questions about Dalmations ?

I have heard before that Dalmations are really black dogs with loss of pigment. I know they are born white. Does anyone have any info on any of this? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

No thats false. They are white with balck spots.

The heeler actually derives from breeding the Austrailian dingo with the kelpi and dalmation. Hince why heelers are born white.

Alot of breeds are influenced with the dalmation due to its strong loyalty bonds. Though the dalmation has been riddled with poor health from BYB and bad breedings and serious agression issues are popping up in the breed.

Though if you find a good breeder, I don't thik you can go wrong with one!

They are alot like labs in that they take a while to mature and chew and have a strong fetching and retriving drive...

 

I heard they were very mean dogs... is that true?

 

I dont know about them 'becoming' aggressive, in all the years Ive been working with dogs including in UK over 20 years ago Dalmatians have always been generally agressive, there are exceptions of course and while I wouldnt say Id put them in a category of 'all out attack dogs' theyre quick to bite (not talking about the deaf, 'misunderstood' ones either).

 

since I have been trying to find more info on this, I found this one page It has really cool pics/info on dalmations
http://www.geocities.com/~paisleydals/color.html



check out the website, it is really cool!! they have normal (black) dals, orange, lemon, brindle, tri color, long hair. it is really awesome, I have always thought they were just black/white.

 

The dalmation breed went downhill very fast once 101 Dalmations came out. People BYB like crazy, and soon dogs with aggression issues, blindness, and deafness were common. I think if you stick to a good, reputable dalmation breeder, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Actually, Dalmations are genetically black (or liver, lemon, whatever) dogs. But they don't lose pigment. Rather, they have another modifying gene that limits the amount of pigment that is expressed. This is also true for many other spotted dogs, like piebald Dachshunds, parti colored Cockers, and Brittanys. Bred to a solid color dog, they will produce color the same way a genetically black (or other color) dog will.

Many white breeds, like white bull terriers, carry genetic color, but have the extreme piebald gene that severely limits or totally covers the color expression.

Technically, very few breeds are really white. They are colored dogs with extreme piebald modifiers.

 

I have been reading up on the piebald stuff. On one paged it was talking about different white dogs and stuff (sort of like what you are saying) and it made me start to wonder about my dog (or rather purebreed AES) because he is white. Thank you so much!