Why are firehouse dogs usually Dalmatians?
Dear Straight Dope: Riding on the bus past the daycare at my university, I noticed they were doing a big fire-safety presentation. The visiting firefighters were accompanied by a large fuzzy mascot–a dalmation, of course. What I’m wondering is, how come this particular breed of dog came to be associated with firefighting? — Jennifer Whiteford, Peterborough, Ontario Fortunately, Jennifer, the relationship has nothing to do with a dog’s natural affinity for fireplugs. Some breeders say dalmatians originated in Dalmatia (once a part of Austria, then Yugoslavia, and now part of the Republic of Croatia). The American Kennel Clubs say there are no clear indications where the breed started. But according to the Complete Dog Book from the AKC, experts do agree that dalmatians are an ancient breed (there are Egyptian hieroglyphics depicting a spotted dog running alongside a chariot), they have survived nearly unchanged down through the centuries, and they were spread across Europe by the Gypsi
