DixieM, that is a loaded question. LOL
As far as what they like. It varies from dog to dog and line to line. I have had 3 todate. All 3 have been totally different. Ivan is quite a bit different than my first two. Now Im not sure if its his lines,that hes intact and a male or what. He loves to meet people outside of the house. But yet doesn't feel people should be visiting the house. Now Chloe could give a rats ass about anyone outside of her very selected few. I will tell you they do not forgive and forget things. They do tend to pick a favorite. If you are their favorite they will do just about anything for you and be stuck up your butt. So they can be willing to please. I have found that the boys seem to be a bit more willing to please and goofy than a girl is.
Their energy level also varies. I've had super mellow, somewhat mellow and active. ALL will be super active as puppies.
They can be good with other dogs and cats. Ivan isn't good with cats but then again he wasn't raised around one.
As far as size wise they fall into the medium size catagory. Ideally dals should be no taller than 23 inches at the shoulder. Ivan is 22 inches tall and 50 pounds at his heaviest. His grandma is 20.5 inches tall and 36 pounds.
They can be good off lead. But it does require quite a bit of training.
As far as grooming, little in the way of baths. They do shed tremendously but using a something like a wet wipe and regular brushing cuts that down. Some if exposed to it will allow you to vacuum them.
There are health issues in the breed.
Deafness is one. 70% are bilateral hearing, 22% are unilateral deaf(deaf in only one ear) and 8% are bilateral deaf.
Bladder and kidney stones are an issue in most dalmatians. And there are somethings that should be followed as far as helping to keep them stone free. There are LUA dalmatians out there. Which in theory are stone free. But in trade I think there might be a bit higher percentage of deafs in those lines. I know they have used unilateral deaf dogs in the programs.
Allergies and seizures are also found in some lines. More people are open to the allergy issue than the seizure issue. Dals do want to be trained, now wether they take that training and do it exactly the way you want it done. Maybe a different story. But thats not to say they can't.
For the most part they can be what you are looking for in a dog, but it does come with work. The only that really doesn't fit is the shedding part.
Best advice I can give is to find some breeders, talk to them, meet their dogs and in general find some dals to hang out with.
