Well, I had thus far regarded the little dog that belongs to my friend as just a noisy nuisance. But recently, when I was visiting, I noticed—several compounds away—an interesting-looking dog. Our dog—you know who I mean; he of my friend, who owns the cat—I had seen on a previous occasion, when we were ready to head out, barking at a dog at some distance away. I never paid much attention to this behavior; all we wanted was to get him indoors and head out. But I did notice that the dog was a Dalmatian. This most recent dog I had seen was definitely a Dalmatian; not that I could see the individual spots, but I could see a general spottiness.
Now that I had been alerted to a one time general doggie presence out õver there, now, every time I looked in that direction, I've been seeing a Dalmatian pacing up and, down in their yard. A couple of days later, I had concluded that it was a female, and a young one, too. And I had never heard her bark, not even once.
Our man, in contrast, barks his head off at the least opportunity: people walking along the alley, cars, bicycles; squirrels of course, our neighbors, and certainly Dalmatians.
The Dalmatians, a very distinctive breed, because of the spots, were used to guard carriages, in the 1600's and 1700's, and especially the carriages of fire companies (with hoses and pumps on board). I read somewhere that they were troublesome to train, because they were exceedingly food oriented. Well, I thought to myself, show me a dog that isn't. OK, I'm going to check out that prejudice right now ...
Well. There isn't any mention of food! However, apparently they're more intelligent than average, and so training them has challenges. They also need a lot of exercise (not apartment dogs) and supervision. Honestly, all dogs are food oriented; Dalmatians being clever, probably find many ways of getting food (from the kitchen) which results in the reputation for stealing food, and being food oriented.
Well, I was back again, visiting with my friend, and went out in the yard, and there was the Dalmatian, about 100 yards away! I started at it, and it stared back, and proceeded to sit and regard me closely, to see what I would do.
I grinned at it, and waved. It considered that as unwarranted familiarity, and warned me with a bark. Then 'our' dog ran up and barked back, eliciting no response from the Dalmatian. I got bored, and went inside.
I so want a Dalmatian to play with! They're moderately large dogs (they were bred by crossing Pointers with Great Danes), and have a lifespan of around 13 years, in case my readers are interested. In any case, getting a dog is a lifetime commitment. If you get one, and later give up (it's not Good Fit, etc,) the dog will be miserable. Any dog is a lifetime commitment. If you don't have time, don't get a dog.
Kay