Coat and allergy
Like people, dog breeds can suffer from an allergy. Some dogs are allergic to grass pollen, others are allergic to certain types of weeds or for swimming in dirty ditches.
The Dalmatian can be considered a healthy breed and are therefore generally not bothered by allergies.
Some Dalmatians can suffer from their coat and a large part of these problems can be shared under the collective name Dallyrash.

What are the most common symptoms?

• Little bumps on their head and sometimes also on other places of the body.
• Red and brown discolouration of the skin, often on the head and on the back.
• Hair loss in places where the skin has become inflamed and discoloured.

What is the cause of it?

• The dog has an allergic reaction to for instance inhaling certain pollen or grass seeds.
• The dog has an allergic reaction to certain ingredients in the food (often a hypersensitivity to certain animal proteins).
• The dog has an allergic reaction to the presence of parasites such as fleas, lice and/or ticks.
• The dog has an allergic reaction to substances in the water, for instance due to frequent swimming and/or the use of certain shampoos.

How do you prevent an outbreak of Dallyrash with your dog?

Completely preventing it is sometimes difficult, because we don’t exactly know where this phenomenon in each individual dog comes from. But in general, the following measures can be taken:

• Keep the dog free from pests.
• Don’t wash the dog often and if necessary, use an anti allergy shampoo.
• Be careful with rumen products or fresh red meat.
• Preferably feed your dog food based on chicken/turkey or lamb-proteins.

If your dog has a serious outbreak of bumps and inflamed spots, a treatments with antibiotics by the vet is necessary.

Dalmatian Bronzing Syndrome
The bronzing syndrome is a red brown discolouration of the skin of your Dalmatian, caused by serum pigments called porphyrins.
This discolouration can usually be seen on the head and on the back, close to the spine. This bronzing syndrome often appears a year after an outbreak of the abovementioned Dallyrash.
Sometimes, the dog has never had bumps or inflamed spots and will only show the red brown discolouration of the skin.

There are specialists who relate the bronzing syndrome to the particular uric acid metabolism of the Dalmatian dog.
The talk about the precipitation of crystals in the skin cells. This can lead to a red brown discolouration.
Reducing the in particular animal proteins in their food will often quickly lead to an improvement of the skin.

We never give our dogs tripe products or red meat. Our experience of many years has taught us that not every Dalmatian takes it as well.