Posts tagged "Dalmations"

The Doggie Diaries: What Breed Is Pippi?

by Ben Westhoff (Subscribe to Ben Westhoff's posts): Dec 31st 2009 11:00AM Filed Under: Dogs, Pet Adoption

Ben Westhoff

I mentioned last week that Pippi, our new white-and-liver-spotted puppy, is a sixth-month-old rescue who we think is a Dalmatian/pointer mix. We're not sure, however. Pippi's foster dad told us he got her from a Russian carpenter with whom he worked. This carpenter said that Pippi came from a breeder, but his English wasn't good enough to make out much more than that.

If she came from a breeder, that would imply Pippi's a purebred, right? But a purebred what?

When I walk her down the street, children point at her and yell, "Dalmatian!" But even though that breed can have brown spots (here's one that does), Pippi doesn't quite fit the mold of a purebred Dalmatian. Anna notes that Pippi's spots are not "breed standard," i.e. evenly distributed and about the size of dimes or half dollars. Pippi's look, rather, is more like the "ticking" of a pointer, sparse on her sides and clustered on her face and back.

Pippi also has large patches of color on her ears, side and tail, which are similarly not standard for Dalmatians. (At the very least, they would disqualify her from showing in a competition.) Then there's the shape of her muzzle. Anna says she associates Dalmatians with slightly tapered muzzles (when viewed from the front), rather than those that are more squared, like Pippi's. But she wonders if that might just be a faulty association on her part, which some Web sites indicate.

The Doggie Diaries: We Have a Puppy

by Ben Westhoff (Subscribe to Ben Westhoff's posts): Dec 24th 2009 1:00PM Filed Under: Dogs, Pet Adoption

They say when you describe your dog you're really describing yourself. So does that mean I'm sweet-natured, freckle-faced and suffer from occasional bladder-control problems?

Anna and I finally have a dog. We adopted six-month-old Pippi, a liver-and-white-spotted Dalmatian/pointer mix (we think), from a New Jersey rescue service called Cuddly Creatures. She landed in their foster program through the good graces of a construction worker who saved her from the pound after a carpenter with whom he worked adopted her for his own family, but for some reason decided that they could not keep her.

We spent about two hours meeting Pippi, much of it in a soggy yard under a gray December rain, before signing on the dotted line. She's very wiggly and prone to jumping, which gave me pause. But she hardly ever barks; she clearly is very bright; and, probably the deal-clincher, she's unbelievably cute. Almost every time we walk we're stopped by people fawning over her.

'101 Dalmatians Musical' Stars Real Rescue Dogs On Stage

by Helena Sung (Subscribe to Helena Sung's posts): Oct 13th 2009 3:00PM Filed Under: Dogs, Pets News, Pet Adoption, Pet Training

Jada and Bella pose in front of their "Puppy Palace" tour bus. Photo: The 101 Dalmatians Musical

Unless you're Cruella de Vil, you are guaranteed to love the new "101 Dalmatians" musical -- especially since all of the animal actors are shelter rescues.

"The script for the musical is based on the original 1956 book by Dodie Smith in which the story is told from the dogs' perspectives," the show's producer, Lee Marshall, tells Paw Nation. "Nothing in the musical is related to any of the motion pictures," he says, referring to the 1961 animated Walt Disney movie and the 1996 live-action film starring Glenn Close.

To illustrate the world as the dogs see it, all the human actors will be on 15-inch stilts surrounded by an extra-tall set scaled to show a dog's eye view of the world. The lead dog roles of Pongo and Missus Perdita -- whose Dalmatian puppies are stolen by the evil Cruella de Vil -- will be played by human actors dressed in fashionably spotted suits, and child actors will play the puppies.

But Marshall sprinkles each performance with real Dalmatians. Fifteen fortunate pups bound on the stage at the end of Act 1 and during the show's finale, performing choreographed movements set to music written by Dennis DeYoung, founding member of the legendary band Styx.

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