I was walking my Dalmatian at my favourite dog park the other day, when I overheard the same hushed commentary hiss through the tight lips of passersby. “Ohh Dalmatians, they’re cute but they’re SO hyper….” they sneered. And I get it – for some reason Dalmatians have gained a bad rap – likely due to the surge of poorly-treated and poorly-bred pups that were mass produced after the popularity of Disney’s 101 Dalmatians.
“Ohh Dalmatians, they’re cute but they’re SO hyper….”
But isn’t assuming that all puppies born of the same breed have the same temperament, almost as presumptuous as assuming that all people of a certain race have the same personality traits? Ok dogs and people aren’t quite the same, but I do find that dogs, like people, have their own personalities and temperments – (in my opinion) as a result of the environment in which they were raised (nature vs nurture?).
I may be a bit biased when it comes to Dalmatians (I’ve had mine for almost 13 years now), but like with people, I don’t think it’s fair to judge a book by its cover. Contrary to popular belief, my pups is calm, friendly, gentle, submissive, and actually quite lazy! She’s great with kids, and terrified of cats.
Yes, when given the opportunity, she can appear to be a little energetic…
But the majority of the time, she’s sleeping in a sun spot on my living room floor – lazy as can be.
Many dog owners think of their furry friends as their babies. As silly as it may seem to non-dogowners, canine companions are regarded to many as a legitimate part of the family. Can you image if you were walking past a stranger with your ginger-haired baby and you heard someone sneer, “Ohhh redheads can be so hot-tempered!”
If you don’t have anything nice to say – don’t say it at all. Or at least, don’t say it within earshot of the person you are saying it about.
I’m not a dog expert. I’m sure there are some breed-specific traits and health issues that are genetically linked, but properly bred and raised Dalmatians are usually not “hyper”.
Properly bred and raised Dalmatians are usually not hyper.
I’ve known several Dalmatian owners, and I can honestly say that they make great pets for families with young children and are the sweetest pets. If you are interested in getting a Dalmatian – do your research (and be sure that the information you are reading comes from reliable sources).
To learn more about Dalmatians, check out the Dalmatian Club of America website.
3 Comments
Finally, someone with a balanced view on dallys! We are a family of 4 and back in the uk we had 2 springers that we loved. Then we moved to Dubai, one of the springers had died so we couldn’t live without the other being a member of our family and brought him with us. He died a year later and we found we couldn’t live without a dog not the other way around. Even the kids were saying it was too quiet!! We decided it had to be a different breed and my daughter proclaimed she wanted a dally puppy. We said ‘yeah right, we’ll never find one, we live in Dubai!’ 2 days later, I found a dally puppy about 4 months old and we fell in love at first sight. I bent down to look at her and she nibbled my nose and ears – the next day she lived as part of our family. I can’t say it’s been easy as she was a puppy and the first year and a half will be hard with any dog like it was with my springers. My poor old sofa has had to be re-upholstered 4 times!! However, she is the biggest character, she bosses me out of bed at 5.30am to walk her by digging the covers off me, kicking the door and licking my face. After her 30 minute walk and we get home she’s the first one to go back to bed! She talks and groans when she wants attention secretly watching out of the corner of her eye that she gets the desired responseand when she’s really happy she smiles. She’s pretty lazy during the day wanting to sunbathe and hates the rain refusing to go outside. She buries bones in plant pots in the house and buries sausages in the garden. I genuinely thought I could never get attached to another dog after my last springer but genuinely she has the biggest character. I have to say though that without doggy daycare where she plays with dogs for the day and the dog park we have found that she loves all dogs and burns off the energy she needs once a week otherwise she does feel like a coiled spring getting tighter and tighter. Apart from that 2 daily walks of 30 minutes each which is what we used to do for our springers. Right now she’s laid snuggled up to me under a blanket which is another favorite thing to do!! I love her to bits and she is probably the most spoilt member of our family!!
Dals are the best dogs for sure! Ours is 14 now so she requires a lot less running around than she did in her earlier years. She’s so kind and gentle and good with the kids, such a great companion!
Hi!
I want to start be saying thank you! Thank you for this blog! I a dalmatian 2 week ago. My little Pixel can be have a bost of energy but sleep most of the day! I lot a people told me the same thing. Dont get a dalmatian, they have hyper.