05/01/2026
Trink, Kris, Cindy, Josie, Katie, Max, Yana, Jax, Utah, and Idaho.
Lulu, Montague, Polo, Zane, Jasmine, Stephanie, Csonti, Rex, Pete, Outlaw, Mohka, Komach, and King.
Just lists of names. Lists that are far from complete. Names that represent sleepless nights, patience, trust, happy endings, and safe passages.
Dogs have been part of my life from the moment my mother brought me home. In my twenties, when my husband and I bought our first home we got our first dog and I discovered a world that I had not given more than a passing thought to before then.
My first exposure to animal welfare was when I was very young. I’m sure I don’t remember all the details correctly given my age, but I remember that our dog had an accidental litter of 10 puppies. We took them to a local shelter to be adopted out. When we changed our minds and went back to reclaim them only a few hours later, we were told they had already been euthanized. At that age, all I understood was that the puppies I had watched grow up were gone, supposedly dead. Needless to say, my opinion of animal shelters was not great.
Twenty years later, I brought home a tiny bundle of spotted fur and named her Josie. Bringing home a Dalmatian puppy connected me to a nationwide group of people who also had Dalmatians. Any puppy can be challenging. They require a lot of supervision, training, guidance, and patience. But they repay you with love, laughter, and a lifetime of memories.
Josie was smart and more challenging than I could have imagined. I started reading everything I could about Dalmatians. I began to get an understanding of how genetics and selective breeding created the breeds that we know today. I connected to other Dalmatian owners. I blundered my way through raising a highly energetic and smart dog that was bred to run all day with horses.
(Not Josie in the picture, but a shelter dog I worked with many years later.)
