Tri - Color History

Book: “The Dog Book” 

Year: 1906

Author: Watson, James 

The Dalmatian 

The Dalmatian is a dog of ancient lineage and with as straight a record as almost any dog. He was the hound that came from Dalmatia, and there is little reason to doubt that he was of the same class of hound that the pointer emanated from. Even to this day they have very much in common, in appearance, habits and disposition

Spotted dogs were known in Egypt. The illustration of dogs in the frontispiece of Part I., showing a number of dogs which were received as tribute, should have shown the fore leg of the farther dog in the front row as spotted, but the spots were omitted by the artist who copied the group in line drawing only. Stonehenge points out that quite a good many black- and-white pointers, while not marked so symmetrically as are Dalmatians.

In descriptions published earlier in the nineteenth century tan cheeks were spoken of, and within the past thirty years one of the recognized colors, the one placed second in point of merit by Stonehenge and considered very desirable by Dalziel, was the black- spotted dog with liver spots on the legs. These were by no means uncommon thirty years ago, and were thought equally good if not better than the entirely black spotted. Why the Dalmatian Clubs of England should have barred this liver spotting on the legs is not quite plain, for the new fanciers certainly do not know any more about the breed than those who knew them  at that  period.  We  remember  buying  a  Dalmatian  some twenty-five years ago mainly because she was particularly well spotted on the legs and on the side of the cheeks with a nice liver color. 

At that time a common name for the Dalmatian was Talbot, but we do not find it in any of the books of that period, nor indeed in any book we have except the lately issued "Twentieth-Century Dog," to which Mrs. Bedwell contributes some remarks, and says: "The 'Talbot' is no pumped-up modern breed." The Talbot we know was a hound, one of the tracking kind, and of the white varieties known in England the all white was considered excellent; so were the all black. "But if white hounds are spotted with black, experience tells us they are never the best hare hunters. White, and black and white, and grey streaked white are 

also the most beautiful." That was what was written several hundred years ago. 

Who first mentioned the Dalmatian we have not yet found out. Buffon, possibly, about the middle of the eighteenth century. Up to that time English writers on dogs had little to say about any animal not used in sport, and in that case color was not an essential, though sportsmen and sporting writers had fancies regarding certain colors. Bewick, at the close of the century, included the Dalmatian, in his "History 'of Quadrupeds," and gives an excellent illustration, even to the padlocked brass collar which was always the correct thing for the coach dog. The ears are cropped closely, as was the custom, but Bewick wrote: "We do not admire the cruel practice of depriving the poor animal of its ears, in order to increase its beauty; a practice so general that we do not remember ever to have seen one of these dogs unmutilated in that way." Bewick's Dalmatian has a small black patch at the ear and a much larger but lighter one around the eye. The Dalmatian of Reinagle in the "Sportsman's Repository" is a more racing-built dog than Bewick's, and was most likely a portrait dog, as the spots run somewhat in color. It has a china eye and is dark around the eyes, and has its ears cropped, as was the custom. Captain's Brown's Dalmatian like all his illustrations, is stiff and wooden, but it has natural ears, and he wrote that the barbarous practice of cropping was then (1829) quickly dying out.  

The whole ear is black, and there is a mark around the eyes as in the other drawings just named. The description is that he is something between the foxhound and pointer. "His head is more acute than that of the latter, and his ears fully longer; his general color is white, and his whole body and legs are covered with small, irregular-sized black or reddish-brown spots.  The pure breed has tanned cheeks and black ears." As each of these independent delineators of the Dalmatian shows this tanned eye mark, and two of them the black ear — Reinagle shows a dark rim to the outer edge of the ear and a largish splash close behind, so that the ear was undoubtedly black in its entirety — it is simply one of the oddities of "fancy" for present-day exhibitors to say the Dalmatian must not have black ears, and must have no liver or tan if black spotted. Fully half of the show Dalmatians, notwithstanding the efforts of thirty years' breeding to get rid of the black ears, still, have them, and when you do get a dog with spotted ears he is usually lightly spotted over the body. A very good spotted dog in body is seldom near right in ear, and, if we must speak our mind, we see no objection to a black ear. It is as old as the hills with the breed, and why now assert that it is wrong ? We really must say that we have very little patience with some of these modern improvements, and when we see dogs that would tire at the end of a mile or two, owing to their faulty conformation, getting places over true-made dogs because of a little advantage in spotting, we get very tired of the fads of fancy. 

The Dalmatian is primarily a dog that should be able to run all day long, and that not over springy pasture land but on hard roads and paved thoroughfares; therefore he should be as nearly perfect in legs, feet, shoulders and running symmetry as possible. Then, when you have got a dog that can run, the spots should count, but not the spotting first. Take that dog of Reinagle's; how many of our present-day winners could he not beat, "one down, t'other come on," following a coach on an all-day run .? Spotting is all well enough if we are merely to consider the Dalmatian as a dog about the premises, as we do a mastiff or St. Bernard, but the moment we undertake to judge him as a coach dog then the principal requirement is the conformation that will enable him to run as a coach dog is supposed to do. Really it is a very difficult thing to do justice in a Dalmatian class, or at least to give satisfaction, for if it is a judge who goes for spotting because it is easier than conformation plus spotting, the owner of a well-made dog feels aggrieved, and, vice versa, the man who must have a dog that can run has a disgruntled exhibitor in the owner of the bad-shouldered, nicely marked dog who has won a whole lot of prizes elsewhere. It is really one of those breeds where the judge should practice the art of self- defense and resort to point judging; then if he does not put the dog satisfactorily it is the dog's fault and not his. 

The life of the Dalmatian in this country as a show dog has been brief. We have always had the Dalmatian, one may say, but only occasionally was one to be seen about New York, almost invariably about some stable. This was only what might be expected, for, whoever brought them from abroad, it is fair to assume that they were mainly coachmen or grooms, and the dogs went with them to the stables. In the early seventies we remember a Dalmatian kept at a livery stable in Charles Street, New York, and this was the first dog we ever saw running between the horses when out with a carriage and pair. The English style, when the dog was not running in advance, was for it to run underneath the carriage and close behind the horses. Bewick, in one of his quaint little tailpieces, shows a coach drawn by a pair, one horse ridden by a postilion, with the dog running by the roadside. 

The American Dalmatian Club is in good hands, and all that is necessary for its continued success is a continuation of the same spirit of enterprise which has characterized its management during its first year. It has not the easy path to success that so many clubs have had, with a membership ready to hand without the asking, for the admirers and supporters of this breed are by no means numerous and will require to be largely recruited before it is likely to be put on a secure footing, for in all clubs there are always some members who are like the seed that fell on stony ground, and they form a percentage that has to be overcome by hard work on the part of those who can get in new additions. The impetus given the breed by the club is an excellent illustration of what can be accomplished by a specialty club, which goes to work in a sportsmanlike manner. 

The standard which we give is that of the English Dalmatian Club, but it is not one to our liking, and not at all suitable for the purpose of letting a novice know what is really wanted. To assist in that piece of education, we will say that in our opinion the Dalmatian should be built very much upon the lines of a good pointer, but with no more substance than gives the idea that the dog is a strongly built one and capable of traveling easily at a moderately fast pace for a distance. The standard says "heavy in bone," as if one wanted a mastiff. You do not say heavy in bone in regard to a pointer, but good in bone, meaning that the dog must not look light in that respect; and so with this dog. The head is rather difficult to describe, but the idea can be best conveyed by saying that it must not be that of a good pointer, but more akin to what might be called weak in head in a pointer, with a little less squareness and lip. The eye should be smarter and the expression brighter than that of the pointer, with the ears higher on the head. The standard calls for spotted ears, but we think we have proved our case that the ears are more properly black. Of course they should be of a size to suit the dog and not appear large or heavy. The carriage of the tail is best illustrated in the Reinagle dog, that of Bewick being far too much curled and his dog rather too mastiff-like in its substance. 

With regard to color, unless called upon to judge under a particular standard, we should not penalize a dog for black ears, nor for tan spots on the legs or cheeks, for these we know to have been proper Dalmatian colorings from the very first of our information regarding the breed up to the time these English clubs were started, and there is no reason why the change should have been made. Number of spots on a dog has nothing to do with the case; what counts is sharpness of outline, the evenness with which they are distributed and their regularity as to size. We have never seen any Dalmatian, to our mind, the equal of the renowned 

Captain in the matter of distinctness and regularity of spotting. He was unbeatable in his day, and had tan spots on his legs, which were thought most attractive too. Both Stonehenge and Vero Shaw took Captain as illustrating what a Dalmatian should be. What his weight was we do not know, but his measurements were as follows: nose to stop, 3^ inches; stop to occiput, 5 inches; length of back, 21 inches; girth of forearm, 7 inches; girth of knee, 5 inches; girth of pastern, 4^ inches; height at shoulders, 22 inches; height at elbow, 12 inches; height at loins, 20 inches; height at hock, 5I inches; length of tail, 12^ inches. 

Descriptive Particulars 

The Dalmatian in many particulars much resembles the pointer, more especially in size, build and outline, though the markings peculiar to this breed are a very important feature and highly valued. 

General Appearance. — The Dalmatian should represent a strong, muscular and active dog, symmetrical in outline and free from coarseness and lumber; capable of great endurance, combined with a fair amount of speed. 

Head. — Should be of fair length, the skull flat, rather broad between the ears, and moderately well defined at the temples, i. e., exhibiting a moderate amount of stop and not in one straight line from the nose to the occiput bone, as required in a bull terrier. It should be entirely free from wrinkle. 

Muzzle. — Should be long and powerful; the lips clean, fitting the jaw moderately close. 

Eyes. — Should be set moderately well apart and of medium size, round, bright and sparkling, with an intelligent expression, their color greatly depending on the markings of the dog. In the black-spotted variety the eyes should be dark (black or dark brown); in the liver-spotted variety they should be light (yellow or light brown). 

Rim round the Eyes. — In the black-spotted variety should be black, in the liver-spotted variety, brown — never flesh colored in either. 

Ears. — Should be set on rather high, of moderate size, rather wide at the base and gradually tapering to a rounded point. They should be carried close to the head, be thin and fine in texture, and always spotted, the more profusely the better. 

Nose. — In the black-spotted variety should always be black, in the liver- 

spotted variety, always brown. 

Neck and Shoulders. — The neck should be fairly long, nicely arched, light and tapering, and entirely free from throatiness. The shoulders should be moderately oblique, clean and muscular, denoting speed. 

Body, Back, Chest and Loins. — The chest should not be too wide but very deep and capacious, ribs moderately well sprung, never rounded like barrel hoops (which would indicate want of speed), the back powerful; loin strong, muscular and slightly arched. 

Legs and Feet. — Are of great importance. The fore legs should be 

perfectly straight, strong and heavy in bone; elbows close to the body. Fore feet round, compact, with well-arched toes (cat foot), and round, tough, 

elastic pads. In the hind legs the muscles should be clean though well 

defined; hocks well let down. 

Nails. — In the black-spotted variety, black and white.

Tail. — Should not be too long, strong at the insertion and gradually tapering toward the end, free from coarseness.  It should not be inserted too low down, but carried with a slight curve upward, and never curled. It should be spotted, the more profusely the better. 

Color and Markings. — These are most important points. The ground color in both varieties should be pure white, very decided and not intermixed.  The color of the spots in the black-spotted variety should be black, the deeper and richer the black the better; in the liver-spotted variety they should be brown. The spots should not intermingle but be as round and v^ell defined as possible, the more distinct the better; in size they should be from that of a sixpence to a florin [a cent to a little larger than a quarter-dollar]. The spots on head, face, ears, legs, tail and extremities to be smaller than those on the body. 

Weight. — Dogs, 55 pounds; bitches, 50 pounds.