Dalmations

I know a couple of people that own them and they say they need lots of mental stimulation, lots of exercise and can't be left alone for long periods of time as they become destructive.
 
The ones I have come into contact with are bloody mad...lol
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and the few we have had in our rescue...unfortunatley where agressive.....they can be very head strong and do need a firm hand....and can be pretty highly strung....but I expect this is due to lack of time/training, understanding of the breed from owner.
 
I had a bad experiance with a dalmation! we rescued a male 4yr old dalmation he was castrated but he appeared not to be quite right in the head! he had alot of homes before us and we took him to dog training however he became really protective of my mum and I and attacked other dogs! One day he rushed out of the car and attacked and killed our neighbours dog so sadly he had to be put down! he was a lovely lookind dog and nice to me but clearly he had been through too much
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Huge apologies to anyone on here who has one but I have to say they are one of my least favourite breeds, falling mainly into two categories:

a) Nervous, incredibly stupid & bloody-minded or
b) Dominant aggressive, incredibly stupid & bloody-minded!

I can honestly say that in over 30 years of working with dogs, I have never met a single one I'd want to take home, not even for a weekend!
 
To be fair to the breed (I suppose! lol), I would say that if you could happily cope with say, a male Rottweiler or a male Weimeraner, you'll probablly manage with one but unless you're a confident & experienced dog owner, I'd stay clear of the males as they can be right little ****s!
 
Hmmm...I am experienced with Dogs, I have 5 Siberian Huskies and a Border Collie (need to have one dog you can let off the lead!!) but I have to say having met a Dalmation (my sister in law has one) I was not keen. He growls really aggressively if one of them tries to take a toy off him, and he really means it, I've seen him actaully nip too. I just would not tolerate that, especially when they have a 2 year old son. He can be really friendly but in my eyes overly so and in all honesty he behaves like that because he's not been trained correctly. If you want a pet and like that sort of size I'd get a labrador.
 
i have had bad expeiences with them but they all turned out to have bad hearing. we had one liver spotted that was really lovely outside the kennel but inside a real nightmare, and really bad with food so had to do loads of work on that one, he wasa beauty though and did get rehomed successfully to people that were experienced with the breed. i do think that most of the problem is hearing and so they struggle to be trained like other dogs
 
We have two. You need to have plenty of time for them as they needs lots of exercise. Our two are like the Duracell bunny, they will both go forever. Very loving dogs, great fun but both also slightly neurotic.

Lovely dogs but hard work because they need so much exercise. Bear in mind they were bred to run alongside carriages.

We've never had any of the problems with hearing that other posters mention but the breeder should have them all checked before purchase anyway.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Huge apologies to anyone on here who has one but I have to say they are one of my least favourite breeds, falling mainly into two categories:

a) Nervous, incredibly stupid & bloody-minded or
b) Dominant aggressive, incredibly stupid & bloody-minded!

I can honestly say that in over 30 years of working with dogs, I have never met single one I'd want to take home, not even for a weekend!

[/ QUOTE ]

Aww! We have two!
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Our dog is great but was v difficult to train as he can be quite dominant. The bitch is a little on the neurotic side... that said, I would definitely have them again and will have one when I have my own house.
 
I had two but sadly the Bitch died on Xmas day aged 12
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I still have a four year old dog which came from Dalmation welfare as a 1yr old.

I can't say the the dog (Carlo) was an easy ride when we first got him, but now he is the most loving dog you could imagine he's great with the kids that live next door, cats other dogs, horses you name it he loves them all!!

He is currenlty lay at my feet talking to me !! (moaning) because he is being ignored.

I have never met an aggressive dally yet, but then again like any dog it's down to the way thier looked after!!!
 
Neither of ours are agressive, they are great dogs. Neither are great with children though but i guess a lot of that is because they weren't brought up with children in the house or around them. They will never bite, nip or growl or anything like that, but they do get fed up with the noise and general busy-ness of kids. The dog will go and get in bed and the bitch just hides til they've gone!
 
Sorry CC, I'm sure yours are great but my heart used to sink whenever a new person rang up about dog training & said what breed they had, as I could pretty much guarantee what was going to be coming through the door on training night!

Having said that, they are one of these unfortunate breeds that has suffered from the 'bandwagon breeding brigade' & the latest film that came out starring them some years ago did the breed no favours whatsoever!

Having been originally bred as carriage dogs & kept mainly for aesthetic purposes rather than for hunting or working for example, it can be difficult to keep them sufficiently exercised & entertained as a breed, as they don't take naturally to obedience or trialling work in the way that the guarding or pastoral breeds do, though I have seen the odd one competing reasonably successfully in agility occasionally.

They can come across as rather 'dense' perhaps, due to their inherent lack of the specific skills & instincts found in many other breeds & can be very difficult to train & the males especially, require a very firm & experienced hand.
They can be fun & highly companionable but definitely not a breed for the beginner I would say!
 
I do agree in many ways JAK... I did say in one post that they need a hell of a lot of exercise and stimulation. Our dog was a pain to do even basic obedience training with. The bitch is great and regularly goes beating when the shoots are on with my dad, but the dog would happily roam the streets if we let him and come back when he felt like it - hence he never goes off the lead unless my dad is there, as he's the only one he listens to!
 
I've known two--one, a male, who was a complete sweetheart and really laid-back, and a female, who lives across the street from us in the fire station (they were traditionally fire dogs, and one or two of the houses in NYC still have them as mascots).

"Twenty" is not great with other female dogs, and pretty blase about most people, but she is trained well, and can wander up and down the street in front of the fire station, which is on one of the busiest roads in Mahattan. When she rides in the truck to go to 911 calls, she barks her head off at passing dogs
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We have a dalmation. We had her off someone we knew when she was 2 (shes nearly 10 now)as they couldnt cope with her. I dont know why to be honest as shes a fairly easy going sort. We initially had a huge problem with recal but within a couple of months we had improved it by 99% .
Our only issues now is her agression towards other dogs. We managed this by having her muzzled and on a lead when there are other people about. She used to be fantastic with other dogs until we had to put her into kennels when we went away and she was never the same again
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She isnt too great with strangers either but only when in the house and if people dont immediately go to fuss her she is fine, she just likes a couple of minutes to give them the once over.
She has definate dislikes. She thinks being on the floor is beneath her and will resort to sitting on virtually anything she can rather than plonk her backside on the floor.

She is however great with kids, my other older dog, all the cats and the parrot. I dont think I'd trust her with the rabbit though. And as for a carriage dog! Pah not a chance - if the horses run she thinks its a game and puts in a damn good chase. She does like a good run occassionaly but is actually quite lazy and quite often would rather go to sleep on the bed. I beleive this is quite unusual for the breed but she really does not require or like lots of esercise. She is very stupid, bless her, and I have never met such a clumsy dog, but still even though shes turning my hair grey at the moment I wouldnt change her for the world.

O and one last thing - the only thing that would stop me ever having another one - the shedding - they shed all year round and the little short white hairs work their way into all your furnishings and are an absolute nightmare to get out. I have to hoover the house every day so if you are not one for housework - avoid a dalmation!
 
Hi,
I've got a 3 year old dalmatian who I took on as a rehome last year. He had problems in his previous home as they would leave him on his own for up to 18(!) hours at a time and they wondered why he ate their kitchen, but I can honestly say he is the sweetest, funniest, loveliest dog I have ever known.

Yes he likes company but don't all dogs? I can leave him for a full day while I'm at work as long as he gets exercise. I take him out with my horses over the hill a couple of times a week, he'll get a couple of decent walks in the evenings during the week as well & maybe 20 minutes running around the yard before I go to work in the mornings when I'm doing my horses. I trust him completely with my 2 year old nephew who hangs off his ears & tail & will try to ride him like a pony. My dalmatian has been a challenge to train, but all older dogs that had limited training as a pup are harder to retrain, however he will now sit and stay at a distance, recall, walk to heel and retreive with no problems.

I am not the most experienced dog owner out there, Muppet is the only dog I have had sole responsibility for but he is a real pleasure. Dalmatians are very very intelligent dogs which is why they can be naughty if you don't train them. Like an intelligent horse, you just need to find ways of getting their attention and making training fun - then you have a dog that is fun & responsive to work with. Dalamtians are rarely snappy. Yes you will get the odd one that is grumpy but even labs can be snappy sometimes. Muppet will play with other dogs from terriers to rotties and it isn't unusual for him to be beaten up my small lap dog breeds! He is absolutely perfect with people & small children, but he will guard the house and lets me know if there is somebody outside. He will welcome invited guests in to the house, but will protect about unwanted intruders.

All in all, I cannot recommend this breed highly enough. It is however, down to the dog owner to train the dog, socialise the dog & give a very loving breed like a dalmatian the attention they deserve & crave.
 
Panda2007 you have said everything that I should have said about my boy!!!

The only thing no one has mentioned is their need to steal food
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they will use their sum what disguised intelligence to find any way to get into your fridge!!! food is what motivates a Dalmatian more than any other dog I have known
 
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