This page will explore spotting variation in the Dalmatian, including ticking, old age ticking, clumps, stripes and assorted spot patterns. Some of these are inherited, while others appear to be random occurances. Please refer to the following pages for additional discussions on Dalmatian coloration.

The Color Pages Page 1 - Dal Colors & Coat Lengths Page 2 - Additional Color Pictures Page 3 - Dal Crosses, Mini-Dals & Identification Page 4 - Spotting Patterns & Ticking Page 5 - Patches

This page is under construction

Dorsal Stripes I've always referred to these as Livery Stripes, since they seem to be more common in liver spotted Dalmatians. They do occur in blacks as well.

Sliding Spots These pictures are being redone, please check back These two litter brothers illustrate a spotting pattern seen from time to time in the breed, where the spots look as if they are sliding off the body. The pup on the right looks as if his spots have slipped. Actually, the pups have no spots on their backs. The pup on the left has a totally white back.

Senior Ticking These wonderful pictures illustrate an anomaly found in the breed where well marked dogs with virtually no ticking start to add small bits of color at 6 to 8 years of age. There is a circle of frosted color around the actual spots, as well as tiny flecks of color mixed in with the white areas. The skin on these older dogs is often almost solid colored. The dog pictured here was ideally spotted but at the age of about 8 he started to add color. The heavily ticked pictures were taken at about 12 years of age.

For additional information on color genetics. check out this site. It's very interesting and really complete.

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Please request permission to use or distribute this article. Many thanks to those who contributed some of these interesting pictures for my collection. If you have concerns, comments, corrections, ideas, or if you have pictures or information to share, please contact me at suemac@concentric.net

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