We lost our 10 year 8 month old Boxer, Jamie Lee, recently to cancer. We have since bought a Dalmatian puppy and we had already organised to get another Boxer in 4 months (will be a relative to the one that died). So far our 13 week old puppy Floyd is a beautiful dog, sleeps on our bed between us, nearly toilet trained, hasn't destroyed anything (YET!!)....However, a lot of people are telling me that Dalmatians are very dumb dogs. Can anyone give me any pointers or info on Dalmatians please that may be handy as he grows up. Has anyone had a "dumb" one or a "smart" one? Thanks.

I would never call a dalmatian dumb. Instead, they are very independent, and not quite so eager to please as other breeds, like say a lab. To many, this difficulty in training translates into stupidity. Also, deafness is a big problem in Dalmatians, sometimes people have a deaf dalmatian and think it's stupid when actually it can't even hear. Your puppy is young yet, at 13 weeks, he's not even starting to loose his teeth. That means, you better get ready in the next month for some destructive behavior. It's usually around 16 to 20 weeks that dogs get into 'shredder mode'. But it sounds like you've done really well with your dog so far! Keep up the good work!

Alot of people do call Dalmations dumb, but really they just don't learn as quickly as say a border Collie. You just have to keep the dog busy so he doesn't get into any trouble. These guys were bred to run. They have great endurance. Let them run everyday and at least have basic obediance under your belt. Alot of these guys are leash pullers. Train alot off and on lead. The best way to teach a dog not to pull is to prevent pulling, from the puppy stage. Alot of dogs that were not put on leashes when they were puppies, don't pull on the leash. Dogs learn that pulling on the leash gets them to what they want, and they are rewarded when they get to the object . (like a bush) So if the dog never went on a leash they will never learn this. Did that make sense? Anyway I'm not saying that you should never put your dog on a leash, but when you do, If the dog pulls in a direction stop walking and stand still. If the leash relaxes, continue walking, if the leash becomes tense from pulling again, stop and just stand there. repeat, repeat, repeat. But only do it if the dogs a puller.

Cheers....I suppose perseverence with Floyd will be the key. He starts 4 weeks of puppy preschool tonight and then we are definitely thinking of taking him to obedience school etc etc to make sure he isn't a handful.....well, too much a handful anyway.

they are very smart i think i know one that was deaf and knew how to roll over :) very smart

Wow, a voice from the past. Boxer Babe, whatever happened to you?

We never hear from our Australian friend with the Dalmatian and Boxer down under anymore. Hope she checks in on the new TP website now.

Basset_Lover