Because Rae Says So

Friday, July 31, 2009

It's 101!

So I was thinking to, you know, write something I have deep interest and something with interesting facts. And then me dad perplexed me when he left my favorite book, Dr Bruce Fogle's New Encyclopedia of the DOG on the coffee table just the other day. I asked him and he said he was just wondering about our girl, Coco so he looked up in the encyclopedia.
Yeap, dogs. You'd be pleasantly surprised with just how many breeds human came up with on dogs. They are about 420 'pure' breeds in this world and some are rare. I think Chinooks are pretty rare nowadays, I might be wrong. Anyway yeah move on to the point... today's breed is the famous spotties, Dalmatians!
My uncle, whom I stayed with during secondary school years, had a Dalmatian girl, Sandy but she died of liver complication when she was just about a year. Sad, but boy, Dalmatians are sure handfuls. They are super energetic and need huge space to play and run.
The most interesting fact about Dalmatians is that the puppies are born spotless until when they are about two weeks old.
And also, do you know why Dalmatians are frequently associated with firefighters? You see, long long time ago when horse-drawn fire carts were used in America, they were trained to run in front of the carriages to help clear a path and quickly guide the horses and firefighters to the fires. The dogs were sometimes also used as rescue dogs to locate victims in burning structures. Dalmatians are often considered to make good watchdogs and it is believed that Dalmatians may have been useful to fire brigades as guard dogs to protect a firehouse and its equipment. Fire engines used to be drawn by fast and powerful horses, a tempting target for thieves, so Dalmatians were kept in the firehouse as deterrence to theft. The horses have long since gone, but the Dalmatians, by tradition, stayed.
These excellent dogs were bred to work so you might have thought they are working dogs , they are classified as a companion dog nowadays. A fact that made me go 'HAHHH?' big time. Oh by the way, dogs are grouped into several groups: Primitive, Sight Hounds, Spitz-type, Scent Hounds, Gundogs, Terriers, Livestock & Guarding, Companion and Random Bred (Hybrid. Most common, cockerpoo and Labradoodle).
The 'standard' Dalmatians we see are white and black, but they do come in white and reddish brown, or liver as the dog people would call. Health-wise, they are prone to deafness and they are the only breed that can suffer from urate stones.
So yeah I hope this is interesting. I decided to write the next breed by randomly open the encyclopedia: Griffon Fauve de Bretagne. Sounds so posh.

Labels: Know Your Dog

Rae wrote @ 23:50

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