Anyone who can tell me what owning a Dalmatian is like ?

[strawberrymilkshake123]

I've wanted one since I was a child. Anybody with any real life, ( spots and all), experience ?

I've loved huskies forever.

I don't have one because my love for them doesn't translate into me being the best owner for one. We have a sprinter mongrel. We're the best owners for him.

Don't ever get a dog because you have an idealised view of the breed.

I only know one through seeing the owners at the park regularly (in their words "we practically live here") and she's gorgeous and lovely to bump into but absolutely nuts. She seems to go for a bounce and spin rather than a walk. Apparently she once managed to get out of her harness entirely and run across the main road, luckily at a quiet moment. We know she's around because we hear "Delilah...Delilah...DELILAH" long before we see her. I'm not sure I'd want to live with her!

One of my worst days was with a Dalmatian. I can laugh now.😂

I thought the bloody thing was about to end my marriage ( which did anyway just without the help of the Dalmatian!)

We'd not been married long when MIL's Dalmatian came to stay whilst she was on holiday. I took him for a walk out of our village where he slipped his lead and ran....and ran.

There was I, running behind him, in totally unsuitable shoes (my fault not his) along country lanes, him rounding corners, blind bends and in the middle of the road.

Every now and again he would stop ( in the middle of the road) wait till I got within very slow near touching distance, and almost laugh at me as he took off again.
I ended up totally out of breath and with those chocking sobs that stick in your throat.

I was sure he, or I, or both of us were going to be killed on the road - and if not and if only he were killed - my DH and MIL would have killed me anyway.

Hideous. 😂

SSADGM

She's doing it all wrong. For a start a young dog like that shouldn't be getting anywhere near that amount of exercise, dreadful for its joints and bones and secondly she's basically just trained it to be superfit. No dog needs that amount of daily exercise, she needs professional help tbh.

@Cleaningupownimage

She’s been to 3 different trainers ( i think, or maybe 2?). He just jumps about constantly, I’ve seen him kind of lying down and sleeping maybe 3 times in 18 months. I stay away from the house now because of him 🙈. The thing is she’s a very experienced owner, she’s had 3 big, fit (sorry it’s sure how else to describe them 🤣) in the past 20 years, sadly they’ve passed on now but it’s not even as if she’s really inexperienced. The
Dog is her absolute child, everything she does revolves around him, the plans she makes, the house she lives in, her job, her social life, her relationships… I love dogs but that is crazy to me

I had no idea they needed to run so much until I read this thread. There’s one I see most mornings running around the hills near me with her owner. Thought they just stayed local until I drove to work an hour after I’d first seen them and saw them six miles away. She runs off lead, mostly to heel, but occasionally runs ahead and you can hear her owner shouting “Luna….. Looooooonnnaaaaaaaa!” :-)

I have 3 of the assholes! 12, 4 and 2. 2 bitches and a male. Previous boy passed at 13. Not for a first time dog owner. Huge characters, 24/7 attention needs, hair is a fucking nightmare with little hook ends that get in everywhere, even newly opened packets of tights lol. Loving dogs mine are softies. Even good lines can have deaf dogs so ignore that. Any good breeder will have Baer tested anyway. I used to be involved in rescue and it was people who had no idea what they were getting into that rehomed them. They don't need miles and miles of physical exercise, in fact they shouldn't be over exercised at all when young as with all fast growing breeds. They need a lot of mental stimulation as they are clever and eager to please. They respond well to reward training. You need to ask yourself why you want one seriously and not because of a longing from younger years. Xx

My daughter has one she has to have a special diet which costs a fortune shes forever damaging the ligaments in her back leg she is a money pit and paying the vets mortgage , totally mental ,nice dog but very high energy

Absolutely untrainable
Have no desire to please or loyalty to owners, think a bit like a siamese cat in attitude.
Need so much exercise... So much... My dexh took ours ultra marathon training and it still didn't tire the dog out.
Never again

We have a Dalmation in our agility group. He’s polite and well trained with his very experienced owner. But, as an easy peasy Labrador owner I can see how much hard work she puts in to get there.

Watching him whip around an agility course is stunning. He is so, so fast.

@Theredjellybean

Absolutely untrainable Have no desire to please or loyalty to owners, think a bit like a siamese cat in attitude. Need so much exercise... So much... My dexh took ours ultra marathon training and it still didn't tire the dog out. Never again

What absolute rot! You were obviously not suited to the breed... It takes more than continual running to tire any dog out they need mental stimulation. Why am I even bothering to reply jeez, 🙃 Bad owners = bad dog

How do you know we didn't do anything but running.
Jeez so rude.
We were very experienced dog owners when we got dalmatian, we did puppy school, training from day one, did junior training after puppy school, did agility, had 1:1 training with her, did hoops and flyball... Absolutely nothing made a difference.
We had snuffle mats, puzzle bowls, long toys, daily agility type work in our garden.
We literally tried everything.. Never failed to train a dog before or after and we currently have a very tricky breed.
So save your rude judgemental comments for yourself

Fabulous dog in the right hands. Love them! Idiot people buy them for their looks and think that 20 mins around the block twice a day will suffice.

Always think about what the dog was bred for initially?

Gun dog
Sheep dog
Carriage dog
Sled dog

Etc

You cannot buy a high energy breed and expect it to be happy if you don't meet its needs, it really as simple as that. Get a

Lap dog

If that's what you want, simple...

Theredjellybean

You sound like you did your best! Overstimulated possibly though?

Not easy. My friends calm Dalmatian turned and bit her nephews face completely out of the blue one day.

Lots resonates here!
My family have owned dallies for decades - liver spot and black spots.
Permanent short white barbed fur moulting, loads of exuberance and energy.
Not aggressive with other dogs but ours have had to be trained out of boisterous 'rudeness' on first meetings.
Quite a strong chase/prey drive, particularly with wild rabbits/hares.
Quite highly strung and a pain in the arse until they mature, which is quite late.
They are strong, athletic dogs who need a couple of hrs daily run even into old age.
On the positive side, they are hilarious clowns and very smiley. Also constantly waggy including whacking furniture, which yes, can result in split, bleeding tails.
Ours have always been very loving with people.
Super vocal with everything from pleasure sneezing when greeting, to whinging about rain and cold and making loud approval noises when you rub their ears!
I would not choose a dalmatian myself if I'm honest, although it's likely I will inherit my family's two...

Our neighbours have one. He bit our dog (terrier) and she’s terrified of him now. They regret getting him. Think he only gets properly walked at weekends when the college age son is home. Otherwise he just seems to be walking around behind a little gate most of the time, I’m always a bit worried he’ll jump it when I’m walking our dog.

I had one, took him in when he was about 6 months and thought it would be fine as I already had a 6 year old dog and had grown up with dogs. Oh how naive I was.

On the whole he was fine, learned commands quickly, didnt seem to have any issues with separation anxiety which I put down to him being with my older dog. Very loving towards me and fine with visiting family. But he hated men. He was so smart that it was scary. I had to childproof my home long before I even thought of having children, as he could break into the fridge, bin, anywhere he fancied really. I had a window open but on the latch and he worked it open the rest of the way, jumped out the window and chased my neighbour across the street. Poor neighbour had to swan dive over a hedge to escape.

Back to the separation anxiety, he was absolutely fine anytime I left him in the house but once I had to go away for work and left both dogs with my MIL (who he knew very well) and he ate her sofa.

He was also extremely strong and his tail was like a whip. And the hair! It doesn't just cover your clothes/fabrics, it penetrates the fibres in such a way that you can't just brush it off, you have to pick it out.

I don't regret having him at all and still miss him but I would never take on a breed like that again without a load of research and possibly some practice.

I had to take one on as a tiny puppy. Prospective owner had a bad accident and I naively stepped up I'm a lifelong dog owner.
That dog was a nightmare. He didn't mouth. He bit. I still have small, faint scars. Ripped so many of my clothes.
He would pee in the house. He jumped all over you. And he was very big and strong do it hurt.
He had zero recall. He was too needy to be left alone. Ever.
I had a behaviourist work with us for ages. No change.
I'm a big believer in not giving up on a dog unless it's dangerous.
I used to cry sometimes as he made my days so hard.
At around 2 years it was like he had a total personality change. IME most puppies calm down at 1 to 2 yrs depending on breed and personality.
But this was the most bizarrely dramatic change.
At 9 yrs now he is the most placid, affectionate, gentle dog you could imagine.
So that's my story.
He put me through sheer hell for nearly 2 yrs.
It was prolonged torture
Can you tell I'm still not quite recovered 🤣🤣

Definitely agreed with the cleverness thing.
My family's last boy used to mentally mark food and knew not to steal it when people were around. If you ever left food unattended for a moment (and remember they are athletic counter surfers!) he would sneak back and wolf it when he sussed you were distracted.
Also see opening doors and faking injuries!

I have 4 Dalmatians! They are the best dogs, I grew up with them, it's the only been I know.

3 are calm and 1 is a little mental.
They get walked twice a day and spend the rest of the time snuggled on the sofa.

My dd takes them up the stables about 3 times a week and takes 3 of them out hacking. She leaves the mental one at Home with me. I also do volunteer home checking for a Dalmatian charity. People get them with the Disney image but they can be difficult to train, they are boisterous and needy.

They shed the most ridiculous amount of hair, I hoover approx 3 times a day.

Dalmatians are wonderful dogs but you need to know what you’re getting yourself into. I grew up with dalmatians including several rescue dogs and they need a lot of training and exercise and ideally someone with them all day.

My dad got them all to walk to heel even off lead. But they can be selective on who they obey, the same dog that walked nicely for my dad would pull me along the street on walks. They are extremely strong.

All of ours were (and are) the most affectionate and soppy dogs, very intelligent but act as if they’re not.

I would own one if I could but I know that my lifestyle doesn’t suit one at the moment :(

The only one I've known was reactive to dogs and aggressive to humans. I'm very much a dog person but he was so unpredictable and generally aggressive that it was hard to feel safe around him. That being said, he didn't have great owners so it may have been more about them than him. As a breed though, they're known for being very highly strung.

A friend had one she was into ultra marathons
The dog never tired
I mean never it was like the terminator on speed
Snappy as fuck as well
They used to be carriage dogs and would run alongside the Victorian carriages for miles and miles

My experience of dalmatians is that they're aggressive, horrible dogs. And I LOVE dogs, 100% a dog person, and have never met another dog I dislike or am scared of! Very snappy and viscious, would not have one around a child, that's for sure.