A Dog Unlike Us

Including photos of my ADORABLE PUPPY

There are five movies (and counting) based on the 1956 novel 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith: the animated 101 Dalmatians and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, the live action 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians, and the recent Oscar-winning prequel, Cruella. Though there are, oddly, zero movies based on the book’s sequel, The Starlight Barking, a story which involves all humans falling into a deep sleep, flying telepathic dogs running British Parliament in their stead, and Sirius, the Lord of the Dog Star, coming down to earth to offer all canines a place in his utopia so he can save them from impending nuclear war.

Despite Disney’s blatant disregard for The Starlight Barking and, therefore, the only true 101 Dalmatians universe, we recently decided to watch all five Dalmatians movies. Why? Dog training. 

After the sudden loss of one of our dogs last May, my husband Cory and I decided we were ready to get our first-ever puppy. We compared our lists of preferred breeds and found only two we agreed on: Dalmatian, and Basset Hound. Two breeds so different from each other, it’s hard to believe they are members of the same species. Basset Hounds are long, barrel-shaped dogs with stumpy legs, and droopy features. Dalmatians, on the other hand, are lanky, lean, and “high-energy.” 

We agonized over the decision for months, Googling pros and cons, pitting the cutest pictures from r/Dalmatians against the best of r/BassetHounds, and eliciting the opinion of our other dog, Donut (who, as a hermit, was vehemently against both options). Most of our friends, however, immediately told us to get a Basset Hound, and all for the same reason: You’re Basset people. 

In the opening scene of the original 101 Dalmatians movie, the main character Pongo watches women walk their dogs past his front window—a redheaded artist with a redheaded Afghan Hound, an aloof woman in a brown dress walking a similarly aloof brown pug, a glamorous lady and her poodle (with matching sparkly hairdos). It’s a nod to the commonly-held belief that people often look like their dogs. 

There’s no Basset Hound in this scene, but I can’t help but wonder what the owner would look like if there was one. I imagine someone shuffling lazily down the street with bloodshot eyes and baggy clothing, drooling.  Was this what our friends meant by Basset people? 

I never imagined that picking a dog breed would involve so much soul searching. What at first was a choice between long ears and short, howling and barking, patches and spots became a choice between warring aspects of my identity. Wasn’t I a funny person, a goofy person? Didn’t I love adventure and the outdoors and generally “high-energy” activities? I thought of myself this way, but how long had it been since I actually was this way? Not to blame everything on chronic illness (then again, why not?), but I began to wonder if what our friends were actually calling out was the fact that our personality as a couple had changed since I’d gotten migraines. We were both constantly depressed, after all, and had been for the past six years. How could we not be? I’d so far lost my job, some friends, and all of the most stereotypically adventurous years to chronic pain. Life, for us, was all about coping.

And what about me as a person? No one likes to admit that our circumstances are capable of changing who we are deep down, but aren’t they? Isn’t that Cruella’s backstory in a nutshell? So I had to allow the possibility: Maybe my migraines had changed me. Maybe I was now a Basset person.

It was hard to say for sure, however, without first meeting a Dalmatian. Basset Hounds were common enough, but neither Cory nor I had even seen a Dalmatian in real life. Did people even own Dalmatians? They were actual dogs, right? Not just made up for the purposes of the movie?  

We drove to a Dalmatian breeder last summer to find out. While there, the breeder introduced us to her many beautiful Dalmatians, and told us that it wasn’t at all strange we’d never seen Dalmatians before. Lots of people haven’t. When the original 101 Dalmatians movie came out in 1961, everyone and their brother suddenly wanted a Dalmatian, which led to overbreeding, which led to health problems and behavior issues. The resultant poor reputation of the Dalmatian caused the popularity pendulum to swing in the other direction. Dalmatians were, therefore, booted out of the zeitgeist, which was then promptly re-saturated by Labradoodles and Cockapoos.

Perhaps needless to say, we were smitten with the Dalmatians. On that visit, we discovered Dalmatians have the softest coats of all the dog breeds. (Cory’s number one concern going into this visit was that Dalmatians “wouldn’t be soft enough.”) They were also very happy, which was so unlike us in the best possible way. Some of them were crazy, too. High-energy. But some of them were not, and all of them made us smile. 

That day, we decided to join Team Spots. Maybe by choosing a dog unlike us, we’d find a piece of ourselves we’d lost. But if not, at least we’d have a really soft, happy dog to distract us from what was missing.

We knew it would take some time for us to get a Dalmatian puppy, as we wanted to work with a reputable breeder and find a dal that would do well with our urban lifestyle, but it was time we needed. Due to my limitations, we took extra care to have everything ready, and to have a plan for caring for our new family member through difficult seasons¹. Shortly after our “puppy nesting,” we saw Sunshine’s photo for the first time, and everything took off. Within a week, she was sitting on our couch, bobbing her head to a Taylor Swift song (“You Need to Calm Down,” because, well, she needed to calm down at that particular moment).

 Other things we’ve learned about Dalmatians since owning one: they have the smelliest farts, they shed a LOT, and they like sleeping under the covers with their legs sticking straight up in the air. (Yes, we are letting her under the covers. That was a losing battle. But she doesn’t sleep in bed with us all night!) They also like going outside, which forces us to go outside and enjoy both our neighborhood and our many wonderful neighbors.

Did getting a Dalmatian infuse me with energy or reduce my pain? No. I’m still sick, life is still hard, and we probably still look like Basset people. Our circumstances shape us, and I remain stuck in the circumstance of migraines. But a few months back, I heard an author speak about how newness changes the brain. Even the most minor excursions away from the worn-out tracks of our daily lives can have positive effects on our moods and outlooks, she said. I’ve felt this firsthand since we got Sunshine. She doesn’t fix anything (in fact, she breaks lots of stuff), but she is a nice change of pace, and her happiness definitely has telepathic brain-changing powers.

One day, maybe we’ll be Dalmatian people. Or at least Bassmatian people. But in the meantime, we’re having a lot of fun with our totally-unlike-us doggie, who, thanks to our recent movie marathon, knows everything she needs to know about how to avoid being made into a fur coat. 🧠

P.S. Sunshine is seven months old now. For more recent photos, check out her Instagram.

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1. Please note that we are both experienced dog owners with flexible schedules and time to train and exercise our dogs. Owning a dog is a big commitment and never something to be taken lightly!