The Dalmatian is
one of the most widely recognized dog breeds in the world so it comes
as a bit of a surprise that the origins of this most distinctive of
dogs is still shrouded in mystery up to this day. One theory has it
that the name Dalmatian was given to the dog breed by one Thomas
Bewick in 1791. According to excerpts from “Anecdotes of Dogs”
compiled by Edward Jesse, Thomas Bewick adamantly insists that the
Dalmatian Dog hailed from a region called Dalmatia which today is to
be found in Croatia. Adding weight to his claims is the fact that the
Dalmatian Dog used to be called Dalmatinac.
However there
appears to be evidence to refute Bewick’s claims. As far back as
3,700 BC, king Cheops (or Khufu) was known to have owned a spotted
pet dog; the first spotted dog on record. More compelling evidence
perhaps is a 1700 BC fresco from Tiryns that illustrates a boar hunt
with black and liver spotted hounds which today can still be found in
the National Archeological Museum s. In Greece, Crete and Egypt are
to be found numerous ancient friezes and murals depicting spotted
white hounds (with liver or black spots sometimes both). Around 400
BC a spotted Cretan Hound was commonly employed in hunting antelope.
That hound was later crossed with the White Antelope Dog from ancient
Egypt creating a distinctly colored hound that loved running
alongside horses.
How The Dalmatian
Dog Got Its Name
As to how the
Dalmatian Dog came to be named as such is a whole new twist
altogether in an already highly convoluted and controversial history.
Strangely enough the origins of the Dalmatian name in many respects
resembles the controversial manner with which the Labrador Retriever,
a Canadian dog breed that originated from Newfoundland, came to be
associated with England and subsequently called the “Labrador” by
an Englishman.
As things stand today the Dalmatian dog is widely associated with England and in fact got its name from Thomas Beswick, yet another Englishman. Apparent association of the Dalmatian with the region that bears the same name did not occur until around 1930 when the Consul General of Monaco to Great Britain who also happened to be a member of the British Dalmatian Club, took a pair of Dalmatian dogs to Dalmatia as a present for his stepfather Bozo Banac. Bozo Banac had previously expressed an interest in breeding the dogs there.
There is actually
good reason to believe that the name Dalmatian is in all likelihood a
corruption of the term “Damachien”; a term by which the dogs were
known at the time and which in English translated as Deer Hound (a
mix of the Latin and French words “Dama” and “Chien” which
respectively mean Deer and Dog).
The preeminent
French Naturalist Buffon also dipped his toes in the fray and
referred to the Dalmatian dog in his writings circa 1749-1767 as “Le
Braque Bengale” (hound of Bengal) which he later modified to the
Harrier of Bengal in 1790. Strangely enough though there is no
compelling evidence to associate the Dalmatian with India.
Thus as is
abundantly evident, despite its distinct appearance the Dalmatian is
a dog breed whose precise origins have eluded historians the world
over to this very day. And when all is said and done it does not seem
unreasonable to conclude that the Dalmatian is one dog breed with a
highly spotted past indeed!
The Multi-Purpose
Dalmatian Dog
Over the course of
its history, the Dalmatian dog has adorned many hats of occupation
which include the following: retriever, birddog, ratter, war dog,
shepherd etc. But it was as a coach dog in Victorian England that the
Dalmatian found its true calling. As a coach dog the Dalmatian served
both a practical and aesthetic function.
The practical
purpose of the Dalmatian as coach dog was to ward off marauding dogs
and any other animals from harming or disturbing the coach horses. As
for the aesthetic aspect, well let’s just say it looked cool to
have those spotted dogs trotting by the carriage and quite likely it
was probably a mark of affluence to have such dogs accompanying one’s
carriage.
From the 1880s the
Dalmatian was selectively bred for its fondness and affinity to run
beneath horse drawn carriages, the ideal dogs being those that ran
close to the hooves of the rear horses. However with the rise in
popularity of the automobile the Dalmatian lost its prominence in
society though it continued as a coach dog for horse-drawn fire
engines, a tradition that transitioned into the Dalmatian being
adopted as the contemporary mascot for firehouses.
The Dalmatian dog
breed was formerly recognized by the AKC in 1888 but due to intense
selective breeding for its characteristic spotted pattern soon enough
the breed was plagued by genetic urinary problems; namely a
predisposition to uric acid stones (kidney stones). To correct this
problem the Dalmatian dog breed was subsequently crossbred with
various Pointer breeds!
