| The Dalmatian (Croatian: Dalmatinac) is a breed of dog whose roots are often said to trace back to Dalmatia, a region of Croatia where the first illustrations of dog have been found. The Dalmatian is noted for its unique black or brown spotted coat and was mainly used as a carriage dog in its early days. Today, this dog remains a well loved family pet and many dog enthusiasts enter their pets into the competitions of many kennel clubs. The Dalmatian is mostly known as the "Firehouse Dog" and the breed gained popularity after the Disney movies 101 Dalmatians.  Dalmatian puppies Dalmatian puppies are born with a plain white coat, and their first spots usually appear within a week after birth. After about a month the Dalmatian has most of its spots although they continue to develop throughout life at a much slower rate. Spots usually range in size of a quarter to a half-dollar and are mostcommonly black or brown (called liver-spots) on a white background. Other more rare colors include blue (a blue-grayish color), brindle, mosaic, tri-colored (with tan spotting on the eyebrows, cheeks, legs, and chest), and orange or lemon (dark to pale yellow). Patches of color appear anywhere on the body, mostly on the head or ears, and are usually consist of a solid color. The Dalmatian coat is usually short, fine, and dense although smooth-coated Dalmatians occasionally produce long-coated offspring which shed less often. They shed considerably as well as year-round. The short, stiff hairs often weave into clothing, upholstery and nearly any other kind of fabric and can be difficult to remove. Weekly grooming with a hound mitt or curry can lessen the amount of hair that Dalmatians shed although nothing can completely prevent shedding. Due to the minimal amount of oil in their coat, Dalmatians lack a "dog" smell and stay fairly clean Temperament Dalmatians are intelligent, playful, loyal and active dogs. They usually get along well with other animals, notably horses, and are great companions. Dalmatians are high energy dogs and love to play and romp outdoors, although they also enjoy lounging with their owners. Dalmatians have been known to have a stubborn streak. Some dogs, if cooped up, can become aggressive and some have been known to attack smaller breeds of dog when attempting to 'play' with them. In most cases this only shows up in a tendency to bark, often just for play. If shown love and companionship from a young age Dalmatians will be loyal and affectionate. Head and skull ; should be of fair length, skull flat, reasonably broad between the ears, moderately well defined in front of the ears.moderate amount of stop.
Eyes; set moderately well apart of medium size, round, bright and sparkling with intelligence. (expression!! I am smarter than you think). Eye colour dark in black spotted dogs. Amber in liver spotted dogs. The eye rims should be complete. Black in black spotted dogs, liver brown in the liver spotted dogs. Eye faults ;blue eyes. Incomplete eye rims. Ears; should be set on rather high and of moderate size, rather wide at the base then gradually tapering to a rounded point. Ears are fine in texture and carried close to the head. Markings on the ears should be well broken, and preferably spotted. Mouth; jaws strong and clean with prefect scissor bite. (the upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth) Neck; should be fairly long and elegant, nicely arched, light and tapering. Entirely free from throatiness (excess skin under the throat) Forequarters; moderately oblique, clean and muscular. Elbows should be close to the body. Forelegs perfectly straight with strong round bones down to the feet, with a slight spring at pasterns
a )correct straight front. Wrong fronts b) elbows under chest, feet pointing out, c)wide barrel chest, d) narrow,out at elbow,feet pointing in Body; chest not too wide but deep and capacious with plenty of lung and heart room.the ribs should be well sprung, with well defined wither, powerful level back, strong in loin, clean, muscular and slightly arched Hindquarters; rounded, muscles clean with a well developed second thigh, (which you will get by correct exercise, road work or free running) a good turn of stifle, and hocks well defined
Feet; round and compact with well arched toes (like cats feet ). Pads should be round, tough and elastic. Nail colours are black or white in black spotted dogs, and liver or white in liver spotted dogs. Nails should be kept short (which you will achieve by road work, nail filing or nail clipping)
Gait or movement; the dalmatian should have great freedom of movement. A smooth, powerful rhythmic action with a long stride. (it should look like the dog glides or floats when he moves). When viewed from behind the legs should move in parallel, the hind legs tracking the fore legs.faults; short stride and paddling is incorrect movement. (looks like they have to work hard to move, and when paddling throws the front legs out to the side). Hackney movement is also a fault, where the front feet are thrown up in the air (an action a bit like a milk maid makes when milking cows) Tail; should reach approximately to the hocks. Strong at the base gradually tapering towards the end. Should not be set on too low or too high. The tail should be free from coarseness and carried at a slight upward curve. Never curled or carried up and over the back. Preferably spotted Coat and colour : short, hard, dense, sleek and glossy in appearance. Ground colour pure white with either black dense spots on black spotted dogs, or liver brown spots on liver spotted dogs. The spots should be well distributed and should ideally not run together. Spots should be round and well defined and the size of one pence to a fifty pence piece. Spots on extremities are smaller than those on the main body. Faults: patches (this is a solid mass of hair with no white hair traces). Patches have a velvety feel to them, are very shiny and they have an obvious clean outline.they are visible at birth. It is important to note that spots that run into each other are not patches as you can easily make out individual spots as there are some white hair. Colour faults: tricolour ( liver and black spots on the same dog) lemons; orange Size: the most important thing to remember is that the dalmatian should overall be a well balanced dog. The ideal height of a male is 58.4 to 61 cm (23 to 24 inches). Bitches are slightly smaller with an ideal height of 55.9 to 58.4 cm (22 to 23 inches) Health Like other breeds, Dalmatians display a propensity towards certain health problems. Hip dysplasia (which affects only 4.6% of purebred Dalmatians) is not a major issue in this breed. Most of their health problems result from the onset of old age; the average Dalmatian lives between 12 and 14 years, although some can live as long as 17 to 18 years. In their late teens, both males and females may suffer bone spurs and arthritic conditions. Autoimmune thyroiditis is a relatively common condition for the breed affecting 10.4% of dogs. Deafness A genetic predisposition for deafness is a serious health problem for Dalmatians, only approximately 70% of Dalmatians having normal hearing. Deafness was not recognized by early breeders, so the breed was thought to be unintelligent. Even after recognizing the problem as a genetic fault, breeders did not understand the dog's nature, and deafness in Dalmatians continues to be a frequent problem. Researchers now know that deafness in albino and piebald animals is caused by the absence of mature melanocytes in the inner ear. This may affect one or both ears. The condition is also common in other canine breeds that share a genetic propensity for light pigmentation. This includes, but is not limited to bull terriers, Poodles, boxers, border collies and great Danes. There is an accurate test called the BAER test, which can determine if the defect is present. Puppies can be tested beginning at five weeks of age. BAER testing is the only way of detecting unilateral deafness, and reputable breeders test their dogs prior to breeding. Only dogs with bilateral hearing should be allowed to breed although those with unilateral hearing, and even dogs with bilateral deafness, make fine pets with appropriate training. Research shows that Dalmatians with large patches of color present at birth have a lower rate of deafness, and breeding for this trait, which is currently prohibited in the breed standard, might reduce the frequency of deafness in the breed. One of the leading reasons patches are a disqualifying factor in Dalmatians is to preserve the much prized spotted coat (the continual breeding of patched dogs would result in heavily patched Dalmatians with few spots). Research concludes that blue-eyed Dalmatians have a greater incidence of deafness than brown-eyed Dalmatians, although an absolute link between the two characteristics has yet to be conclusively proven. Though blue-eyed Dalmatians are not necessarily deaf, many kennel clubs consider blue eyes to be a fault or even a disqualification, and some discourage the use of blue-eyed Dalmatians in breeding programs. Hyperuricemia Dalmatians, like humans, can suffer from hyperuricemia. Dalmatians' livers have trouble breaking down Uric acid which can build up in the blood serum (Hyperuricemia), causing gout; and can be excreted in high concentration into the urine, causing kidneys stones and bladder stones. These conditions are most likely to occur in middle-aged males. Males over 10 are prone to kidney stones and should have calcium intake reduced or take preventive medication. To reduce the risk of gout and stones, owners should be carefully limit the intake of purine by avoiding giving their dogs food containing organ meats, animal-by-products, or other high-purine ingredients. Hyperuricemic syndrome in Dalmatians responds to treatment with Orgotein, the veterinary formulation of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase. Dalmatian-Pointer Backcross Project Hyperuricemia in Dalmatians (as in all breeds) is inherited. However, unlike other breeds of dog the "normal" gene for uricase is not present in the breed's gene pool at all. Therefore, there is no possibility of eliminating hyperuricemia among pure-bred Dalmatians. The only possible solution to this problem must then be crossing Dalmatians with other breeds in order to reintroduce the "normal" uricase gene. This has led to the foundation of the "Dalmatian-Pointer Backcross Project", which aims to reintroduce the normal uricase gene into the Dalmatian breed. The backcross that was done was to a single English pointer; subsequent breedings have all been to purebred Dalmatians. This project was started in 1973 by Dr. Robert Schaible. The f1 hybrids did not resemble Dalmatians very closely. The f1s were then crossed back to pure-bred Dals. This breeding produced puppies of closer resemblance to the pure Dal. By the fifth generation in 1981 they resembled pure Dals so much that Dr. Schaible convinced the AKC to allow two of the hybrids to be registered along with pure-bred Dals. Then AKC President William F. Stifel stated that "If there is a logical, scientific way to correct genetic health problems associated with certain breed traits and still preserve the integrity of the breed standard, it is incumbent upon the American Kennel Club to lead the way. The Dalmatian Club of America's (DCA) board of directors supported this decision, however it quickly became highly controversial among the club members. A vote by DCA members opposed the registration of the hybrids, causing the AKC to ban registration to any of the dog's offspring. At the annual general meeting of the DCA in May 2006 the backcross issue was discussed again by club members. In June of the same year DCA members were presented with an opportunity to vote on whether to reopen discussion of the Dalmatian Backcross Project. The results of this ballot were nearly 2:1 in favor of re-examining support of the Dalmatian Backcross Project by the Dalmatian Club of America. This has begun with publication of articles presenting more information both in support of and questioning the need for this Project. As of May 2007, discussion is on-going. In January 2010, the UK Kennel Club announced its decision to register a backcrossed Dalmatian, pending confirmation of the dog's appearance and characteristics by two Championship Show judges. The decision was made due to the club's "commitment to consider applications to register dogs from out-crossings and inter-variety matings if it is felt that to do so may present potential health and welfare benefits." Several restrictions were imposed on the dog. Although the dog is at least 13 generations removed from the original Pointer cross, its F1 to F3 progeny will be marked on registration certificates with asterisks (which "indicate impure or unverified breeding), no progeny will be eligible to be exported as pedigrees for the next five years, and all have to be health tested. Instructions
Source : http://www.nfleming.dsl.pipex.com/html/breed_standard.html,http://www.ehow.com/how_4473761_take-care-dalmatian.html | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, February 11, 2011
Taking Care Delmatian
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