Victory Dalmatians: The Road to a Champion Dalmatian

I got my first Dalmatian 30 years ago from a farmer in Iowa. Her name was Pepper and she was a beloved family pet, so smart and sweet. She was such an obedient and wonderful dog. She was a hunter, a watchdog, a dog who learned many tricks, and was so loved by our entire family. When we moved to Texas, Rog’s parents were devastated more that we were taking Pepper with us, than us moving, I think! Pepper lived to be 14 years old.

Our second Dalmatian was purchased from Bobby and Beth Hallman in 1992 and his name was Alex (Tattersall Alexander Bud) and he was out of CH Tattersall Night Moves and Tattersall Wabbit Twacks. He was a gorgeous liver and white male, a great watchdog who loved children and other dogs. When we had our son Luke, Alex was never far from Luke, and was in nearly every baby and toddler picture we took of Luke. We lost Alex to bone cancer in 2001, but before we lost him, we purchased another beautiful Dalmatian from Bobby and Beth in 1997. Her name was Shelby, and she was out of CH Tattersall Hights Jericho and Tattersall High Tone Glossy. Shelby was awesome. She smiled on command and learned all kinds of fun tricks and was a fabulous coach dog. We took her on horse rides all the time and she just loved it. She loved playing tricks on Rog and Luke. She really picked on Luke, always parading around with his toys. He was always so fussy about his toys, and would never break them, but she would chew them up just to aggravate him. Her smile greeted me every morning and every night when I got home from work, and I miss her to this day. She died at age 12.

Our 4^th Dalmatian came from Dalmatian Rescue of North Texas in 2001. He was 2 years old when we got him and was named Wishbone. He is my best buddy, a lovely boy who loves people and other animals and is an awesome coach dog. He goes horse riding with me, and to the barn to feed the horses twice a day, rain or shine, hot or cold. He doesn’t like me to ever leave him behind, and is a great friend. He is 12 years old, and has been such a blessing to us.

Our 5^th Dalmatian was purchased from Atlantis Dalmatians in 2009. He is out of GCH Paisley Nspird By Broadway (Argus) and CH Atlantis’ and Read All Over (Read.) We named him Atlantis Wildcat Victory (Victory.) He has a big V on his hip and a wildcat pawprint made out of spots on his back. And, Rog loves Victory motorcycles and Luke plays for the Wildcats, so we thought we gave him a great name. And, a great dog he is. He is beautiful, smart and very friendly. He loves other dogs and people, a bit exuberantly, as he will jump up and give lots of hugs and kisses, and wants to jump and play with any dog he sees, but mostly he likes the other Dalmatians that he sees. I thought he was championship material, so when he was about 7 months old, I took him to Beth Hallman to see what she thought, and she really liked him and encouraged me to show him. Well, that was scary, because I knew nothing about showing, having only gone to dog shows as a spectator. So I started conformation classes at Top Dog under Verjean Lunenschloss in April, 2010 and went to my very first dog show in Denton, TX in May, 2010. No points there, but learned a lot, and learned I had a lot of work to do. Kept going to classes weekly until the next show in Dallas, TX in July. Didn’t get any points in Dallas, but got a first and second place there, and was encouraged. I met Lori Finlayson and Deby Harber at the Dallas show, and Lori really liked Victory and encouraged me that he was a really nice dog. She also mentioned she was going to have puppies soon, and so I started thinking about getting another Dalmatian… Then Victory went to Canton, TX in October, and there he got his first winners dog and a best of breed win! And, from then until now we won some points at most of the shows we went to, picking up our first major in San Marcos, Texas and finishing his championship today with a major in Canton, TX. Many people have helped me along the way with tips, training, wisdom, and encouragement. Thank you to all of you who have helped me, especially Rog and Luke, Sue and Jess MacMillan, Suzy Casey, Judy Guimont, Lori Finlayson, members of Dalmatian Club of North Texas, Don and Sharon Boyd, Verjean Lunenschloss, Strawberry Long with obedience training, Sharon Peters, Lesley Box, and Cesley Box. Thank you all so much!

In October, 2010 we got a liver and white girl from Lori Finlayson of Dalmino Dalmatians, out of CH Tuckaway Winged Foot and CH Dalmino’s Whoopdedo. Lori had named her Gaga, but Rog did not care for Lady Gaga, and he is crazy about Victory motorcycles, so we decided to name her Dalmino’s Victory Vegas (Vegas.) She is a very cute girl, very smart, beautifully spotted, and much loved by all of us. She is Rog’s lapdog. We started her conformation training in March of this year, and she picked up her first point in Beaumont, TX, two more in Dallas, and a major in Canton today, so we are feeling like she may be our next champion.

We had fun doing a Dalmatian meet the breed in Canton with some other members of Dalmatian Club of North Texas, and have attached some pictures of that event and some pictures taken at the Canton show.

Victory