..not here yet! Been to visit the breeder and we were impressed. On paper, it seems like a Dal will be a good match. We met the parents and they were lovely.

Anyone here have a Dalmatian as a trail dog?

Good luck with the training!

My parents have one and when she was younger she was very hyper active even after long walks. They need a lot of attention but are amazing dogs. Wouldn’t trust ours for going out biking.

We have Banff who is 9 now. We got him from a registered breeder, his grandad was a champion and we had the hearing test done. Took him to puppy classes and the trainer told us our dog was her old dogs cousin and that dalamations are one of the hardest dogs to train. We found this out over the next few years. Lots of sleepless nights and pulling us around on walks. Had his nuts done and it didn’t seem to calm him down, it took him a few years to calm down to the point where I could let him off the lead without fear of him disappearing. When we had our first child he calmed down alot and became a proper trail dog and found some of the best cheeky stuff we ride over our local woods.
He never makes a mess in the house but steals food like a professional, all dalmatian owners we meet say theirs do the same. Never had any aggression from him even with 3 small children but hes very bit excitable still, barking and being like a puppy. They can get skin complaints but apart from normal dog injuries and an ear operation hes been healthy.
Dont take him too far now but he was running 20 miles with ease a few years ago. He’s showing signs of arthritis now but still runs for a few hours no problem, we just do it less often.

Dalmatians are ‘carriage’ dogs aren;t they? They used to run with horse drawn carriages I believe. Should make quite good riding buddies with those instincts. No?

Dogs of War originally. Carriage dogs and fire truck dogs later.

Dalmatians are ‘carriage’ dogs aren;t they?

Unless you get one with the hunting gene. Used for Hunting in the Dalmatia area before the nobility trained them to run with horses.

Guess what Huxley has! He can manage a 5 mile run with the bike before getting bored and wanting to hunt. Like Setters they can take a few years to get settled. Like Doberman dogs they really like human company. Huxley comes to work and cleans apple cores, bananas and odd bits of food that go on the floor. He’s the fourth Dalmatian we’ve had in the house, all rescues arriving about 18 months to 2 years old when the owners get tired of the training. The first one took a year to walk to heal, Huxley has taken a year to leave small dogs as he finds them (not rolled across the grass or chased unmercifully) very, very bouncy dogs.

As with the post above, they are by all accounts lovely dogs, but of a nervous disposition and very difficult to train. Certainly not a dog to get if it is going to be left alone in the house for any period of time, and probably not if you’ve got young kids as I’ve heard reports of them being a bit nippy sometimes. I would have thought that you’d probably want to be an experienced dog owner, and experienced at dealing with puppies (which is essentially 0-24 months) before getting a Dalmatian.

I’ve got a lab/collie cross now and she’s been out on a couple of 15 mile routes in the Peaks. She’s only 15 months and very energetic, but she is relatively easy to train (that’s the Collie influence). If the choice had been entirely up to me I would probably have gone for a larger terrier cross (she was from the dog’s home), as they’re bred to keep going all day and are hardy as f@£k. Trail dogs don’t need to be that fast for the most part, just able to keep plugging away and well trained enough not to disappear into the nearest woods on the scent of whatever. After all, you don’t want to be leaving your somewhat pricey steed unattended whilst you leg it through hill and vale yelling for Benton to come back… 😉

This was Domino
He was a great dog but sadly had to be put down at 6 1/2 after he first took a skin disorder then nervous system, it came to a stage where he couldn’t get out of his bed. I had been warned that Dals can have certain health problems and don’t have a long life expectancy. He was a very fit dog and I don’t think I ever tired him out, he was very defensive of his own home also and a great guard dog. Miss him.

To add to my earlier post they are also clumsy dogs. The are unaware of distance from your fingers to the end of the treat, so you get hit by teeth as they work it out before removing the treat from the hand. I’ve been lucky not to have my nose broken when reaching down for something as the dog straightens up to give a head butt. Running into things is also a hazard as they are keen runners with poor awareness of the space needed to stop or make a turn.
Their tails work at supersonic speed, they are literally a blur at the end when the dog is pleased (Scruff of this parish has a pic of his Dally waiting to go for a ride in the back garden with the tip of his tail a blur). This can lead to clearance of occasional tables of ornaments etc.
Bags of personality though with an unique “intelligence”.

we met 3 Dals at the breeder’s place. They had big range of temperaments but all were very friendly and attentive. The mum wanted to be around/next to a person and loved to be petted. The other two were a bit more independent, although the mum was only visiting for a few days which may explain her behaviour.

The breeder hasn’t had many health problems with her previous litters, so i think the dog should be quite healthy. Although you can never be certain… :/

I was really attracted to the playfulness, size and stamina. I’m very excited. Domino sounds like a great dog, sorry to hear of your loss.

Sandwich, mine always has my finger ends with treats and has headbutted me a good few times, once was enough to crack my tooth and sent me close to unconscious. Children regularly cry from being whacked with his tail. They can also smile when really happy, i’ve never seen this in a dog before. Banff does it and his mother did it aswell.