dalmatians.

Anna Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife Anna adopted as a puppy in late 2009. Last weekend, we took Pippi for a pleasant trip to the dog park. (Unlike the last time we went, there was not a brawl, so that was a plus.) While there, we struck up a conversation with a woman who had brought her 4-year-old golden retriever. After hearing we'd gotten Pippi from a rescue, the woman imparted that she, too, had tried to obtain a dog through this method. The problem was that she couldn't pass the screening test! The woman had had her heart set on a golden, and the rescue in question had plenty of them, but they weren't sure ...

Anna Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife Anna adopted as a puppy in late 2009, and the first dog Ben's ever had. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to tidy up because we had company coming. Truth be told, sweeping the apartment usually is Anna's gig. What I figured would be a quick task turned into a two-hour job due to the massive amount of pet hair I found in every nook and cranny. Now I know why Anna talks about our pet-hair problem the way she does; fur seems to appear everywhere you look. I admit that I had no idea before how bad it was. I've had our cat, Nora, for a long time, so I know she does some shedding, ...

Ben Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the 11-month-old Dalmatian mix he and his wife Anna adopted in late 2009, and the first dog Ben's ever had. One of the first stories I wrote at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch during my internship there in 1997 was about dalmatians. Disney's live-action version of "101 Dalmatians" had come out the previous year, and kids and parents who saw the film fell in love with the breed and began adopting loads of the dogs. Six months down the line, animal shelters were overflowing with dalmatians. It turned out many didn't have what it took to care for the rambunctious breed. "People can't give them the time and energy ...

dogbrush, Flickr Name: Dalmatian Personality: "Playful, happy, easygoing and very dedicated," chirps Dog Breed Info Center regarding one of the reigning breeds of American cinema, if not Americana iconography. "Temperament is stable and outgoing, yet dignified," states the American Kennel Club. "Shyness is a major fault." The Web site Dalmatians.US (formerly called "The Dalmatian Information Station") agrees on that last point. "Since the Dalmatian essentially came from working temperament, they should be confident, alert the family to strangers, and, if need be, protect their family." Grooming: Some say the dalmatian is such a tidy dog, it will even avoid puddles outside! Despite this ...