Hi there i've just found this site through being at my wits end with my dog. He is a liver and white dalmation just coming up to 2 years old. We got him at five months old from a family who said the lady of the house was going back to work and couldn't give him the attention he needed. I am now beginning to wonder? First off he want's to attack certain dogs (not bitches) and there is no common factor in this. Secondly the worst habilt is when he is let off the lead he will not come back. He is really obident in the house but once that lead is off he too is also! I am going out of my mind with him can anyone help me? I am considering having him castrated but i feel that it is a breed thing rather than a hormone thing. Any comment would be gratefully received.

Hi

Oh dear oh dear...typical male dally traits in my experience :(

Its also worth pointing out that I had my male castrated for similar reasons, and it didn't make any difference. My old boy loathed all other dogs and was very dog dominant, whilst being a real charmer with the laydeez! :rolleyes:

Personally, I would keep him on the lead unless you can walk him somewhere you won't come into contact with other dogs, work on his recall by taking him to training, and try and socilaise him with other dogs. Other than that, I can't help :(

Jeangenie will be along soon to help you though :)

C

Hi there, Welcome to the forum :)

I'm afraid I can't help, but there's a lady on here called JeanGenie, she knows a great deal about Dals. Hopefully she'll be along later with some advice for you.

liberty

Hi,
To be honest, he sounds like a normal adolescent dog! How much training have you done with him? Have you taken him to classes? Many people don't realise that many dogs only associate their training with certain places - to the extent where they will "sit" beautifully in the kitchen but genuinely don't realise what "sit" means in the lounge or the garden, because they've never been taught it there!

So I would suggest you go back to basics with the training, and practice everywhere you take him. Make him "sit" at the kerb etc. An extending lead or a long line will be useful to help train him when you're out on walks. Call him back to you lots of times, give him a reward, and then let him play again.

Be prepared for it to take time! My male dalmatians finally seemed to learn that when I called them I wanted them to come back when they were just over 3 years old!

Good luck!
:)

Hi

I had a similar experience with my male Dalmatian at the same age, I lived with it for a year, which wasn't an easy time and bit the bullet and had him neutured.

I have to say he was a different dog afterwards, this is only my experience but I would not hesitate to do it again. Yes, he is still a bit iffy with entire males, but neutured males or females are now no problem. We can enjoy walks again. A male dalmatian will always be a bit of a problem to call back off lead if there is something more interesting around, but I have found he has improved no end.

I also found he would not settle in the house and was always pacing and whining, this too stopped.

I will never know whether or not he would have improved by growing up naturally, I had him done at 3 years. But my gut feeling is the improvement was due to him being neutured.

Hopes this helps and doesn't confuse you further.

Sandra

Hi Jean and thanks for the advise. I will head back to dog training and we'll start at the beginning again. On reading all the feedback do you think it is fair to keep him on his lead i feel this is the only way to control him at the minute (i took him out this morning with a halti on and then was a noticable difference) but my husband thinks this is cruel as he is not getting the running exercise he was bred for? Also i forgot to say that when he was six months old he was bitten by a Staffi which in turn bit me- which i feel doesn't help, because when he is out with me i feel he has to protect me yet when we go out as a family (husband and two children) he is by far better behaved. I feel when i tell my husband this he doesn't belive me. However last night it took me 30 minutes to catch him. When i did go near him and called him he just ran off but when my husband came out to help me catch him the dog saw him and my husband called the dog came to him. What am i doing wrong? Mrs Soapy

That's a tricky one! As I'm sure you've discovered, if they don't get enough exercise they can be bouncing off the walls! During the foot-and-mouth crisis I started taking mine out (individually!) alongside my pushbike, so that they could go at least a bit faster than my, albeit brisk, walking pace. But unless his pads are used to tarmac, that has to be gradually built up.

What is he like on the lead? If he walks even reasonably well, then walks through town at the busiest times (Saturday mornings etc) and through markets can get them concentrating more on you. If other people with dogs do this as well, even better, because there will be so much going on that he will be less bothered by other dogs than he would be if they were the only distraction!

Is he one of the rare dalmatians that enjoys chasing a ball? A fair amount of exercise can be had in the garden if he'll retrieve. But a refresher training course is never wasted. They have good brains and like to learn (as long as they can see the point! :rolleyes: ), and the ultimate aim is to have a dog who you can let off the lead with a reasonable feeling of security that he'll come back when you want!

He is still young - they are late developers - and no doubt there will always be dogs he doesn't particularly like, just as there are people I don't get on with, and I'm sure you're the same. You could always get the vet to give him a "Tardac" injection, which mimics the effects of castration for a few weeks, so you can see if the operation would be beneficial.
:)

Hi Jean- well i do take him out on the bike as i have a "springer usa bike system" and that is great but i feel i am burying my head in the sand in regards to his behaviour. So yes he loves the bike and can do miles and miles. But i will take him back to basic dog training i think my problem is it takes time and i am very impatient. i have spoken to the vet and he will give the dog the hormone injection before i give the go ahead for the full monty. Thanks again and anymore information would still be useful Ta for your help Mrs Soapy

Impatience doesn't help with this breed, I'm afraid! (Actually I can't think of a breed where it does work) Take it slowly, and he'll come right. Rush him, and he's likely to be all over the place. As I said, it wasn't till my boys were past 3 that it 'clicked' with them. They're still improving, but can now (at 4) be called off from chasing livestock (though tree-rats are still fair game!), which where I live is marvellous!
:)

My god i though it was just mine that chased squirrells and yes, there is an abundance of them up here in Scotland. The more i speak to you the more i realise i am not on my own. Thanxs xx

No probs! It's worth all the hard work in the end!
:)

Hi Jeangenie just to let you know i took Sable to the vet today and he had the injection. I haven't told my husband as i want to see if he notices a difference and if he does, then we'll be taking another trip to the vet but this time it will be a permenant feature.

Hi Mrs Soapy, I'm sure that's the way to go. If there's no difference in his behaviour you'll know it's a training problem rather than a hormonally-based one. Good luck.
:)