A few years ago when we featured the Dalmatian as the Purebred of Interest on our Facebook page, we learned a couple of things that were a surprise to readers who don’t live with the breed.
One is that this single coated breed not only sheds, but sheds a lot. One owner wrote, “Dalmatians have two shedding seasons: January to June, and July to December.” Another former owner added, “We have a chair that I recently sat in wearing black slacks, and when I got up, I had short white hairs all over it, and we haven’t had a Dalmatian in 17 years!”
Another anecdote: “Heather wrote: “I once pulled a clean, sealed *empty* Tupperware container out from under the cupboard and opened it for leftovers. It had a single Dalmatian hair in it. I also once had a 101 Dalmatians character wrist watch. Somehow, a single Dal hair wormed it’s way in between the crystal and the watch face… Dalmatians shed so much one wonders how they manage to keep enough hair on their bodies in the first place.” Shed hair that’s both black and white also means that the hair will stand out on just about any color one chooses to wear.
Dalmatian hair is tenacious! The shed hair has little barbs on the end that make it difficult to remove from fabric and upholstery short of tweezer surgery. Indeed, the barbs practically weave the hair into fabric, and worse, some owners report that the hair can stick into skin like a splinter particularly when it’s stepped on with bare feet!
Sadly, rescue groups report that for owners who don’t do their homework on the breed, the shedding comes as a surprise. We heard about an active duty Army officer and his wife who returned their Dalmatian to its foster home because the dog shed too much and the hair kept getting on the officer’s uniform. They hadn’t believed what they were told, choosing instead to believe the foster mom was just a bad housekeeper.
For the right owner who did their homework, the Dalmatian is the perfect breed: Intelligent, clean, highly affectionate, and very versatile. Brushing the coat misted with water minimizes the amount of loose dog hair, and everyone is happy.
Image: Dalmatian by DJ Rogers – k9artgallery
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All breeds except shedless & hairless breeds , shed their winter and summer coat 2 times a year and some through out year , some shed because of not being spayed or neutered do to hormones females worse , another factor is diet you feed, people food , cheap dog food that is not grain free, certain breeds need certain dog food, weather temperature is a factor to dogs theiy have a built in insulator and thermostat shaving a dog can actually cause health issues on certain breeds , Plus shaving a dog does not prevent shedding. I have been a professional pet groomer for over 35 years . Please RESEARCH you articles and people that you get info from that’s wrong .
We fear you’ve missed the point, Sara. Of course all breeds shed, but among casual or uninformed pet owners, there is the perception that short haired breeds shed less than others. The article stresses that this isn’t the case.
Sara I agree it seems like you have misinterpreted the article. Yes as a former groomer I too agree that all dogs shed. But there is certainly the view that short haired dogs are less troublesome in this respect. In the case of the Dalmatian prospective owners need to be aware that their shedding habits can be somewhat excessive and the hair does have properties which mean it both hangs on to stuff and is highly visible. I own Great Pyrenees and have also owned a Dalmatian. I swear the Dally hairs are way worse than Pyr hair when it comes to sticking into things and getting everywhere.
So right! Every word of it 🤦♀️. I swear the hair on my Dally was way worse for sticking to things than all the hair of all my Pyrenees combined. Even with regular grooming it just keeps coming. Those hairs stick into and onto everything and were always much harder to remove than the longer Pyr hairs.