blood to be brought in to the breed to displace the disease-linked coat color and replace it with something that is more healthy if not as unique.
We don’t need police and district attorneys to solve the Dalmatian problem. We need the fancy to pull its head out of its ass.
Third, more inducements to spay and neuter pets are needed to permanently remove the temptation to breed a pet. Reputable breeders should sell their pet quality puppies already spayed or neutered and no pet store should be permitted to sell intact puppies or kittens. If shelters and rescues are required to spay/neuter all animals before placement, why should pet stores, who are fronts for puppy mills, be permitted to sell intact animals?
Nothing like a non-sequitor call for castration of pets! Again, the only problem Dalmatian genitals is that they are not evolved to pass slushy urine filled with jagged shards of urate crystals. Note that the AKC had no issue what-so-ever cashing their checks for the 40,000+ Dalmatian puppies being produced at the height of the boom. And nor were all those dogs magically produced by oops litters and unthinking people who didn’t go for spay-neuter. They were produced by people who knew exactly what they were doing.
The Dalmatian overpopulation problem is going to be around for a few years more, unfortunately. Rescue organizations everywhere in North America are overwhelmed by the massive numbers of Dalmatians that need assistance. Please contact your nearest Dalmatian rescue and volunteer so that more Dalmatians can be saved. Even though we can’t save them all, it will make a difference to those we can save.
The hilarious part of this ill-conceived comment is that it was written just following the steepest decline in Dalmatian registrations ever. The “overpopulation” problem wasn’t around for years to come, the bubble had already burst. Whereas 5 years before this statement the AKC registered almost 45k Dalmatian puppies, they only registered fewer than 5k in 1999, and the numbers would drop to 1k in the following years. The public rejected these dogs so swiftly that there are fewer Dalmatians registered now than there were in the 1970s and before.
And despite all the hand waving and wailing on my last Dalmatian post, it wasn’t any form of media (be it a Dalmatian movie, an evil NYT report, or a nasty blog written by a snarky Border Collie guy) that did the Dalmatian in. It was wide-exposure combined with their innate deficits. Who wants dogs that “snap,” “bite,” and “aren’t good with kids?” Not too many people. And the same concerns ring true today. Google compiles the most common search terms and uses this data to predict what you’re searching for, finishing your sentence for you with the most common next words. When searching for “Dalmatians are” the responses are “born without spots,” “vicious,” “mean,” and “dumb.” Hardly a ringing endorsement of the Dalmatian’s finer points. When searching the query “Why are Dalmatians ” the most popular next words are “deaf,” “mean,” “aggressive,” and “fire dogs.”
The results from Canada are not reassuring:
From England:
Why are Dalmatians deaf
Why are Dalmatians mean
Why are Dalmatians aggressive
Why are Dalmatians fire dogs
Dalmatians are born without spots
Dalmatians are dumb
Dalmatians are mean
Dalmatians are vicious
Dalmatians are deaf
From Switzerland:
Dalmatians are born without spots
Dalmatians are dumb
Dalmatians are vicious
Dalmatians are mean
Why are dalmatians deaf
Why are dalmatians mean
Why are dalmatians fire dogs
Why are dalmatians aggressive
In German:
Dalmatiner sind dumm (dumb)
Dalmatiner sind Kampfhunde (fighting dogs)
Dalmatiner sind taub (deaf)
Warum sind Dalmatiner oft taub (often deaf)
Warum sind Dalmatiner taub (deaf)
Warum sind viele Dalmatiner taub (why are many Dals deaf)
From Mexico:
Los Dalamatas son sordos
Los Dalamatas son agresivos
Los Dalamatas son bravos
Los Dalamatas son peligrosos
Porque los Dalmatas son sordos
Porque los Dalmatas son perros bomberos
Porque los Dalmatas son bomberos
Porque los perros Dalmatas son bomberos
Dalmatians are deaf.
Dalmatians are aggressive.
Dalmatians are ferocious.
Dalmatians are dangerous.
Why dalmatians are deaf.
Why dalmatians are fire dogs.
Why dalmatians are firefighters.
Why dalmatian dogs are firefighters.
It’s clear that this breed needs a lot of work to improve its reputation AND to improve its reality, because that’s the really important thing. What good is it to be thought to be good when the reality doesn’t support this. It’s better to be a good breed.
Perhaps Dalmatians are doomed to small breed status because the odds that Dalmatian breeders will change their spots is as slim as them changing their dog’s spots. And that’s the only thing that will improve the deafness and temperament issues save magical genetic engineering that might someday allow the ears and brain to be preserved while the coat color is maintained. Who knows if that will ever be a reality. Science might one day save the Dalmatian, but I doubt that the breeders who claim to love them so much ever will.
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Anton
Christopher
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Essere
Do you have any links about the link between extreme piebald & temperament issues? I would like to share this information on a Great Dane forum.
The links to Temple Grandin’s work in the last Dalmatian post should get you started. But I will be doing a more extensive post quoting the studies, etc. It is just taking time to track all of them down and pull quotes.
Looking forward to it!
Good.
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Ditto, looking forward to it. I was disappointed to see the Temple Grandin references were all from the last century. I lack the library resources and genetics background to do a satisfactory literature review on temperament (or deafness) and patterns of melanin production. But chasing abstracts suggests that there has been significant research in the last 10 years…and the picture is complicated due to the many genetic routes to depigmentation. Personally, I meet few Dals, and am more concerned about low pigment breeds like the dogo, bulldogs, and bullies than I am about Dals.
Christopher loves a good-opener by picking on a pop-culture icon.
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Well, do Dogos, Bulldogs, and Pit Bulls have stellar reputations for temperament?
Great article. I definitely want to start off by saying that I agree with you completely re: closed registries and inbreeding. I myself own a breed that is currently being devastated by closed registry (Shar Pei).
I have a few questions/thoughts about your conclusions:
I am curious when the animated classic was released on VHS…this was certainly a staple of my childhood (I never saw the live-action, too old) throuhgout the 80’s, and I had a neighbor growing up with a Dal named Pongo. Could this in part be a driver of the peak we see in the 80’s and early 90’s?
I think the problems we see in Dals can be spun in a lot of ways, but I do agree that the blame lies squarely at the feet of unscrupulous breeders (BYB or not, and lets be honest, that designation can be quite fuzzy) and uneducated buyers (most dog purchasers?). You point out that Dals shed, don’t like children, and sometimes snap at people…this isn’t necessarily the mark of a bad breeding (ask anyone with an Asiatic breed), this is evidence that the breed never should have been bred and sold in the numbers that it was through 80’s and early 90’s. The breed standard says “stable and outgoing, but dignified”. That type of attitude doesn’t preclude snapping and biting, in my opinion and experience.
I think it is also important to note that breed had a purpose (coach dog), and a purpose that is difficult to meet for most people…I am currently seeing the exact same problem happening now with Vizsla and Weims. There has been a surge in popularity with these breeds (not due to any movie I know of) and people who are busy with little time to work a dog meant to run through the countryside behind a horse are buying them, getting frustrated by their “stupid”, “destructive” and “nasty” dogs. Huskies are another breed that suffer with this bad reputation due to unfit owners. This seems the fault of the owners and breeders, not the breed itself. It is my opinion that currently low Dal registries are right where they should be, along with other difficult dog breeds.
I am also curious/skeptical about your link to melanin and temperament instability as a universal rule. There are a number of breeds that are likely low-melanin (I believe, I could be wrong) that display lovely personalities..Papillons and Japanese Chins come to mind. Looking forward to some peer-reviewed work on this point!
I think you’d like to read my previous post on the subject to get more of my analysis.
http://www.border-wars.com/2013/05/dont-blame-disney-for-dalmatians.html
Basically, Disney was releasing that movie almost every 6 years and the 3 previous releases didn’t lead to a breed boom, so why did the 4th, if we can even say the 4th caused a boom? I don’t think it did. Why would the previous release have no boom effect or the one before that? And why did the following releases not seem to alter the trend any either?
Beyond the analysis I did in the above post, I’ll be returning to the subject again bringing in more popular breeds as I am in contact with a researcher who has looked at this issue in depth.
I actually did read the other blog post, but that one was a bit old and the comments a bit winding….Do you have any data on the number of attendees at each screening of the film, and the number VHS purchased? Also, the number of registered Dalmatians available at the time of each screening? It seems you are conflating release date with breed popularity, and not number of eyeballs watching the movie with with breed popularity (the more likely driver). (I may be able to get this data later, but need to be away from my computer for a bit).
Furthermore, the increases in response to movies may not be immediate, as popularity may also be linked to accessibility. For example, Dal interest may have risen following the 1969 and 1979 release (your data doesn’t go back to 1969 in either graph), but dals were relatively rare in the marketplace, and thus hard to get a hold of (or breed). Perhaps some threshold of popularity was reached and as Dals become more available (e.g. several breeders in each state, instead of one, or none), setting off a positive feedback cycle resulting in more and more availability punctuated by increasing popularity following every release (certainly there are incredible rises following the ’85 and ’91 release). The rise between the 1985 and 1991 releases is incredible…and I don’t see any way you can cohesively make the argument that, because there was very modest rise in registration prior to 1985, the incredible exponential rise in registration AFTER 1985 has nothing to do with the movie… Considering the 1991 release was one of the highest grossing of the year (lots and lots of eyeballs) and add the ’92 release of the VHS are followed by a near doubling in registrations, your argument that there is no link between Disney and Dalmatians seems to be a bit tenuous. Certainly the data can be interpreted in the exact opposite way.
You could also argue that the lack in rise in popularity after the release in the live-action film was a direct response to the boom due to previously high registration, likely linked to the Disney films. People had learned their lessons about the breed, the reputation was shot, and nobody was purchasing.
You can find the gross income from each release on IMDB. I looked at it, it’s not adjusted for inflation, but all the releases were successful. Tens of millions of dollars each time successful. No way to know the number available save the registration stats from the year before. Which are on the graph.
The data back to 69 is approximated by the statements in the text. The AKC has not published that data in a format I can find it. I have contacted a researcher who has it and I’ve seen the graph. No booms then. Pretty much flat line around the 5k level.
Looking at other breed booms, there’s another breed that has a huge boom, even larger than the Dalmatian boom that has no Disney movie series. Same time as the Dalmatian boom. Why is that? Perhaps both booms happened for reasons other than Disney magic. The Disney story is just too convenient. It can’t be the only factor because the boom didn’t happen the 3 times before or the times after.
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc is a logical error. You need a lot more justification to link one release to a boom like that when it clearly didn’t happen just 6 years before.
The fact that Disney was releasing their film so often means that should any boom happen (and given these author’s analysis these things have a cycle around 20-30 years, the peak rates are bound to happen NEAR one of the releases. I mean, could claim that the Presidential Election cycle is to blame! That happens every 4 years. I’m sure we could claim that it’s all Ronald Reagan’s fault because he was elected and re-elected convenient to a bubble.
They have to be from Croatia. Dalmatia is in Croatia, So Dalmatians must be Croatian!
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Interestingly, and perhaps relevant… a quick google showed that the animated film was released in theaters in 1969, 1979, 1985, and 1991…the 1991 screening was one of the highest earning films of the year.
Also, the VHS came out in 1992.
Perhaps you should widen your analysis to include the impact of the animated film on the breed? I would argue that there is some potential correlation between the animated film and registered dogs as the peak in registries seems to correspond to the apparently insanely popular 1991 screening and 1992 video release,though evidently with a bit of lag.
I’ve thought about this post for a long time this week, and after reading all the comments, I’ve just decided that Dalmatians are breed that requires very specific care requirements that it has to be a good thing that their popularity has dropped off so much in recent years.
If people really do love this breed, maybe it would be a bit more constructive to talk about science-based ways of improving the health and welfare of the breed. Allowing the LUA/s in is a good step. Allowing more outcrosses in is another breed (English setters are another possibility). Maybe allowing in patched dogs and dogs with spots that aren’t just liver and black into the gene pool as well as long-haired dogs might be ways of making them better.
This isn’t a breed I particularly like for myself, but if others love it, maybe there are ways to talk about it without getting everyone so heated.
This isn’t like the bulldog, where everything about the breed is a walking health disaster.
Two things are pretty clear about Dalmatian: In the early days of the breed there was a lot of inbreeding, simply because there were so few dogs with this type of spotting, which is the reason for the HUA problem, and there are health and welfare issues associated with the extreme piebald coat. Deafness is associated with this coat.
But temperament issues: Well, Dalmatians are meant to guard and be super active. Most people don’t know how to keep a dog that requires careful socialization and lots of exercise to keep sound. You put one of these dogs in a typical suburban home and don’t walk it much, and you’re asking for lots of problems. There are some Dalmatians that are reactive and nasty, but there are a lot that are just good old bubba dogs that remind me more of pointers than any other breed.
I think about my approach on these issues all the time. One of the reasons I stopped writing about pit bulls on my blog is that I thin it’s impossible to have a rational discussion about them with either side.
I don’t think I’m ready to put the Dalmatian people into the same category as those who breed bulldogs. There is a special place in hell for those people. They are worse than the pit fighters. Pit fighters torture their dogs only while they’re in the pit or training. Bulldog breeders torture their dogs by breeding them so defective that they are tortured every living second of their lives.
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You can play good cop, I’ll be bad cop.
Allowing more outcrosses would lead an interesting problem. The first few generations would not look like the “classic” Dalmatian – I’m guessing they’d have heavy ticking, more like pointers or other roan breeds. Would buyers still want these dogs? As much as any breeder loves their breed, the willingness of the marketplace to support the breeding program has to be taken into consideration. Purebred and registered is still seen as some sort of seal of approval.
Maybe Dalmatians would become like Chinese Crested, with only the most esoteric being the show dogs. It happens all the time with cats – long-legged Munchkins, hairy Sphynx, straight-eared Scottish Fold and American Curl kittens are all sold as pets, while the ones that have the breed characteristics are used for showing and breeding. Hairy CCs don’t have the health problems of their naked brothers (skin, dental). A colored Dal would still make a good pet – maybe even better than the extreme piebald Dal.
Not much of a problem. There used to be demand for 40k Dalmatians per year. Now it’s around 1k. The majority of people choose mutts, so there’s no lack of demand there, and intentional hybrids are very popular. The marketplace has already turned against Dalmatians big time and if buyers were REALLY made aware of the likelihood of problems do we think even the pitiful 1k level would still be that high?
Breeders are professionals, it’s their job to market their offerings. Hybrids are a better product, it shouldn’t be that difficult and it’s certainly not an insurmountable problem.
You stated “The tragedy for Dalmatians is that they are a show creation, made in England and named with almost no actual evidence for an exotic land to the East to give them an exclusive name for their exclusive coat color.”
Dalmatians have been found painted on walls of tombs running behind Egyptian chariots and mentioned in letters written in the mid-1500s from a poet named Jurij Dalmatin to a Bohemian duchess. The FCI recognized as its country of origin the region of Dalmatia in the Republic of Croatia, citing Bewick’s 1792 work. The “official standard” was “developed and cultivated” in England. So its roots date back to egyptian times.
From the Croatian Kennel Club via FCI.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: The origin of the Dalmatian dog can be recognized in paintings and in church chronicles from the 16th to the 18th century. Dalmatians can be found on the altar painting “Madonna with Jesus and Angels” in the church “Gospa od andjela” in the town Veli Losinj, island Losinj in Croatia dating back to 1600 – 1630 and also in a fresco in Zaostrog, Dalmatia, Croatia. It suggests that the Dalmatian originates from the eastern Mediterranean region, in particular the historic province Dalmatia.
The first descriptions of the Dalmatian were found in the diocese Djakovo, in the Croatia, namely in the church chronicles of the Bishop Petar Bakic from the year 1719 and the church chronicles of Andreas Keczkemety from the year 1737. The dog was named with the Latin name “Canis Dalmaticus” and the height of the dog described with 4-5 “Spithamus”. Thomas Pennant described this breed in his work “Synopsis of Quadrupeds” in the year 1771 as very independent, named it “Dalmatian” and wrote the origin of this breed to be Dalmatia. A work by Thomas Bewick, published in 1790, refers to this breed as “Dalmatian or Coach Dog”. The first unofficial Dalmatian Standard was written by an Englishman named Vero Shaw in the year 1882.
After the formation of the Dalmatian Club in England in the year 1890 this standard was transferred to the first official breed standard.
There was no such thing as “breed standard” back in egyptian times or no trace of it. It wasn’t until the 1800’s individuals even came up with standards for individual breeds.
And I will say it again, you need to be around a dalmatian. Try fostering one, if you can even find one in a shelter close to you, and then come back and write your articles ditching dalmatians or any other breed for that fact. I believe you will change your tune.
Interesting. Do you have an image of ” the altar painting “Madonna with Jesus and Angels” in the church “Gospa od andjela” in the town Veli Losinj, island Losinj in Croatia “? A Google search only returns modern photographs of Dalmatians!
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“So its roots date back to egyptian times.”
No, they don’t, or genetic studies involving Dals would cluster them with the other ‘ancient’ Middle Eastern ‘breeds,’ and that doesn’t happen. If we are going to go by pictures as definitive evidence, I present to you that Basset hounds originated in Ancient Egypt, and originally had prick ears.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uwt_huCdlHI/TprSIcFcUwI/AAAAAAAAAg8/m7-Jg1jhQ-0/s1600/Rosellini%2BNYPL%2BAsh%2Bpl%2B6.jpg
Evidently, Dals had prick ears also. I’m sure there’s some esoteric reason why that was bred out.
I own a dog that looks almost exactly like the black and white particolored one in the middle. She’s a Saluki. With bona fide basal (ancient) DNA. I still won’t put forth the silly idea that we can actually look at pictures of ancient sighthounds and definitively say that our modern Salukis ARE descended from those dogs. We have no genetic evidence for that.
Passing off just so stories and fantasy as fact is why you get all this bilge about ‘purebreds’ and LUA Dals being ‘mutts’ and genetic defects being ‘advantageous.’
Stop treating dogs like a religion.
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See the following studies:
Identification of Genomic Regions Associated with Phenotypic Variation between Dog Breeds using Selection Mapping
Amaury Vaysse, Abhirami Ratnakumar, Thomas Derrien, Erik Axelsson, Gerli Rosengren Pielberg, Snaevar Sigurdsson, Tove Fall, Eija H. Seppälä, Mark S. T. Hansen, Cindy T. Lawley, Elinor K. Karlsson, The LUPA Consortium, Danika Bannasch, Carles Vilà, Hannes Lohi, Francis Galibert, Merete Fredholm, Jens Häggström, Åke Hedhammar, Catherine André, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Christophe Hitte, Matthew T. Webster
URL: http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1002316
Explain why Dalmatians group strongly with sporting dogs.
If they were Egyptian, they would be grouping more closely to the “ancient breeds”.
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Idiots think any Parti colored dog painted on a wall is a Dalmatian! Nevermind that if they were ancient we’d see a landrace of spotted dogs streteching from Africa and extending all the way through the Middle East and to China, the same way we see the export of Egyptian culture along the silk road. Where are the piebald sight hounds?
Particolor is fairly common in some of the drop-eared sighthounds. Definitely in Salukis. As you move East, through Iran to points beyond, particolor becomes quite rare, though Irish-marking can be common.
Ticking is extremely common in the drop eared sighthounds. I think all of mine, in all three ‘breeds’ have it and it’s very common in COO dogs.
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Dalmatian spotting is different from piebald. See Dr. Schmutz’s website on dog coat colors: htt;://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/dogspots.htm. More related to ticking and/or roan.
The spotting isn’t the problem, it’s the extreme piebald white.
The Times quote “Overbreeding is suspected in genetic defects …” etc, bugs me. It’s that term “overbreeding.” It’s been passed around so much that most of my dog-owning friends with the usual average but loving interest in their dogs, just say it without a second thought as to what it means.
They don’t separate “overbreeding” from “inbreeding,” “linebreeding,” etc.
It’s all one word.
Frankly I’m sick of hearing the term. It’s been played to death.
Funny that you claim that BYBs & puppy mills can’t be at fault, but the picture at the head of the rant is clearly a poorly bred Dal.
If you want a healthy anything, you go to a breeder who does the health checks that are indicated for that breed. You are far more likely to get a healthy, tempermentally sound animal than if you just roll the dice with a BYB or puppy mill dog. Of course, that means you have to be patient and wait until the breeder has a litter and not just buy the first puppy you find.
And, as for the health problems in Dals, where do you think they came from? That’s right – those folks who bred litters just to have something to sell and didn’t bother to do any health checks.
Study up on genetics, you’ll understand this better. And quit using Google for “proof” of anything, makes your argument look weak.
“Clearly a poorly bred Dal” LMFAO, and how can you tell this? You have magic powers to ascertain this dog’s breeding?
As for “health checks” why do you think health checks have any solid relation to health in breeds at all? If there’s no test for a disease, as there are no tests for most diseases, then there is no “health check” and there are only a few health checks anyway, yet no shortage of problems in any given breed. So your point there is invalid as well. It also totally fails to account for the significant number of disorders that are intentional in breeds, the ridge, the skin folds, the “furnishings,” the dwarfism, the deleterious color patterns, the brachycephaly, etc.
I don’t know why you’d think that someone who raises dogs in their backyard wouldn’t be able to produce temperamentally sound animals. In fact, the odds are in their favor against breeders who place temperament low on their list after bogus breed features and fads, who inbreed and don’t care much for temperament at all given that it’s in no way rewarded in the ring.
And the problems in Dals have nothing to do with BYBs, did you even bother to read the article, or did you get confused after the title? I can guarantee that my command of genetics is superior to yours and 99% of the dog breeders out there, and the issues in Dalmatians have nothing to do with the quality of the breeders, ALL the issues are 100% SATURATED in the breed. There are ZERO breeders anywhere who do not produce Dalmatians that are extreme piebald and there are only a handful that produce any that are not HUA as well.
For that matter, there’s no native stock that is unrefined by the show ring either. ALL Dalmatians go back to a handful of show dogs that were established in the UK. There’s just nothing else to say…. they’re ALL the product of the show ring. And they’re decidedly unimpressive.
The picture heading this Article is not an aggressive Dalmatian it is the Dalmatian “smile” Both my girls do it. They “smile” when I come home or my partner does, to the children and people they know well and like. My elder Dalmatian can do it on command now too! How about you learn some REAL facts about a Dalmatian before you spread garbage!
I have never in all my years come across an aggressive Dally, And if there was then its not down just to poor breeding its down to the Handler and how that dog has been trained like any other “dangerous” dog! its not the Breed people look at the other end of the leash you’ll find the real reason!!!
Dalmatians are NOT unhealthy! they are one of the most healthiest breeds I know! They have 2 major genetic issues Deafness (which is to do with the piebald gene) and Urine Stones (HUA)
By breeding Bilateral hearing dogs only we are giving them the best chance to only have Hearing litters, By bringing in the LUA gene with the backcross project we are bringing in the Normal Uric acid gene.
Using good temperament dogs who are well socialised with people and dogs you will get a good temperamental puppy as long as it is handled with love and trained correctly!
ANY DOG WILL BE AGRESSIVE WITH LITTLE OR NO TRAINING or with a STUPID HUMAN on the other end of the lead!!!!
Do some real research and stop making up scare stories! Slowly people are running out of breeds to blame what next???
This is such a bias and hate filled article. Mean, vicious, and unhealthy??? My family has had 4 dalmatians. Do you know they are BRED FOR TEMPERMENT? Some dogs were bred that never should have been, but I am sure that is with ALL breeds. The comment above is right- dals smile. They sneeze show their teeth and get all excited when they are happy. Some say they smile out of guilt- caught stealing ect. They love kids, in my experience. They are people dogs… preferring people to other dogs…and not a pack animal.
Your article doesn’t reflect any dalmatian I have met and just perpetuates misrepresentation of this breed. Shame on you. These dogs have a lot of energy and if the owner can’t handle it- it’s their own fault. excercise the dog and it will be fine.
I agree and disagree with your article. Every Dalmatian I’ve know ( with the exception of one) have been lovely dogs. I own one right now also. They are very people oriented.. But, I socialized can become wary of strangers easily. Dalmatians are indeed, far from healthy and have a very short life span due to HUA levels. They are also EXTREAMLY underbred. Most dalmatians come from a select handful of dals, and are all related. Inbreeding AND line breeding is this breeds major downfall. Most fanciers keep this breed in a tight lock box for fear of someone else breeding them. A larger gene pool would help save this dog. Also, “Reputable” breeders have always genetic tested.. If it was working.. Why are they still the SECOND MOST UNHEALTHY breed of dog?
Sorry.. I totally disagree. I have a Dalmatian named Bella and she is the sweetest most lovable dog there ever was. She shows her teeth like the ones in your pictures but hers is a smile. Yes.. a smile! She hugs people, enjoys giving and receiving kisses. She greets everyone she meets with a wagging tail and a friendly approach. I wish I could post her picture!!
I have been working with Dalmatians for over 30 years. I also run a rescue. I am a journalist who has trained quite a few souls you see on television. You have such biased reporting that it is absurd. All deaf and mean-spirited? What.did you do, call the kennel clubs to get the perspective that only their Dals were clever, healthy and well-mannered??
Thanks to recent over-breeding of Goldens, we are getting ill-mannered Retievers! “Ignorance is not bliss. It is simply ignorance.”JHS (c)1996