Dog breed · Croatia
The Dalmatian is a breed of dog with a white coat marked with dark-coloured spots. Originally bred as a hunting dog, it was also used as a carriage dog by firefighters in the days of horse-drawn firehouse carriages. The origins of this breed can be traced to Croatia and the historical region of Dalmatia. It is thought that early ancestors of the breed were certain breeds of pointers and a spotted Great Dane. The modern breed has become a popular companion dog commonly entered by Dalmatian enthusiasts into kennel club competitions.
Coat: Dalmatian puppies are born with plain white coats and their first spots usually appear within 10 days; however, spots may be visible on their skin from birth. They continue to develop until the dog is around 18 months old. Spots usually range in size from 2 to 6 cm (0.79 to 2.36 in), and are most commonly black or liver (brown) on a white background. Liver is the recessive colour in dalmatians, meaning that both parents have to carry the liver gene to produce this colour of pups. If both parents are liver, then all puppies will be liver-spotted. Black spotted dogs always have black noses, and liver spotted dogs always have brown noses.
Other colours that occur occasionally include blue (a blue-greyish colour), brindle, mosaic, orange or lemon (dark to pale yellow), or tricoloured (with black, brown and orange or lemon spots). Orange and lemon occur the most frequently, especially in America, and are dilutes of the standard colours. They are defined as orange or lemon depending on their nose colour.
Another colouration pattern is a larger solid patch of colour, which appears anywhere on the body, but most often on the head, ears, or tail. Patches are visible at birth and are not a group of connected spots; they are identifiable by the smooth edge of the patch, and they have no interlacing white hairs in them. Pure white individuals without spots also occur occasionally.
The Dalmatian coat is usually short, fine, and dense; however, smooth-coated Dalmatians occasionally produce long-coated offspring. Long-coated Dalmatians are not accepted by the breed standard, but these individuals experience much less shedding than their smooth-coated counterparts, which shed considerably year-round. The standard variety's short, stiff hairs often weave into carpet, clothing, upholstery, and nearly any other kind of fabric and can be difficult to remove. Weekly grooming with a hound mitt or currycomb can lessen the amount of hair Dalmatians shed, although nothing can completely prevent shedding. Due to the minimal amount of oil in their coats, Dalmatians lack a dog odour and stay fairly clean relative to many other dog breeds.
Health: A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 13.2 years for the Dalmatian compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds.
In their late teens, both males and females may suffer from bone spurs and arthritic conditions. Autoimmune thyroiditis may be a relatively common condition for the breed, affecting 11.6% of dogs.
History: The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) recognized Croatia as its country of origin, citing several historical sources.
The first known written reference to a Dalmatian dog is from 1375, when Peter, Bishop of Đakovo, mentions a hunting dog principally found in Dalmatia, with short white hair and black round spots on various parts of the body, naming the breed Canis Dalmaticus. The earliest illustrations of the breed have been found in Croatia: an altar painting in Veli Lošinj dating to 1600–1630, and a fresco in Zaostrog. The first definitive documented descriptions of the Dalmatian (Croatian: Dalmatinski pas, Dalmatiner, Dalmatinac) trace back to the early 18th century and the archives of the Archdiocese of Đakovo, where the dog was mentioned and described as Canis Dalmaticus in the church chronicles from 1719 by Bishop Petar Bakić and then again by church chronicles of Andreas Keczkeméty in 1739. In 1771, Thomas Pennant described the breed in his book Synopsis of Quadrupeds, writing that the origin of the breed is from Dalmatia; he referred to it as Dalmatian. The book by Thomas Bewick, A General History of Quadrupeds, published in 1790 refers to the breed as Dalmatian or Coach Dog.
During the Regency period, the Dalmatian became a status symbol and those with decorative spotting were highly prized. The breed was also used to guard the stables at night.
