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Some history:The Dalmatian is an ancient breed, and its origin is unknown for the world today. The breed may have survived almost unchanged from the past. The name of the breed has its origin from the coastal area Dalmatia in Croatia, but still one cannot be certain that this is the breed's country of origin. The Dalmatian was introduced in France and England in the midst 17th century, and was a regular companion  whit the horse carriages at that time, therefore the name "coach dog". The Dalmatians job at that time was to guars the horses, and their owners belongings. In the USA they were also used by fire fighters to make way in front of the horse carriages when the alarm went. In spite of the fact that the Dalmatians role as a coach dog is long gone, the Dalmatian has kept its affection for horses.

The Dalmatian today is classified as a pet dog and partly as an alerting guard dog. It is likely to notify when someone comes to visit, but happily accepts all. In general, the breed is outgoing, active, strong-willed and happy, and it is often described as the dogs world "Emil  i  Lønneberget", and  we're all familiar with Emil and all his "tricks". It is best suited for relatively active people who want their dog to fully be a part of the family. It needs to get to use its energy on a daily basis, although it dosen't need especially large amounts of exercise. It wants to be where you are, and happily follows you everywhere. The Dalmatian has many areas of use and many owners of Dalmatians train track, obedience and agility whit their dogs and whit good results as well. The main thing is that you do something fun with your dog, and some mental training is of as much importance as physical exercise.

Road Trial is a dog sport exclusively for the Dalmatian, and I'd like to tell you about it, as horses also are close to my heart. There was a period when I had the opportunity to combine them both. To be able to go for horse riding in the woods with a dog by my side was an extraordinary experience. The interaction between rider, horse and dog is best described as fantastic. A lot of horse owners combine horses and the Dal because of its fondness of horses. Road Trial was started in the USA around 1930 of a few enthusiasts that wanted to keep the Dalmatians orginal area of use and qualities as coach dog. Today competitions with both horse and horse and carriage take place. For example competitions include components from obedience training, where the rider shows the dogs skills in obedience. Today Road Trial competitions take place in the USA, Canada and England. The Swedish Dalmatian Club arranged their first competition whit horses and rider in Sweden in 2005. We hope to arrange something similar in Norway gradually. For more information, check out the link Road Trial (Swedish Dalmatian Club).

The standard  - The Dalmatian is a well balanced, distinctively spotted, strong, muscular and active dog. Symmetrical in outline, free from coarseness and lumber, and as a former "coach dog" capable of great endurance at a fair turn of speed. Dalmatian is outgoing and friendly, not shy or hesitant, free from nervousness and agression. Flat skulls, fairly broad between the ears, temporal part well defined. Slight frontal furrow. Entirely free from wrinkle. Stop, moderately accentuated. Nose leather in the black spotted variety always black, in the liver spotted variety always brown. Long, powerful, never snippy. Nasal bridge straight and parallel to the upper outline of the skull. Jaws strong with a perfect and regular scissor bite. Eyes set moderately well apart, medium size, round, bright and sparkling with an intelligent and alert expression. Color dark brown in black spotted, light brown to amber in liver spotted dogs. Ears set on rather high, moderate size, rather wide at base. Carried close to the head, gradually tapering to rounded point. Fine in texture, marking well broken up, preferably spotted. Forelegs, pefectly straight, with strong round bone down to feet. Hindquarters, rounded, muscular, clean.Viewed from the rear hind legs vertical and parallel. Feets are round, compact with well arched toes (cat feet).  Chest, not too broad, but deep and capacious. Brisket should reach to elbows. Fore chest well visible in profile. Ribs well proportioned, long nicely sprung, never flat, barrel-shaped or malformed. Tail reaching approximately to the hock. Strong at the base, tapering evenly towards the tip, free from coarseness. Inserted neither too low nor too high. At rest carried pendent with a slighly upward curve in the last third of the tail. When moving carried higher slightly above the topline, but never upright or curled. Preferably spotted. Great freedom of movement. Smooth, powerful rhytmic action with long stride and good drive from hindquarters, viewed from the rear legs moving parallel, hind legs tracking the fore. The dalmatian coat is short, hard, dense, sleek and glossy. Ground color pure white. Black spotted variety with black spots. liver spotted variety with brown spots, not running together but round, well defined and as well distributed as possible. Size 2-3 cm in diameter. Spots on the head, tail and extremities smaller than those on the body. Height at the withers: dogs 56-61 cm, bitches 54-59 cm.

The legendary Ch Snow Lepard from England born in the 1920

Knut Holm and Erika Sparre Holm, Hogstvetvn 39B, 1430 Ås - Phone 4795872827 - Email: erika@kenneldalnews.com

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