tj2001cobra

When my fiance moved in 2 years ago, she brought her Dalmation, Clyde. Clyde is a good dog. He doesn't bark much, he doesn't lick or beg and he is very gentle. Problem is, he is kind of stupid. He does know how to sit, but he sucks at fetching. Also, I have tried to teach him new things but he just doesn't seem to get it.

I have heard that dalmations are notoriously stupid dogs. Is this true?

castex

The Dalmations I've known have been a little scatty, yes. They're lovely dogs, mind. I'd suggest you persist, and hide a meaty bone (not chicken) in your jacket for when he gets it right.

baaa

I haven't heard anything aboot them being stupid, but someone was telling me the other day that they could get to be really mean. Don't know if it's true or not.

Magpie0001

Ive also heard that dalmations are brainless. I dont have first hand experience but a friend of mine is big into dogshowing & all that & I think I can trust him on the subject.
Sorry!

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micah67

Dalmatian, not “Dalmation”.

In my experiences, Dals tend to be too intelligent for their own good. They also stay in the adolescence phase nearly twice as long as other dogs. You end up with a dog that is hyper far longer than other dogs and listen to you when they want to. For that reason they tend to be not the best choice for families with young children (thanks Disney). Further, they need a lot of attention and DAILY WALKS.

Dals are extremely loyal. Almost to a fault: It can be rather heart-wrenching to see an old Dalmatian struggling to their feet to follow their master from room to room because they have to be near them.

There are some breeding issues – roughly 10% of them are born with some form of hearing impairment. We housed a temporary rescue that was completely deaf yet knew a lot of Sign Language.

That's not to say that some of them aren't slower than others. Meet Dalton and Ashley. Ashley was extremely smart. Dalton... well... He was a dufus and constantly failed his driver's license exam.

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splck

Any Dalmatian that I delt with has been lacking in the brain department. If you have a lot of time and put in lot's of effort you can have a well trained dal.

micah67 is correct in that they need lots of regular excercise and activity.

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Curving_Edge

I own a dalmation, and I wouldnt call her stupid. She isnt the sharpest knife in the drawer mind you, but she is the most loyal and loving dog i have ever seen in my entire life. She is 14, going on 15, and even with all her arthritis and aches in her joints she still gets up to follow me whenever she sees me walk in the room. She knows how to sit, crawl, roll over, lay down, heal and fetch. pretty good for a 14 year old dog.

WhoaitsZ

..... what if they are intelligent enough to know your game and they refuse to play?

smart to me.

tj2001cobra

Well, I learned a few things in this thread....

1) I learned how to spell dalmatian correctly.
2) People are easily offended if you talk bad about their pets.

Anyways, I am not a dog lover by any means. But, I know how important he is to my fiance. I have grown to tolerate and even have fun with him occasionally. I take care of him (walk/feed/etc) as much as she does now that we are living together.

As for being mean or aggressive, he is far from it. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I think that I will resign myself that he might not be "the sharpest knife in the drawer" and just take from him what he offers.

Thanks for the insight.

Stud

RoadRage

One of my jobs in my younger days was as a guard-dog trainer.

Most of the time we didn't work with pure-breeds due to potential problems caused by inbreeding; mutts from the pound almost always worked out best, especially for the ones we trained first before selling.

If the client was willing to cough up cash, the boss didn't turn it down unless it was a Dalmatian. She was convinced that Dalmatian are all deaf and psycho, a time-bomb and a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

I'm personally against the AKC and "dog breeds" in general for much the same as being against "racial purity", it diminishes the future generation by denying needed genetic diversitiy.

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Ashton

lurkette

I agree with Ashton. Any dog can be trained, you just have to find the right motivator. Not all dogs are fetchers - some dogs have higher retrieving instincts, and dalmatians weren't bred to be retrievers. That doesn't mean he's dumb, it just means you haven't yet learned how to train him properly.

Try taking the dog to an obedience class that does "clicker training." Our Cooper dog is a fairly independent dog who can be a little aloof and hard to train, but clicker training has worked GREAT! If you're really interested, find a book called "Clicking with Your Dog" or "Clicker Training with Your Dog" at PetSmart, and another one called "Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson.

Basically, you get one of those little clicker things, and every time the dog does something you like, you click and give him a treat. Pretty soon he learns to associate that clicker with a reward, and it marks the behavior you want to train. So you start rewarding JUST the behavior you want to train (like "down") - lure the dog into a "down" position with a treat and as soon as he hits the floor, click and give him a treat. Repeat this a few times and start adding the word "down" just before he hits the floor, and eventually start rewarding him only when he does it on command. It's pretty effective, even for hard-to-train dogs.

Good luck!

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raeanna74

I don't know where Dalmations rate on the intelligence scale. I read about it somewhere YEARS ago. All I remember though specifically is that Collies rated top and Poodles (standard size) rates 2nd or 3rd. They do seem to be the most educatable canines.

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bernadette

K9 obedience class is quite helpful imho

[ altho i've never had any experience w/a dalmatian ]

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RoadRage

Canine "intelligence scales" should have been called "trainability scales". One test involved throwing a blanket over the dog's head and seeing how long it took for the dog to escape. The Bulldog and the Bassett both "failed" the test because they decided it was the perfect time for a nap.

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ratbastid

RoadRage nailed it. Intelligence does not equate to trainability or "liveablility". Sometimes the smartest dogs are a disaster in a home, because they know how to get into things and how to get away with things.

For instance, Border Collies are smart, but their trainability comes from their bred-in desire to bond with and please people, coupled with a huge amount of energy. A dog that smart and with that kind of energy but without the desire to please would be a NIGHTMARE to live with.

Our Cooper's a pretty smart mutt. For a while, her understanding of the world included the fact that if she chased the cat, then stopped chasing the cat and came to a person, she got a treat. The cat was chased MERCILESSLY until we figured out that the dog was playing us.

sta500

My friend has the coolest dog ever. He'll be in the house, and just say "get in the car" and it runs outside, and hops in the car until we get out there. He can sick it on anything. ANYTHING. Like we'll be driving and tell it to get the tree we're driving by ad we have to hold on to the leash to keep it from jumping out the window because it thinks the tree is running away. He can shut it up on command, and get it to go in the backseat, in the house, anything. It rules. It's some little mutt though.

brandon11983

I have a dalmatian that's about 3 years old. He is dumber than a box of shit, VERY territorial, and VERY protective. But I love him to pieces. You guys are right in saying that we have Disney to thank for the slew of dalmatians in pounds. I found my dog on the side of the road as I was coming home from school one day, and have every reason to believe that he was dumped off because he is very well car trained. They do not do well with young kids either.

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Fire

I have owned a dalmation- simply put they can be VERY smart, but due to their popularity in the U.S. they often suffer from inbreeding issues that can produce a dog with defects ranging from skittishness to stupidity to very aggressive tendencies, as well as the deafness problem (though that can hit any of the breed) in any event they are almost always rather high maint. and not a great choice for a "kid dog".... and to those who have had great experiences with the breed and kids, yes it is possible, all dogs are individuals, etc.. hell, the most loving and friendly dog I know is a staffordshire terrier......

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