Dalmatian Dogs - Are they really from Dalmatia?

by Shane Braddock
(Split)

Whenever we write about Dalmatians its done in reference to the people inhabiting the Dalmatia region of Croatia – where Split is the main city. But many ask us if Dalmatian dogs (Dalmatinac in Croatian) originate from here.

So we contacted the Croatian Kennel Union.

Cynologists (those who study dogs) believe Dalmatians are one of the oldest breeds in the world and for many years have tried to trace the roots of the dog to various areas of Europe, Asia and Africa without success.

Apparently the story of its development has a spotted Cretan Hound crossed with a White Antelope Dog from ancient Egypt, around 400BC, creating a distinctly colored hound that loved running alongside horses.

It is believed that Dalmatians (the people) were introduced to Dalmatians (the dogs) by Romany (gypsies) traveling in wagons from the east. The locals appreciated how well the dogs protected their families and interacted with their equine companions, so began to use them for similar purposes.

The first known textual reference to the dogs was in 1737, under the name Canis Dalmaticus – the text can found in the archive of the Đakovo bishopric.

In 1792 the Englishman Thomas Bewick, a wood engraver and ornithologist, published the drawing above and a description of “the Dalmatian or Coach Dog.” (The International Kennel Club Federation – FCI – recognized Dalmatia as its region of origin citing Bewick’s work.)

(Another story is that the name Dalmatian is a corruption of the term Damachien, which can be translated as Deer Hound (a mix of the Latin and French words Dama and Chien which respectively mean deer and dog) – so Dalmatians didn’t actually come from Dalmatia!)

After 1862, when they were first shown in Britain, given their preceding reputation, Dalmatians became popular with the landed gentry as a coach dog and it became common to see one running beside a carriage (or even behind the horse’s heels and under the axles of a carriage!)

As the first fire engines were horse-drawn the use of Dalmatians as carriage dogs was transferred to them, and to this day they serve as firehouse mascots. The breed was also still considered to make good guard dogs and may have been used to protect a firehouse and its equipment. Fire engines were drawn by powerful horses, a tempting target for thieves.

In the USA, Dalmatians are associated with Budweiser beer, since the Anheuser-Busch company’s beer wagon, drawn by a team of Clydesdale horses, is always accompanied by one, as they were historically used by brewers to watch the wagon while the driver was making deliveries. Though records indicate Dalmatians were available during the American Revolution (there are letters from George Washington requesting a Dalmatian stud be found for his bitches), the first Dalmatian wasn’t registered with the American Kennel Club until 1888 and the Dalmatian Club of America wasn’t founded until 1905.


In Britain the British Dalmatian Club was formed in 1910.

In 1994, the FCI acknowledged Croatia as the domicile of the breed, and in 1999 Dalmatians were put under the full authority of the Croatian Kennel Union.

Numerous images appear through history of spotted dogs. Those above are of a dog of unknown breed on the coffin of Egyptian businessman, Khui, from the 20th Dynasty (12th Century BC).

A 14th Century fresco, above, in the Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy shows spotted dogs similar to Dalmatians, and the church came to be represented symbolically in the art of the day by a black and white dog.

German and Italian paintings from the 16th Century depict spotted dogs. The image above is known as The Boy with Dalmatian from the Italian Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri), painted around 1620. Below the Dauphin of France (1655-1732) was painted in 1687 petting another possible Dalmatian.

The Meissen Porcelain Factory produced these figurines above in 1762, but they are cataloged as ‘Danish Dogs’ – Dalmatians have also been referred to as the Lesser Dane or the Danish Spotted Dog as they may have worked alongside Great Danes as carriage dogs.

The breed’s greatest public relations coup was with the 1956 children’s novel by Dodie Smith, The Hundred and One Dalmatians, or the Great Dog Robbery. The novel was made into a Disney animated film in 1961 – One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

So if the dog was named for the region, where did the region get its name?

The Dalmatae were an ancient, pre-Roman, semi-nomadic people who inhabited the eastern Adriatic coast, between the Krka and Neretva Rivers, from the 4th Century BC. They were classed as an Illyrian tribe by the Romans – though Illyrian was used by the Romans as an all-encompassing term for the tribes from Istria to Albania that were considered barbarian.

The modern Albanian word delme means sheep – it appears the Dalmatae were known for their herding skills.

Though they may have been simple farmers, the mighty Roman Empire fought for over 160 years, from 156BC, to fully subsume the tribe – they were the most difficult to conquer of all the Illyrians.