The Breed Standard of The Dalmatian Dog
FCI No. 153/14.04.1999
 
Classification FCI
The Dalmatian belongs to breed group 6, Running dogs, sweat dogs and related breeds, section 3 related breeds without working trial.
 
Origin
The origin of the breed is believed to be in Dalmatia in the Croatian Republic.
 
Usage
The Dalmatian dog is a companion dog, a family dog and suitable to be trained for various purposes.
 
Brief historical overview
The origin of the Dalmatian dog is still unclear and based only on conjecture. Ancient depictions on pharaoh tombs and similar paintings dating back to the period between the 16th and 18th centuries suggest that the Dalmatian dog has existed for several thousand years. Church chronicles from the 14th century and from the year 1719 confirm that the breed originated in the Mediterranean region and in particular in the area around the Dalmatian coast. 
 
The earliest depictions of the breed can be found in works by Italian painters of the 16th century and in a fresco in Zaostrog (Dalmatia) dating approximately to the year 1710. A work by Thomas Bewick published in 1792 contains a description and drawing of a Dalmatian dog, which Bewick refers to as "the Dalmatian or coach Dog."
 
General appearance
The Dalmatian is a strong, muscular and lively dog with well-balanced proportions and prominent markings. He has symmetrical lines, is not coarse or plump and, as a former 'coach dog', has great stamina coupled with considerable speed.
 
Important proportions
The body length is in proportion to the height at the withers as about 10:9
The length of the skull is related to the length of the muzzle as 1:1
 
Behavior and character
The Dalmatian dog is free and friendly, not shy or reserved and free from nervousness and aggression.
 
Head
The skull is flat and fairly broad between the ears with well-marked temples, has a slight frontal furrow and is entirely free of wrinkles. The stop is moderately deep.
 
Facial skull
The rhinarium should always be black in the black-spotted, and always brown in the brown-spotted. 
The muzzle is long and powerful but never tapering, the bridge of the nose is straight and parallel to the topline of the skull. 
 
The lips are dry, enclose the jaw rather closely and should not hang down. Complete pigmentation is desirable. The jaws are strong with a perfect and regular scissor bite, ie the upper teeth should fall just over the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. A complete set of 42 teeth is required (in accordance with the dental formula). The teeth should be uniform in size and white in color. 
 
The eyes should be set slightly apart and of medium size, round, bright and sparkling with an intelligent and alert expression. The color is dark brown in the black spotted and light brown to amber in the brown spotted. The eye rim is completely black in the black spotted and completely brown in the brown spotted. The eyelid is close to the eyeball. 
The ears are set rather high, of medium size, rather broad at the base, carried close to the head, tapering gradually and ending in a rounded point. They are fine in texture with a marbled pattern and preferably stained.
 
Neck
The neck is quite long, well arched, narrowing towards the head and free of dewlap.
 
Body
The wither is well marked. The back is strong and straight. The loin is dry, muscular and slightly arched. The croup is very slightly sloping. The chest is not too broad but deep and spacious. The chest should reach to the elbows. The forechest is clearly visible in profile. The ribs are well formed, long and well sprung and never flat, barrel shaped or misshapen. The flanks are narrow. The underline is formed by the belly that gradually rises towards the loins.
 
Tail
The tail reaches approximately to the hock, is strong at the base and gradually narrows towards the tip; is free from rudeness; is neither too low nor too high; at rest, carried hanging with a slight upward bend in the lowest third of the tail; carried higher on the move, just slightly above the topline but never raised (cheerful) or curled and preferably spotted.
 
Limbs, the forequarters, hindquarters and feet
The forelegs are straight with strong, round bones down to the feet. The shoulders are rather oblique, dry and muscular. The elbows are close to the body and neither turn in nor out. The wrist joint is strong and resilient. 
The hindquarters are arched, muscular and dry. Seen from behind, the hind legs are vertical and parallel. The knee is well angulated, the second thigh is strong and the hock joint is strong and well angulated. 
 
The feet are round and closed with well arched toes (cat feet). The soles of the feet are round, firm and springy. The nails are black or white in the black-spotted, in the brown-spotted brown or white.
 
Gait or movement
The Dalmatian dog has an extremely free and spacious movement. He has a flowing, powerful, rhythmic gait with a long stride and good drive from the hindquarters. Seen from behind, the legs move parallel to the hind legs in the track of the front legs. A short stride and paddling motion are wrong.
 
Coat and color
The hair is short, hard, dense, smooth and shiny. The ground color is pure white. The black-spotted has black spots, the brown-spotted has brown spots, not running into each other but round, sharply defined and distributed as well as possible. The size is 2 to 3 cm in diameter. The spots on the head, tail and limbs are smaller than those on the body.
 
Size and weight
Overall proportionality is paramount. 
The height at the withers is for males from 56 to 61 cm, for females from 54 to 59 cm. 
The weight for males is about 27 to 32 kg, for bitches about 24-29 kg.
 
Faults
Any deviation from the aforementioned points should be considered a fault, the assessment of which should be in proper proportion to the degree of the deviation.
 
Exclusive errors
•    A pronounced undershot or overbite 
•    Ectropion, entropion, glass eye, eyes of different color (heterochromia) 
•    Blue eyes 
•    Deafness 
•    The limited occurrence of plates around eyes (monocle) or elsewhere, (acceptable for breeding) 
•    Tricolor (black and brown spots on the same dog) 
•    Lemon (lemon or orange spots) 
•    Bronzing (a temporary bronze-like discoloration of the black spots) 
•    Very anxious or aggressive behavior 
•     Males should have two apparently normal developed testes, which are entirely in the scrotum.