Many people associate the Dalmatian breed with firefighters and fire trucks.
The Dalmatian is a hardy dog known for speed and endurance which probably originated in Dalmatia, a province of Austria, on the eastern shore of the coast of Venice in what is now Italy. Statues, engravings, paintings, and writings of antiquity have been used to claim that this spotted dog first appeared in either Europe, or Asia, or Africa, but without proving the point. Perhaps some of the problem about the original home of the Dalmatian can be accounted for by the fact that the dog was frequently part of gypsy bands, and like them, he was well known but had no sure origin. The breed's activities have been as varied as its roots. It has been employed during wars as a sentinel on the borders of Dalmatia and Croatia.