Comments on: Hi there! For anyone who owns a Dalmatian, approximately how much exercise do they require?

By: french bubbles

french bubbles — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:45:16 +0000

A young Dal would appreciate longer daily walks if you do not have a fenced yard. Some Dals love to swim, others do not. Two out of my three are swimmers.

They are not difficult to train if you are patient. Their only aim is to please you, but they can get bored easily. Boredom occurs much less when other dogs are in the family. A doggie sibling will help with exerting some of that energy!

By: grayluva

grayluva — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:18:22 +0000

Dalmations were originally bred to run underneath the old water wagons for firefighters between the wheels and behind the horses feet. That’s why they are fearless, not noise sensitive, and my dal gets ran next to my bike and sometimes pulls me about 4 miles per day and she is still wound when we get home. You should expect TONS more from a dal. She may even end up annoying the heck out of your lab. Take it from me, I”m a dog trainer with 8 years experience and an owner of a dal. If i had to get one again, I probably would reconsider unless I was active EVERY day of my life. They are miserable tied up or left in the backyard to play.

By: larryyinger

larryyinger — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:58:28 +0000

You are probably having enough exercise that you could get a dalmation and just keep do what you are doing. Be careful about dalmations though. Make sure you really want one before you get one because they are a handful and not the sharpest tacks in the box. They are nice dogs though, I just recommend plenty of time around some before you decide (you probably already have).

And an oh by the way. - Dalmations are not firehouse dogs for their physical or psychological skills. Way back in the day a firefighter had one with the old horse drawn pump trucks and it just caught on from there.

By: chetco

chetco — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:04:04 +0000

That is enough for an adult, but not for a Dal under two or three.
Rule of thumb for Dalmatians>>.
The more exercise he gets, the ‘better’ dog he is..so, it all depends on how much ‘naughtiness’ you can tolerate.
If you have a yard, where he can exercise some throughout the day, it may work. Or if you adopt an older one from a rescue, your schedule should do fine.

By: pixie

pixie — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:15:05 +0000

Dalmatians are very active animals, that is a lot of excercise but you should expect him to be much more rambunctious

By: diller

diller — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:25:37 +0000

I have 2 they go on 4 walks a day.
They swim in the lake on the weekend.
Very hard to train, better if you have a fence.
they shed like crazy. Expect to clean your house 3 times a week & throw out all of your dark clothing….

I love mine to death.. Great personalities, female is deaf & is extreamly protective. Both are pound pups.

By: Mom of Three

Mom of Three — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:34:55 +0000

That might be enough, but they need LOTS of exercise. Tons. Oodles.

By: animalLove

animalLove — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:55:23 +0000

Dalmatians need alot of exercise which is why fire stations have them, they need to be able to run and maybe play some fetch and also since they are very small framed animals they need good pampering and exercise!!!