We have 3 Dalmations or as we'd like to call them damnations ... 2 females & a male.. 2 of them are pound rescue dogs. We've had 2 others, one that didn't work out with the others & one that died from kidney failure. I love the breed. My oldest dal failed her classes allso...was so hyper we had to remove her from training classes.

[Ahem, it's Dalmatians, not "Dalmations." (They're from Dalmatia!) A pet peeve of mine. So to speak. - Dave]

My Dalmatian was very energetic and ate everything in sight as a puppy. But as an adult, he was the noblest and most loyal dog in the world.

"Damnation dugs" is priceless. I had a Dalmatian when I was a kid. She was happy and loving and tough, but wildly exuberant, and when she was still a puppy she caused more trouble than any other dog I've known. She even flunked the Humane Society's obedience classes. There we were in circle with a dozen other dogs and their owners for the first lesson: How to make your dog sit. The other dogs all sat pretty nicely in a few tries, but not mine. The trainer, with some impatience, crouched down by her to show me how to press on her rump to enforce the command. She rolled like a ninja and joyfully punched him in the solar plexus with all four feet, knocking the wind out of him. Before I could grab her leash, she went on a tear around the trainer's yard, and all the other dogs instantly joined in after her. In an instant they were out an unlatched side gate into an adjacent river bottom park, and it took an hour in the dark to round them all up. Needless to say, we were disinvited from Lesson Two.

I remember my grandfather - 1893-1963 and a Scot through and through - referring to " wan o' thae damnation dugs".

What do men do standing up,
women while sitting down
and dogs on three legs?

Shake hands.