Dalmatians,
the breed history

The origin of the Dalmatian dog is still obscure and rests solely on suppositions. From depictions discovered in the tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs and corresponding to paintings from the 16th to the 18th century, it may be surmised that the Dalmatian has been in existence for some thousands of years.

Church chronicles from the 14th century and from the year 1719 provide serious grounds for concluding that the breed originated in the Mediterranean region and especially in the neighbourhood of the Dalmatian coast.

The earliest indications are to be found in pictures by Italian painters of the 16th century and in a fresco in Zaostrog (Dalmatia) that can be dated approximately in the year 1710. A work of Thomas Bewick, published in 1792, contains a description and a drawing of the Dalmatian, which Bewick refers to as "the Dalmatian or Coach Dog".

The first Dalmatian standard was drawn up in the year 1882 by an Englishman named Vero Shaw. This standard was then incorporated in an official standard in 1894.