More Than Just a Pretty Spotted Face: What Dalmatians Do

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, July 2016 issue.

More Than Just a Pretty Spotted Face: What Dalmatians Do

Why that’s as cute as a speckled pup!” states the popular compliment, but any Dalmatian owner will tell you that their Dal is more than just a pretty cute and spotted face! Rare is the Dalmatian that is content to be just a pretty couch potato! They are energetic, athletic, and prefer to be engaged in important work on a daily basis.

The breed came into its modern-day form at a time in history when the most common form of travel was by horse-drawn vehicle. These vehicles were large enough to carry travelers, drivers, and a few possessions—yet not much else.

Soon there evolved the need for a dog to accompany them as protection for the travelers, a watchdog from bandits, a guard for valuable possessions and a companion to the drivers and the horses. Such a dog also needed to have the stamina to trot on its own for the daily traveling distance of 25 or so miles, bed down in the comfort of a stable, and get up and do it again the next day—day after day. To the fashion conscious English aristocrat, it was also important that the dog be attractive and flashy, a perfect compliment to a well turned out rig for impressing the young ladies and the neighbors on Sunday afternoon outings! For the fashion-conscious English aristocrat, it was also important that the dog be attractive and flashy, a perfect complement to a well-turned-out rig that could impress young ladies and neighbors during Sunday outings.

Enter the Dalmatian

Early breeders selected traits that allowed form to follow function, giving the breed the characteristics needed to exuberantly trot beside a horse and carriage day after day.

Today people no longer travel by horseback or coach, of course, but the Dalmatian has retained the characteristics of those days gone by:

The ability to develop a sense of teamwork coupled with the rare sensibilities of independent thinking that a true coach dog needs, all the while paying attention to verbal commands of the human member of his team. Dalmatian enthusiasts have developed events that are designed to gauge the Dalmatian’s ability to perform those tasks it was originally bred to do. They are called Road Trials and are sanctioned by the breed’s parent club, The Dalmatian Club of America Road trials began in America in the early 1900s when dogs were tested on their ability to run beneath or beside an actual horse-drawn coach or carriage.

These early events apparently died out without leaving much information about them. New rules were drafted in the 1940s that included competitions for riders on horseback without a cart or carriage. Dogs coached by trotting at the side of the horse. After a short revival of road trials in New England and Long Island, they again died out. In 1989, the road trial, mostly as we know it today, was recreated by a small group of Dalmatian enthusiasts. They studied the early trials and paired them with modern testing methods to ensure dogs could reliably work off-lead, focus on the task at hand, and demonstrate the stamina to trot or run long distances daily. This is the road trial as we know it today!

A modern road trial involves several obedience tests from horseback or cart/carriage (always off-lead). Dogs are judged in the hock exercise (which is similar to the heel exercise in obedience with the dog staying at the hock of the horse) for correct positioning to the
horse and ability to keep up, the recall, the stay (dog stays for one minute in a sit or down), the hock with distraction, and the speed exercise. After completion of these exercises that show the owner/rider/driver has complete control of the dog by voice commanding
only, the competition continues with a timed endurance portion of the trial, as the team is asked to travel a marked trail for either 12.5 miles (to be completed within 3 hours) or 25 miles (to be completed within 6 hours). Dogs which qualify by passing the exercises and completing the trail within the 3 hours earn a Road Dog or RD title. Dogs which qualify and go the 25 miles earn a Road Dog Excellent or RDX title. A dog which earns three RDs then is awarded the rare and coveted title of Road Dog Champion or RDCh.

Similarly, a dog which earns three RDXs can then be awarded the Road Dog Excellent Champion title or RDXCh. Dogs may also be entered in a road trial in the exercise portion only, excluding the endurance trail portion and if successful in qualifying would earn a Coaching Certificate or CC. An owner may choose to compete for a CC when they want to show their dog has the abilities and instincts of a true coach dog, but for some reason they cannot train for the endurance portion. Horses must be used as part of the trial to showcase the Dalmatian’s affinity for and ability to work with the horse. They must be ridden or pull a cart or carriage for the dog to coach to in order for the team to successfully compete in a road trial. A specialty club or a group of enthusiasts may make an application to the Dalmatian Club of America to host a road trial. Also the DCA’s national specialty show includes a road trial. Dogs completing these requirements are awarded these titles by the Dalmatian Club of America and can then have the titles recorded by the American Kennel Club for their dogs in accordance with the AKC’s recording of a parent club title procedure.

The rules and regulations of a Dalmatian road trial are under the auspices of the Dalmatian Club of America. These rules and much more information on road trials can be found on the DCA website at www.thedca.org. It is no easy feat to train a Dalmatian to be reliable off-lead beside a horse, even though they often instinctively choose a position by the side or behind the horse and/or carriage. Yet most Dal owners will confess that the sense of accomplishment they feel with their Dal when together they earn a road dog title. It’s worth every early morning sunrise practice session and every dismount for a correction they have to do. And pretty? Go see a road trial, not much in this world is more breathtaking than seeing a pretty spotted dog trotting beside a nice moving horse as both move in tandem through a meadow of green with the sunlight breaking through the cover of leafy trees, a dog effortlessly and easily doing naturally what it was bred to do. That is after all what makes our dog world go round!