When I met Tom, 22 years ago, he had 2 male dalmatians, Smokey, and Dandy. Smokey, was from a breeder, and Dandy was from the dog shelter. Smokey was fairly hyper, (and stayed that way until he was much older, when he was a total appreciative sweetheart), and Dandy, the younger of the 2 by a couple years, was very shy and skitterish, (who was raised in a cage for over a year, before coming to Tom, and later proved to be partially deaf). (Both had "papers".) Neither of us know their original costs. Both of them were priceless to us!
We paid $300-$400 each for our more recent dogs:
Tom & I have since, adopted 2 dalmatians from 'backyard breeders'. While we were searching for them, via newspaper ads, etc., we visited several 'undesirable backyard breeders'.
Somehow, if you meet the owners, and their other dogs; 'siblings' and 'parents', and feel good about the situation, you seem to know if the dogs have come from a good home', and are right for you.
We did join the Dalmatian Club, as we were considering breeding 'Sugar'. We sent for her papers and registered her official name, then took her to the nearest vet that did "Baer" hearing tests on dals, which was not close to home, (because dals have a fairly high incidence of deafness,) and we didn't want to breed deaf dogs. We eventually had her fixed as we could never set up a "mating" as she was not on 'our' schedule.
Buddy is the 4th great puppy in our married lives. We had to have Sugar put down last July. We have considered getting him a new playmate, and have considered all breeds, (especially smaller).
But if we get another, it will probably be a dal as we are 'stuck' on them.
We have gone to the local 'dal' rescue, but: Their requirements of filling out forms asks more information than we are willing to give in these times of "stolen identity", etc. (and we have had problems with this in the past.) Therefore, we will continue to seek the local shelters and newspaper ads, and possibly "buy another puppy" (not necessarily a dal).