Dalmatians, got any photos or stories?

**Seravieve** · 01-21-2007, 05:40 PM

Ive been reading posts on this forum for a while but this one caught my attention so I had to register and reply! =)

My family's first, and only, dog was a pure bred dalmatian. Pepper came from the humane society when she was... 6 or 7 I believe. She lived to be 14, had to be put down jan 05 due to untreatable cancer/dementia/incontinence.. It was hard since she was such a great dog. As I sit here and write this, I still look at her doggie paw made of plaster and tear up.. ahhh! =)

She had been hit by a car before we got her, so she had one lame leg.. which never really affected her life until she was older and started to get arthritis. She was the best dog.. but of course she thought she belonged in our beds! I always let her sleep with me and she would stay right next to me, under the covers, all through the night.

I believe I was 13 and my brother was 9ish when we got her and man.. she'd but up with anything! We dressed her up in our clothes and she'd just walk around like nothing was going on. We'd take her out in out boat on the Mississippi River and she'd just sit back and relax.. and go for the occassional swim too.

She had two blue eyes, but was not deaf or blind, contrary to what anyone says about blue eyes = deaf or blindness. My mom says that she snapped at a little kid that ran by her ONCE. Other than that, she never showed any aggression towards anyone! My mom took her to one set of obedience classes and from then on she was great. She'd stay in our yard (which had no fence) when we'd let her out to potty. She'd go do her business.. run around and explore and then she'd come back and wait by the door until someone let her in. She soon learned to scratch at the door when she was ready to come in. She'd put her face in the window and wait. But if we weren't quick enough.. we'd hear a 'scratch scratch' at the door.

We NEVER crated her. As she got older, we had baby gates put up to keep her in the kitchen because she'd just go when she had to -- due to the dementia. She never chewed/ate/destroyed anything. She also didn't like balls, or any other toys except the tug-o-war ropes. She learned sit, stay, lay down, shake (with both paws), roll over, and her special trick -- spin! She came with this one... You could move a treat in a circle above her and shed scoot around in a circle on her butt.. it was so funny!

I could just ramble on about her forever. I guess since I was the one who fell in love with her while volunteering there.. so it would make sense. Big change now, I have two dogs with my partner, a boxer/pit (we believe) mix and a rot/blue healer mix. Pepper was such a different type of dog than them... wow. Id definitely recommend one.. I don't know much about the puppy part of their lives but the adult part is awesome! =)

**theterrierman** · 01-21-2007, 05:43 PM

I didn't see this mentioned yet, but Dals do have a tendency to get bladder stones. Also, they shed moderately year-round, much like a smooth coat JRT.

**Seravieve** · 01-21-2007, 05:47 PM

Oh yea.. good point. Pepper shedded something awful. White hairs EVERYWHERE! =)

**captain** · 01-21-2007, 11:35 PM

Originally Posted by LKPike

oh yes, I forgot the shedding. omg how DID I forget the shedding? Dalmatians shed CONSTANTLY. A lady at the bank the other day asked my husband if we had any cats, because of the trail of white hairs that follows us wherever we go

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and yes they are sensitive to stones and "crystals", but this is easily taken care of by controling their diet, low protein foods and treats.

Shedding - gee, I am so used to it, I forgot that too. I wear alot of black - for no reason other than I usually like the style of something, and it happens to be black. So effectively, I wear BLACK with WHITE hairs .....

Diet - yep, that is what was recommended to me by the breeder, and so far we are doing OK.

Dal Puppy - lets just say that my two did not grow out of puppyhood until they were at least 3 years old!!!!!