St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter Library Article
102 Dalmatians - Seeing Spots
By now, "102 Dalmatians" has been released. This movie is the sequel to Disney’s hugely successful "101 Dalmatians" from a few years ago. This event has been anticipated with dread by those involved with animal shelters and rescue groups, but anticipated with selfish glee by puppy mills. Why? When the last Dalmatian movie was released, children and adults alike fell in love with those darling spotted puppies thereby creating a huge demand for them. Across the country, children clamored for Dalmatian puppies for Christmas. It wasn’t very long after that animal shelters began getting huge numbers of Dalmatians that were cast off by their disgruntled owners.
Profit motivated backyard breeders and puppy mills across the country greedily cranked out Dalmatian puppies by the tens of thousands in horribly squalid conditions to accommodate the market. Because these breeders had only profit in mind, genetic problems (like deafness, kidney stones and skin problems) that are normally kept in check by reputable and knowledgeable breeders became rampant in the breed.
Impulse purchases of Dalmatian puppies almost invariably resulted in tragic numbers of them being turned into animal shelters or abandoned to fend for themselves on the street. Their owners didn’t realize that the cute little black and white spotted puppy they bought would grow to be a big dog with big needs. What they discovered was what the movie didn’t tell you -- Dalmatians need an extraordinary amount of companionship, training and exercise. They are not for every family.
Dalmatians were originally developed and bred to be "carriage dogs". They would run alongside their owners’ carriages, protecting them from bandits and the horses from marauding dogs. The qualities that made this breed so good at guarding and working around horses did not make the Dalmatian dog a good family pet.
Today these energetic dogs require frequent and long walks with their owners to satisfy their physical needs. Dalmatians are often strong-willed and require an unusual amount of patience during training. Many people are surprised to learn that these dogs are not always good with children – especially toddlers. They cannot be locked inside for long periods of time or be abandoned to a backyard. If they don’t get the attention they crave, Dalmatians can become quite destructive and aggressive. Dalmatians are ideal dogs for patient owners who are experienced in handling dominant, active and demanding dogs.
If your kids are enchanted with "102 Dalmatians", they will probably beg and plead for a spotted puppy for Christmas, "just like the ones in the movie". Instead, buy them a cuddly Dalmatian toy -- Disney has already saturated the market with dolls and toys with tie ins to the movie. Believe me, the stuffed toy will be better behaved, won’t need to be cleaned up after, won’t grow into a large, unruly adult and it certainly won’t bite. Buy the video so your kids can enjoy the movie over and over. But please, if you are a busy family with small children, don’t give in to their pleas. You will certainly save your family time, money and heartache during the upcoming holiday season.
Before adding any new pet to your family, visit our animal shelter. It may surprise you to know that, like all animal shelters, we get quite a few purebred dogs. So if your heart is set on a Dalmatian or any purebred dog, if we can help you find one. If our shelter doesn’t have what you are looking for, we can either get you in touch with another shelter, breed rescue organization or a reputable breeder that does. Otherwise, you run the risk of patronizing a puppy mill or backyard breeder and getting a dog with behavioral or physical problems. Even more important, by adopting from a shelter, you will be saving a life!