CHAPTER VIII. 



THE DALMATIAN, OR COACH DOG. 



BY F. C. HIGXETT. 



"Spotted like the leopard, I 



Live my days at Dobbin's heels. 

 Let the hastening pack go by, 

 With tootling horn and bellowing cry ; 

 I am content between the wheels." 



" THE SPOTTED DOG." 



BEWICK'S DALMATIAN (1790). 



OF the antecedents of the Dalmatian 

 it is extremely hard to speak with 

 certainty, but it appears that the 

 breed has altered very little since it was 

 first illustrated in Bewick's book on nat- 

 ural history, in which there appears an 

 engraving of a dog who, but for his dis- 

 graceful tail carriage, would be able to 

 hold his own in high - class competition 

 in the present day, and whose markings 

 are sufficiently well distributed to satisfy 

 the most exacting of judges. Indeed, 

 the almost geometrical exactness with 

 which the spots are represented by Bewick 

 suggests the inference that imagination 

 greatly assisted Nature in producing what 

 he thought ought to be. The famous en- 

 graver's ideal, however exaggerated, is at 

 the same time a standard worth breeding 

 up to in that most important feature of this 

 dog, the brilliance and regularity of his 

 markings. 



In former times it was the custom to 

 transform the ears of the Dalmatian by 

 cropping, and in many cases the whole flap 



of the ear was entirely removed, exposing 

 the cavity ; but this barbarous and utterly 

 useless practice rightly fell into disrepute, 

 and the dog now appears as Nature in- 

 tended him to be a smart, well-built, 

 aristocratic-looking animal, in shape and 

 size resembling a Pointer ; in colour pure 

 white, sprinkled with black or brown 

 spots. 



Before the Kennel Club found it necessary 

 to insist upon a precise definition of each 

 breed, the dog was known as the Coach Dog, 

 a name appropriately derived from his 

 fondness for following a carriage, for living 

 in and about the stable, and for accom- 

 panying his master's horses at exercise. 

 As an adjunct to the carriage he is pecu- 

 liarly suitable, for in fine weather he will 

 follow between the wheels for long dis- 

 tances without showing fatigue, keeping 

 easy pace with the best horses. Then, 

 again, being perfectly smooth and short 

 in coat, and at the same time possessed of 

 sufficient size and pluck to command re- 

 spect on the part of intruders, he can in wet 

 weather adorn the inside of the vehicle 

 without inconvenience to other occupants. 

 He appears almost to prefer equine to 

 human companionship, and he is as fond of 

 being among horses as the Collie is of being 

 in the midst of sheep. Yet he is of friendly 

 disposition, and it must be insisted that 

 he is by no means so destitute of intelligence 

 as he is often represented to be. On the 

 contrary, he is capable of being trained 

 into remarkable cleverness, as circus pro- 

 prietors have discovered. 



