A confession: We finessed our headline just a bit. The Dalmatian is the only truly spotted breed, but there is such a thing known as “Dalmatian Spotting” that is a specialized form of ticking. Ticking exists in many breeds (but only Dalmatians have true Dal spotting). It refers to a pattern that’s the result of three separate genes that are the extreme white pattern (spsp), the ticking gene, and a third modifier gene. This third gene organizes the ticking into large dots of color, instead of the ticking pattern more commonly seen. It follows a recessive inheritance pattern.
Image of Silverbarn’s Noomi from Switzerland, an Australian Cattle Dog showing “Dalmatian Spotting. Image from Wikipedia and shared under the the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Bull Terriers are descended from Dalmatians – you will see the dal on their skin with the white bullies. Occasionally BTs have ticking in their coats (not desirable!). Like the dals, they are born completely white and the pigment on noses, lips and skin shows up later.
Interesting, Paula!!