Dalmatian breed is very related to firemen, here is the story to explain "WHY", illustrated with my drawings about this very special breed.
I'll speak about Dope, ancient History of the breed and the facts you had to understand if you plan to adopt a Dalmatian home !
1.Dalmatian Breed History
Dalmatia is an Area in croatia, middle-europe near mediterranean sea. It's where this breed comes from, just Like tennisman Novak Djokovic.
The breed appears 2000 years ago, when Roman empire was Rulling europe and when dogs had a special role : they were used a war dogs : to Alert, Guard and defend the sea shores from invaders. Ancestors of the breed are mixture of Pointers and Great Dane.
So have this in mind : the Dalmatian is a Guard Dog !
The breed turns to be used in hunting and first written books about Dalmatian appears in 14th century.
2.Dalmatian Personnality : It's Dope
the second thing to have in mind is that this breed has something special in it's blood : The dalmatian naturally creates lots of dopamine.
To be clear : this dog is hyper excited, all the time.
Because of this, this dog breed has inifinte energy to run, hunt, guard, play, etc.. allways ready for Action ! this is the story of this breed.
It's no surprise this dog breed was used as a coach dog, running beside or in front of carriage as an escort to keep him busy. If you like cycling in countryside, you can go with a Dalmatian for hours, the dog will enjoy it and have a nice good sleep afterwards till the next day.
3.Dalmatian and Firemen
In 19th century, U.S firemen used very heavy fire-fighting material with strong and fast horses to move is : a very valuable equipment at this time.
Here comes the needs of a guard dog that could follow the horses everywhere and protect the equipment from burglars. They did try the Dalmatian as fire dog ant it suits well !
They did the same for Budweisers carts and Wells Fargo
4.Dalmatian Lifespan
The dalmatian has a lifespan of 10 to 13 years - oldest spotted dog in my knowledge was 18 years.
They are medium sized dogs, and are hunting dog so they usually live longer than larger size breeds like berneses and live shorter than smaller size breeds such as King Charles Cavalier.
5.Dalmatian size
Dalmatians is a medium-sized, muscular dog with over the top endurance and stamina. Males and females stand between 48 and 61cm tall.
Males are generally larger than females.
You may think it's ok with that size but keep in mind that this breed is always in motion and a full speed dalmatian running can be very impressive : they were used as "crowd breaker" centuries ago to help firemen reach their destination.
If you let your dalmatian play with other dogs in a dog park, be carefull with theses dogs, they go from A to B even if you are on the direct path. I've seen people injured and broken elbow after dalmatian encouter. - Dog was ok, they are really healthy dog and barely unbreakable !
6.Dalmatian breed requirements
Clearly, a lot of people adopt a Dalma after watching the cartoon but quickly get disillusioned when they realize that the dalmatian is a dog with big needs !
The breed requires some experience in education and is not easy to train as a first dog.
They are pure watchdog : the 101 movie is pure lie when they stole all the dalma puppies : a real Dalmatian would have bark when the burglars were entering the house !
This breed need lots of exercice. A lot ! If you run, educate the dog for running with you and go for a 1 hour run everyday. If you cycle, educate the dog to run along your bike and go for a 1 hour ride every day. If you ride horses, the same : educate the dog to run beside the horse and go for a ride.
Have this in mind : The Dalmatian can run a marathon every day.
If after all theses facts, you still want a Dalmatian, you can get a print of this wonderfull breed here or go adopt one in a dog shelter, ther are plenty of this breed there : it's where i adopt mine !
Yes i Do have a dalmatian at home and i'm very happy !
7. Dalmatian and Hair issues
So you think the dalmatian sheds twice a year and small hairs are not an issue. Here is the info : the Dalmatian sheds everyday, 7days a week and all the year round. And a shedding peak in Autumn and springs. Be prepared to clean your house every day and invest into a high capacity vacuum cleaner.