Archive for the ‘Dalmatian’ Category
When To Start Training And Socializing Your Dalmatian Puppy
Socialization and training your Dalmatian puppy need to start the very day of his arrival in your home. You should not address him without calling him by his name. A short, simple name is the easiest to teach because it catches the puppy's attention quickly, so avoid giving him elaborate names. Always address the pup by the same name, not a whole series of pet names because the latter will only confuse your puppy. Say his name clearly, and call him over to you when you see him awake and wandering about. When he comes, make a big fuss over him for being such a good dog. He will then quickly associate the sound of his name with coming to you and a pleasant experience.
It is not too soon to start familiarizing him to the feel of a light collar, which can start as early as several hours after his arrival. Chances are he may hardly notice it or he may struggle, roll over, and try to rub it off his neck with his paws. You can divert his attention when this happens by offering a tasty treat, a toy, or by petting him. Before long he will accept the strange feeling around his neck and will no longer be aware of it.
Next is the lead; attach it and then immediately take the puppy outside or try to redirect his attention with things to see and sniff. He may struggle against the lead at first, biting at it and trying to free himself. Do not pull him with it at this point; just hold the end loosely and try to follow him if he starts off in any direction. Normally his attention will soon turn to investigating his surroundings if he is outside or if is taken into an unfamiliar room in your house; curiosity will take over and he will become interested in sniffing around the surroundings. Just follow him with the lead slackly held until he seems to have completely forgotten about it; and then try to get him to follow you.
Do not be rough or jerk at him; just tug gently on the lead in short quick motions, repeating his name or trying to get him to follow your hand while holding a bite of food or a favorite toy. If you have an older lead-trained dog, then it should be easier to get your Dalmatian puppy to follow along after him. In any case, the average puppy learns quite quickly and will soon be walking along nicely on the lead.
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What Is A Dalmatian’s Patch?
Most people wonder what a patch is until they have seen one. If you have ever seen a pointer with a black patch over an eye or covering an ear and a portion of his skull, that kind of marking is similar to a Dalmatian patch. A patch is larger than a normal Dalmatian spot, and is present at birth. When they occur, they are usually found on the head, but they can occasionally be located elsewhere on the body or tail. The breeds' markings may be understood a bit better if you realize that genetically the dog is a solid black or liver-colored animal that also carries a gene for covering over the black or liver color.
Genetically speaking, for any breed of dog that carries variations of this "white masking of the black or liver base color," the pattern of dark markings can show up in looks ranging from torn splotches of dark color to perfectly round dots of varying sizes. Selective breeding will determine how the dark markings appear. If you purposefully bred for larger and larger dark markings, you could wind up breeding a solid black or liver-colored dog, although it would not be a Dalmatian anymore under the standard's specification.
This explanation of white masking over the dark base color also helps explain the standard's concern with tricolor markings. The tan point markings on a black and tan coat combination as in Coon hounds and Doberman Pinschers, for example, are on the head, under the neck, and on the chest, legs and tail. The Dalmatian base color is supposed to be pure black or liver with no tan points.
If you had a black and tan base color pattern masked by a white coat, you could see the tan points of that pattern only if the white masking happened to allow the dark base color pattern to show through on parts of the head, neck, chest, legs or tail. That is where you would see the tan points showing through, and that is in fact where the Dalmatian standard looks for the tan tricolor markings. As the breed standard indicates, they are rare in the breed.
The Dalmatians' gait is peculiar to the breed as well as within the breed. The standards of efficiency, endurance and power call for a movement that is "steady and effortless." When the Dalmatian is working in his gait, his head position is forward and not erect, held slightly above the top line. His gait has the extended reach and drive noted in the standard, which are combined in an effortless power, rhythm and smoothness that is distinctive to the breed. This has to be seen in order to be recognized. Although many Dalmatians may get close to the desired gait, fewer than one in a hundred will achieve it to perfection.
What Does A Dalmatian Look Like?
The Dalmatian is a breed of balance and moderation. You do not want a big head on a little dog or a small head on a big dog. Similarly, you do not want an extremely elegant head on a male dog or a very "doggy" head on a female dog. The females are generally more feminine versions of the males and this male/female difference 
should be quite apparent. The head should have clean lines and the Dalmatian should have a clean mouth, not drooling or loose-lipped. The standard does a good job of describing eyes, ears, stop, muzzle, nose, lips and scissors bite; and it also notes appropriate size and angle relationships.
With regard to eyes, the major faults of ectropion and entropion eyelids refer to lids that turn into (entropion) or out/row, (ectropion) the eye. Trichiasis is a condition of one or more misdirected eyelashes, causing corneal or conjunctival irritation. These conditions are extremely rare to find in the show ring, but the fact that they have been carried forward in our breed standard indicates that these conditions have caused trouble in the past. Also, they are serious enough to be used as screening factors when making current breeding program selections.
The important thing to keep in mind is that the more you deviate from what the breed standard describes, the more you move away from symmetry, balance and intelligent expression. Picture a Dalmatian with close-set, yellow eyes, no stop between the forehead and top of muzzle, and uneven planes between the top of the skull and his pointy-nosed muzzle when viewed from the side. If, for example, a line drawn across the top of the skull was parallel to the ground and another line drawn across the top of the muzzle pointed more toward the ground, the dog would be "down-faced" and less intelligent looking than one with parallel planes. Such a dog does not have the intelligent expression desired in a Dalmatian. Not even perfect spotting could save the conformation standard shortcomings of a head like this.
The neck, top line, body segment calls for a smooth throat with no excess skin folds and a nicely arched, fairly long neck. The word "arched" denotes a curved structure. The top line should be smooth, without a dip or break between the withers and the back. The chest, back, loin and croup descriptions are clear. Tail docking refers to removing any portion of the tail, whether it is done at birth or later for any reason, through surgery. The front legs are to come straight down from the elbows to the pasterns, whether looking at the dog from the side or the front. Cow-hocks occur when the points of the hocks are closer together than the heels of the pads in normal standing position. The feet, coat and color and markings sections are reasonably clear.