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Breed guide · Dogs
He'd trot beside my bike all morning. I stop him before the sun is up.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
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At home
Still fresh after a walk that leaves you tired, and pacing the flat by evening.
What's going onThey were bred to trot beside a carriage for hours, so a walk round the block barely touches them. A steady run in the cool, built up slowly once their hips are evaluated, comes much closer.
At home
Water in more than one room, and walks planned around a drink.
What's going onAlmost every Dalmatian carries a gene change that sends uric acid into their urine, where it can form bladder stones. Plenty of water and a low-purine diet make stones less likely.
At home
Into the kitchen, to the bathroom door, and back to the sofa with you.
What's going onCoach dogs spent every hour with the horses and the coachman, and slept in the stable. They want to be where you are. A long day alone is hard on them, and a midday visit helps.
At home
No answer when you call from the kitchen, or slow to come back in the park.
What's going onAbout one Dalmatian in six, in a large UK study, is deaf in one or both ears. Teach a hand signal alongside every word, and wake them with a gentle touch, never a grab.
At home
Pulling towards bikes, scooters and joggers, anything moving at speed.
What's going onRunning alongside is the job they were bred for. Give it to them on your terms, on a lead or a running belt, and teach them that fast-moving things on the road are not theirs to follow.
At home
A stiff, watchful look for visitors they do not know.
What's going onThey guarded the coach at night, and can still be reserved with strangers. Let visitors ignore them, and let the Dalmatian come to them in their own time.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their day
Built for: Trotting beside horses for hours.
In Dubai: Often the day alone in a flat.
Their weather
Built for: Cool English roads, with water on the way.
In Dubai: A summer that makes running impossible for much of the day.
Their company
Built for: Nights in the stable with the animals and people they worked with.
In Dubai: No horses, and an empty flat until you come home.
The pacing, the chewed cushions and the howling at the door mostly come from that gap.
No routine closes it completely. You can get close, and the ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around their breed: the risks a Dalmatian carries at every age, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
A walk rarely empties a Dalmatian, and a steady run is the closest they get to their old job. Their hips need to be ready first.
From 2 years, once their hips are evaluated
Why
A walk rarely empties a Dalmatian, and a steady run is the closest they get to their old job. Their hips need to be ready first.
What to do
Wait until they have finished growing and had their hip evaluation, by age two. Then build up to a daily trot beside you, before sunrise or after dark, adding a few minutes a week, on sand or grass where you can. Stop at once if they lag behind or pant hard.
Their body sends uric acid into their urine, where it can form stones. Dilute urine, emptied often, makes stones less likely.
Every age
Why
Their body sends uric acid into their urine, where it can form stones. Dilute urine, emptied often, makes stones less likely.
What to do
A full bowl in more than one room, water on every walk, and a little water mixed into their food. Let them out to pee every few hours, and never leave them to hold on through a long day.
Purines in food become uric acid, and most Dalmatians cannot clear it the way other dogs do.
Every age, most of all from 4 years
Why
Purines in food become uric acid, and most Dalmatians cannot clear it the way other dogs do.
What to do
Feed the low-purine diet your vet recommends, read the label on every treat, and tell anyone who feeds them.
A urate stone can block the flow of urine, and that is an emergency.
Every age
Why
A urate stone can block the flow of urine, and that is an emergency.
What to do
Watch them pee. Straining, dribbling, blood in the urine, or asking to go out again and again with little coming out: contact your vet now, day or night. A blocked bladder cannot wait until morning.
From June to September the heat takes most of their running away, and their energy does not take the summer off.
Every age, most of all puppies and from 7 years
Why
From June to September the heat takes most of their running away, and their energy does not take the summer off.
What to do
Run only before sunrise or after dark, shorter than in winter, and carry water. Put the back of your hand on the pavement for five seconds: if you cannot keep it there, they cannot run on it. On the hottest days, swap the run for training, a food puzzle and a sniff walk somewhere shaded.
A bored Dalmatian finds their own work, usually the cushions. Head work is the exercise the weather never cancels.
Every age, hardest from 6 months to 2 years
Why
A bored Dalmatian finds their own work, usually the cushions. Head work is the exercise the weather never cancels.
What to do
Ten to fifteen minutes a day: new tricks, part of their dinner hidden round the flat, or a slow sniff on a long lead. Pay them with part of their daily food.
They were bred to spend every hour with their people and their horses. The howling at the door comes from a long, empty day.
Every age, hardest from 6 months to 2 years
Why
They were bred to spend every hour with their people and their horses. The howling at the door comes from a long, empty day.
What to do
If you are out for more than a few hours, arrange a midday walk, a visit or daycare, and leave a stuffed chew. If they are distressed when you leave, contact your vet rather than trying to fix it at home.
Deafness from birth runs in the breed, and a dog deaf in one ear often seems normal.
From 6 to 8 weeks, then for life
Why
Deafness from birth runs in the breed, and a dog deaf in one ear often seems normal.
What to do
Ask the breeder for the puppy's BAER hearing test (a painless test of each ear) result. If there is none, ask your vet about one. Teach a hand signal with every word from day one, and wake them by touch or by stamping near their bed, never by grabbing them.
Crowded puppy teeth and gum disease can start in their first months, and dental disease follows into adulthood.
Every age
Why
Crowded puppy teeth and gum disease can start in their first months, and dental disease follows into adulthood.
What to do
Once a day, with a dog toothbrush and dog toothpaste, never human toothpaste. Start with a finger brush while they are small, so it is a habit before the adult teeth are in. A professional dental clean every 6 to 12 months is in your plan from age two.
A Dalmatian will keep running when something hurts, and itchy skin, sore hips and, later, lumps can all turn up.
Every age
Why
A Dalmatian will keep running when something hurts, and itchy skin, sore hips and, later, lumps can all turn up.
What to do
Run your hands over their ribs, spine, hips and paws, and look at their skin. You should feel their ribs easily. Weigh them once a month and note any new lump.
Four of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
6 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 4 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
4 to 7 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
10 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Standard or Low Uric Acid line
Almost every Dalmatian carries the gene change behind urate stones. The Low Uric Acid (LUA) line comes from a single cross with a Pointer in 1973, bred back to Dalmatians ever since, and handles uric acid normally. Ask the breeder which line a puppy comes from.
Colours
Dalmatians are white with spots of dense black or warm liver brown. Spotted dogs like them have appeared in European art for centuries.
The first six months
Dalmatian puppies need their full vaccination course, microchip and Dubai Municipality registration first. Get their hearing test result, keep water close all day, and start hand signals alongside every word.
Puppy health, 0 to 6 months
Getting the home ready
Put a full water bowl in more than one room, and plan who lets them out to pee through the day. Keep cushions and shoes out of reach: a bored Dalmatian puppy finds their own work.
Ten things that make their life better
Before you commit
Ask the breeder for the puppy's BAER hearing test (a painless test of each ear) result and both parents' hip scores, and keep them. If the breeder cannot show them, ask why.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
For a new puppy: First 30 days with a new puppy · Puppy vaccinations in the UAE · Heatstroke in dogs
When it is not behaviour.
He'll keep asking for the bike ride. If he's straining when he pees, call your vet.
Before they were yours.
1700s and 1800s
In England, Scotland and Wales, Dalmatians trotted beside the carriage for hours, kept stray dogs away from the horses, and at night guarded the coach from the stable.
What they still carryThe stamina, the urge to run alongside, and the attachment to their own people.
The 1800s
In America and Britain they ran ahead of horse-drawn fire engines to clear the road, then guarded the station and the equipment.
What they still carryA calm way with horses, and a place as the fire station mascot.
1888 to the 1920s
The American Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1888. Within a few decades motor cars and motor fire engines had replaced the horses, and the coach dog lost their work.
What they still carryA running dog with no road to run on.
1973 to 2008
In 1973 Robert Schaible crossed a Dalmatian with a Pointer once, then bred back to Dalmatians, to bring in a normal uric acid gene. In 2008 researchers at UC Davis found the gene behind the problem.
What they still carryWhy their water bowl and their diet matter so much.
Today
In the UAE a Dalmatian lives in a flat or a villa, in 45°C summers with no horses to run beside.
What they still carryA body built to trot for hours in a cool climate, and a need for more water than most dogs.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Dalmatian suits you, so might these.
VizslaThe closest kind of dog: a lean, short-coated hunting dog built for long days on the move, in golden-rust instead of spots.
WeimaranerAnother sleek, short-coated athlete with stamina to spare, bigger, and in silver-grey.
BoxerThe same playful, affectionate temperament and lively energy, in a muscular dog that needs more care in the heat.
Labrador RetrieverA similar size and a short coat that sheds just as much, in a dog that greets most visitors as old friends.
