Health and good temperament have to be the two most important factors that a responsible breeder will strive for.  These things will be a measure of his success, not the number of wins in the show ring!

Dalmatians have two major genetically linked health defects - deafness and hyperuricosuria (an abnormally high level of uric acid in the urine).

Hip and Elbow Dysplasia may not be as common as it is in other breeds, but it does exist.  Too many breeders fail to screen for these disorders.  We hip and elbow score all dogs that we breed from and we only use dogs with bilateral hearing.

Deafness

Deafness is a problem which is genetically linked, although the exact mode of inheritance is unclear.  It is found in many white coated breeds and is linked with the genes for piebald and merle coats.  It is also more prevalent in blue eyed dogs and is associated with a lack of pigmentation in the inner ear, causing a sensorineural deafness.  The incidence of deafness can be reduced by breeding only with bilaterally hearing dogs and never with blue eyes.  Dogs with unilateral hearing are functionally normal and clinical testing is unreliable, so the only way to be sure of a dogs hearing status is to perform the BAER test(Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response).  This can be carried out on puppies from the age of 5 weeks, but is more reliable from 6 weeks.  Older puppies and adults can be sedated for the test.

Dogs with unilateral deafness will make fine pets, but they should not be used for breeding.  This view is now endorsed by one of the breed clubs, the North of England Dalmatian Club.

Hyperuricosuria

All Dalmatians, save those originating from the Dalmatian backcross project, have two copies of a recessive mutant gene, which results in an abnormally high level of uric acid in the urine.  Because of this they have a predisposition to forming urate stones in the bladder, which can cause urinary obstruction in the male.  This is an acute medical emergency.  Fortunately, only a minority of Dalmatians form stones, but the risk must be  minimised by careful attention to a diet relatively low in purines, making sure that they drink plenty of water and have frequent and regular opportunities to urinate.

The Dalmatian backcross project was initiated in 1973 by Dr. Robert Schaible, an American geneticist.  A single outcross to a pointer was carried out and since then all breeding has been to AKC (American Kennel Club) registered Dalmatians.  Due to the simple inheritance of the gene that governs uric acid metabolism, it is possible to eventually reduce or even eliminate this defective gene.  We are now 17 or 18  generations into this breeding programme.  There were originally 4 normal uric acid (NUA) Dalmatians in Europe who were imported from America and their healthy gene is now gradually being incorporated into the gene pool of the Dalmatian population in Europe and indeed in the rest of the world.  The progeny of Fiona, Merlin, Sally and Wendy are already swelling the numbers of low uric acid Dalmatians in the UK and the rest of Europe.