Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Non-Sporting Group · No. 50 in 2025

How to identify a Dalmatian

The Dalmatian is a spotted coach dog, ranked No. 50 by the AKC in 2025. The coat is pure white with round, distinct spots in black or liver, never both and never with tan. The spots are smaller on the head, legs and tail, and the tail curves up but never curls over the back.

Photo of a Dalmatian
Photo: Heinz Höfling · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Dalmatian standard.

  1. “Pure white” ground color covered in “round and well-defined” spots
  2. Spots are “dense black” or “liver brown” only; tan markings or solid patches disqualify
  3. Spots are smaller on the head, legs and tail, and the ears are “preferably spotted”
  4. Tail carried with “a slight upward curve” but never curled over the back; coat “short, dense, fine”

Tell them apart

Dalmatian or Great Dane?

Check the markings and the size. A Dalmatian is white with small, round, separate spots in black or liver, and stands 19 to 23 inches. A harlequin Great Dane is white with large, ragged black patches and stands at least 28 inches.

Dalmatian

Dalmatian

  1. “Pure white” ground color covered in “round and well-defined” spots
  2. Spots are “dense black” or “liver brown” only; tan markings or solid patches disqualify
  3. Spots are smaller on the head, legs and tail, and the ears are “preferably spotted”
  4. Tail carried with “a slight upward curve” but never curled over the back; coat “short, dense, fine”
Great Dane

Great Dane

  1. Giant size: males at least 30 inches at the shoulder, females at least 28
  2. Long, “angular” head with the planes of the skull and muzzle “straight and parallel”
  3. Seven colors, including fawn and brindle with a black mask, harlequin (white with “black torn patches”) and mantle
  4. Ears “folded forward close to the cheek” or cropped erect; long tail that falls straight at rest and is never docked

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