My coat of many colours

Many people remark upon my beautiful coat, because I am a liver (or brown) spotted Dalmation, rather than the common black spotted variety. Think of smooth rich melted chocolate pouring into a glass of milk, or glistening espresso in a glass cup with milk swirling into it, or the brown of Oreo biscuits contrasted with the cream filling.

Some dogs have a double coat, made up of a soft undercoat and a coarse topcoat, or a single coat, without an undercoat. The terms 'fur' and 'hair' are often used interchangeably when describing dog coats, but in general, a double coat, such as that of the Newfoundland is called a fur coat, while a single coat, such as the poodle's coat, may be called a hair coat.

Some (invariably handsome) dogs are spotted. Most often dark pigmented spots on a light background. The spotting on dalmatians is unique as it involves mutations in at least three different spotting genes.

My Dalmatian coat is short, fine, and dense. I shed considerably, and shed year-round. The short, stiff hairs I shed weave their way into clothing, upholstery and nearly any other kind of fabric. While consistent grooming with a stiff brush can lessen the amount of hair that I shed, nothing can completely prevent the shedding. One of the joys in my life is listening to THAT MAN curse and swear when we come back from the coast. I like to take it as a personal challenge to coat the entire back of the car in white Dalmation hair during the 2 hour drive home. The length, intensity and volume of THAT MAN'S reaction is my guide to how successful I have been.

Sometimes I do feel a little guilty about my favourite person's clothes. She wears quite a bit of black - trousers, skirts, jackets, coats. She looks pretty good but invariably - and often where she can't see them - she has numerous white Kenny hairs that she takes to work with her.

Dalmatian puppies are born white, and their spots come in gradually over the period of a couple of weeks. It must be quite disturbing for puppies to think that they are going to be a sickly, pathetic, ordinary looking white all their life. I am sure that all puppies are born with a secret desire to be spotted. I shudder to think of myself as a poor little newborn, looking at my dozen brothers and sisters and whimpering in terror at their whiteness. Luckily the spots arrived for us and we were saved from a lifetime of monochrome white hair. I hope this doesn't sound coat-ist.

The most common colours for Dalmatians are black or liver spotted on a white background. Other spotting colors, although rare and not permitted for showing, include blue (a blue-grayish color), orange or lemon (dark to pale yellow), brindle, mosaic, and tri-colored (with tan spotting on the eyebrows, cheeks, legs, and chest).

Patches often occur in Dalmations and are a disqualification in the show ring. Patches are present at birth, and consist of a solid color. Patches can appear anywhere on the body, but are most common on the head and ears. Patches are not to be confused with heavily spotted areas on a dog, however. Spots should be around the size of a dollar coin. Some people think my right ear is a patch. Phooey to them, I say. My favourite person thinks that my right ear is one of my most endearing features.

I love my handsome liver spotted coat and am glad every day that I don't have an ugly curly coat (poodle, ugh) a brindle coarse haired coat (even though my favourite person loved her previous dog, Aussie, I can tell from from photos he did have an ugly coarse coat) or, heaven forbid, a coat with a backward facing spine like that dolt, Bundy (a Rhodesian Ridgeback). I am sure the reverse spinal hair is somehow linked to slower brain functioning.

While I love my coat, I have to confess that I have another favourite coat. That is the fleecy thermal coat that my favourite person puts on me to go to bed each night. Sometimes she even puts it over the heater vent for an hour or so before she puts it on me - aah, bliss. THAT MAN certainly doesn't do that when she is away. He takes perverse pleasure is either not putting my coat on at all, or putting a cold coat onto me and then expecting me to be able to sleep. What a beast he is!

That's why I take whatever opportunity I can to put my cold nose into his warm places when he is least expecting it. Revenge is sweet!

with love and big licks, Kenny