The History of Dalmatians in Britain

The past century has seen growth of a strong bond between British dog lovers and the Dalmatian. Dog lovers have propounded a theory that the Dalmatians descended from the early English hunting hounds. The similarity between Dalmatians and Talbot breed in type, character and hunting ability has led to claims that the Dalmatians actually descended from the Talbot breed. Such is the desire of the British dog lovers to claim the breed as their own.

The theory is not as incredible as it sounds. There always is the possibility that some Talbot dogs may have bred with European dogs a few centuries ago and one resulting breed was the Dalmatian. Dalmatians are very intelligent and are good guard dogs. This may have caught the eye of British tourists and the breed returned back home with them. It is beyond doubt that Dalmatians existed in the ancient period as well as the breed has undergone numerous evolutions.

In 1860, Dalmatians made its official debut in a dog show competition. It was one of the five breeds to participate in the second dog show held in Britain in the year 1860.During the First World War, from the beginning of the was in 1914 to the Armistice in 1918, the Dalmatians were in danger of being wiped out from Britain due to the war. Mr. Fred Kemp, who was the President of the British Dalmatian Club and, more importantly, a third generation owner of Dalmatians kept the dogs alive through the difficult times and ensured that the Dalmatians did not become a casualty of the war.

The dogs saved by Mr. Fred Kemp were used as breeding stock after the war and the population of Dalmatians grew. In 1918, there were just two Dalmatians registered with the Kennel Club. The two Dalmatians participated in the dog show which resumed after World War I. This number grew to 125 by 1925 and further to 889 by 1932. In 1934, there were 199 Dalmatian entries for the dog show. This was proof enough of the consistent rise in the popularity of the breed.

Some More Guidelines on the Diet of Your Adult Dalmatian

Researches over the years have given us the following guidelines about the diet of adult Dalmatians.

One must never feed red meat, either in cooked form or raw form or as an ingredient in any pet snack or pet food. One must avoid those pet snacks and pet food which lists red meat as one of its first three ingredients.
One must never feed poultry meat, either in cooked form or raw form or as an ingredient in any pet snack or pet food. One must avoid those pet snacks and pet food which lists poultry meat as one of its first two ingredients.

Snacks for adult Dalmatians must consist of lots of fruits, vegetables and grains. However, avoid high purine vegetables like mushroom, asparagus, legumes, oatmeal, spinach and cauliflower.

Adult Dalmatians must be fed dog foods like corn, which is most preferred, wheat, second in preference and rice, which should be last preferred of the three. These contain about 22% low purine protein and only 10% fats.