Dalmatian Breeding Project
Welcome to the progress page for my dalmatian breeding project! After being inspired by the awesome breeding projects by Gin @ Gin'z Brewery, Rho @ Rho Petz, and other prolific breeders like Salem @ Mos Eisley and Amanda @ Cargo, I decided I wanted to create my very own purebred, non-inbred (NIB) line of dalmatians. They're my favorite Petz breed, and I'm really looking forward to having my very own line!
​
My goals for this project are:
- to breed a line of purebred, non-inbred dalmatians
- to select for white coats and white eyelids
- to have my favorite eye colors (cherry, green, black, pale gray) feature prominently in the line
- to ultimately create an eighth-generation NIB litter with a full pedigree (only breed together individuals of the same generation)
- to have fun breeding cool dalmatians!
​
This is likely going to be a very long-term project, since I'm busy with school and won't always have time to sit down and breed dozens of dalis at a time, but I'm hoping it will prove relaxing and fun!
​
This project was started on March 16, 2021 and completed July 2, 2021. Click the links below to jump to different entries!
​
03/16/2021 - The Beginning - Generation 1
03/20/2021 - Some Progress - Generation 4
04/11/2021 - More Gen Fours - Generation 4
05/27/2021 - Slowly but Surely - Generation 4
06/27/2021 - Halfway There! - Generation 4
06/28/2021 - Look Alive - Generation 5
07/21/2021 - Getting Closer! - Generation 6
07/21/2021 - The Final Pairing - Generation 7
07/02/2021 - Generation Eight! - Generation 8
07/02/2021 - Final Thoughts - Project Completed
The Beginning
March 16, 2021
Based on the calculations from Gin, I'm going to need to start with 16 sets of 8 adoption-center dalmatians, 4 males and 4 females. From those pairs I get my second-generation dogz (4 per set), which I breed to create my third-generation dogz (2 per set), which I breed to create my fourth-generation dog (1 per set). After that, I start breeding the 4th-generation sets together until I eventually arrive at an eighth-generation, purbred dog with no inbreeding!
​
That's a TON of dogz, so I'd better get started! I'm naming them all according to theme and storing them in separate folders so I don't get confused. Below is my Greek Mythology set, including the pairs Ouranos x Gaia, Oceanus x Tethys, Hyperion x Theia, and Kronos x Rhea. They were the first dogz I adopted for this project! They don't look like much now (and they have those creepily large AC dali eyes *shudder*), but they're going to help me make something wonderful.
Some Progress
March 20, 2021
I have my first fourth-generation dalis! After a few days of breeding in my spare time, I have my first set of fourth-generation dalis that I'm happy with. Meet Jaqueline (Steampunk), Iphegenia (Greek Mythology), Solanum (Vegetables), Nefertiti (Egyptian), and Sauron (LOTR Ainur).
I think they're all lovely, but I'm most pleased with Iphegenia and Nefertiti because they have those lovely selfie eyelids! I think selfie lids look stunning on white fur, and I'm going to make sure these pass on to their pupz. I also love the eye colors I have so far; to already have two of the four colors I wanted in my lines (cherry red and green) is a dream. Now I just need to get some black and pale gray-eyed dogz to complete the set!
All of these guys carry pretty eye colors as well; no hidden teal-eyed alleles here! GenePoolz by Reflet @ Yabiko has been an absolute blessing for this project.
​
There's still a long way to go; I have 5 of these guys now, and I need 11 more before I can start breeding them with each other. No clue whom I'm going to breed with whom yet... I guess I'll figure it out as I go along!
More Gen Fours
April 11, 2021
I sometimes feel like my progress is way too slow because it took me almost a month to get to 8 total fourth-generation dalis, but a whole lot of that delay is because I have high standards for these Gen Fours! My goal is for them all to have at least two interesting eye color alleles, with bonus points for lots of spots (especially on the face), at least one white ear, and white eyelids! I think in that aspect, it's going really well. Meet Teatime (Tea), Jelly Roll (Desserts), and Blink Dog (D&D Monsters).
All of them carry some fun eye colors, but my absolute favorite in terms of genetics is Teatime. Although it looks like he's got those lovely pale blue eyes, that's actually a fluke; he really has green (yay) and SILVER eyes! The silver is capitalized because I love the silver/pale gray eye color so much and was hoping for it to pop up! And it did! Good thing I check everyone's genetics before deciding who to keep!
​
Hopefully there's plenty more fun eye colors incoming from the next set of Gen Fours. I've already hit three of my color goals: cherry, green, and silver. Now I just want that dark black! A pink would be nice too; I've been eyeing Gin's pink-eyed NIB dalis with a little bit of envy. Some other bonus eye colors have popped in as well, like ginger, dusty, and sandy eyes! I'll have a whole rainbow of colors when I'm done.
Once I have all 16 Gen Fours done, I can finally start creating Gen Five! I can't wait to see what happens next.
Slowly but Surely
May 27, 2021
It's been quite a while without an update, mostly because there's been nothing to update. Real life ate all my time, and Petz fell by the wayside as I worked to finish up the academic year and prep for my summer research. But now, for the first time in months, I have both the time and the motivation to breed!
​
Meet my newest Gen Fours: Linden (Plants), Archaeon (Warhammer AoS), and Sardonyx (Precious Stones). And yes, those are pink eyes on Linden!!! With these three done, I only have five more Gen Four dogz to breed before I can move on to Gen Five! I'm excited!
Halfway There!
June 27, 2021
It's been a while since I only work on this project on and off, but I've finally reached 16 Gen Four dogz!!! This includes the newest members of the group, Orchestra (Music), Everest (Mountains), Murmur (Demonology), and Regent (Royal Titles). Now I can get started breeding these guys... but who should go with whom?
​
While I figure that out, please enjoy the spotty hurricane below.
Look Alive
June 28, 2021
Because we're on Gen Five! These eight dogz will be the great-grandparents of my final Eight Gen litter. We've got some pretty awesome traits in here! From left to right meet Aulis, Crumble, Calliope, Berrybright, Azure, Bahamut, Evening, and Whisper! I had to go back and breed Whisper after I thought everything was done; turns out I had accidentally inbred his ancestor, Murmur, and therefore him too! Went back and bred that line from scratch to ensure that the entire group is NIB.
So excited for their pupz... and I'll have them soon! I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's filled with cute dalis!
Getting Closer!
July 1, 2021
The project is coming along quite nicely! By this point I know my goals as well as what I can end up with in my final litter based on their grandparents. I'm so happy with these final four! We've got beautiful eye colors (including three of my four goal colors; I never got black but I did get pink!), lots of white ears, white eyelids, and of course, spots galore!
​
Elderflower, Carousel, Everyway, and Artefact will be the grandparents of my final Gen Eight litter. I can't wait to see what pupz they make! I'm sure they'll be just as cute as their adorable grandparents.
The Final Pairing
July 1, 2021
I was too excited to pace myself and wait to breed the cuties above, so I ended up trying for their pupz right after posting about them here! And those pupz are everything I dreamed of! Meet the 7th generation parents of my future 8th generation NIB PB dalis, Chorus and Kaleidoscope!
Chorus is the pup of Artefact x Elderflower, while Kaleidoscope is the pup of Carousel x Everyway! They inherited their parents' beautiful eye colors and both carry a bright color as well. I'm really thrilled with these two!
And they seem to be pretty thrilled with each other as well... that's right, this tale of genetics and meticulous spreadsheets has somehow turned into a love story. Maybe I should let them make a puppy or two the old-fashioned way!
But that's not the only surprise in this generation! While I was breeding these for these two, I was blessed by the Petz godz with a dog with mutated icy eyes from Artefact x Elderflower. Icy blue is generally not my favorite eye color, but on her, they were just stunning in combination with her surprise spotlacking, and I couldn't bear to delete her. And to top it all off, she's a natural show dog! Just look at that pose!
I can't wait to see what other surprises await me in the last generation of my NIB dali project!
​
Generation Eight!
July 2, 2021
It's finally happened! It's finally done! After months of breeding and checking Genepoolz, I've finally reached the eighth generation of purebred, non-inbred dalmatians. I proudly introduce to you my Gen Eights: Alizarin, Ceruse, Cinabrese, Fiction, and Viridian.
These pupz all have a mind-blowing 254 ancestors in their family tree! It wasn't until looking at lnz that I realized just how many dogz went into creating this litter!
And looking at these guys, I can happily say that all the time spent breeding pair after pair, checking genetics, and praying for mutations was worth it. They're my dream dalis, and they look just as stunning aged up! I'm sure they're all going to make beautiful show dogz one day!
Now, there's one thing you may be wondering about, and that's Fiction. She breaks the naming scheme of the litter (the other dogz are all named after pigments) and she has eyes that obviously didn't come from either of the parents. So what gives?
​
Sadly, Fiction's beautiful black eyes are a "fluke" mutation; while she appears to have the black-eyed trait, that's not reflected in her genetic information. Fiction actually carries silver and pink eyes, which means she can never pass that black on. Normally I wouldn't want to keep a dog with a fluke mutation for this project, but since it's the end of the line and because black eyes were one of my goal colors I never got through normal mutations, I just couldn't give Fiction up! Her eyes may be a fiction, but she's still a beautiful dog, and I feel lucky to have gotten a black-eyed dali after all.
Final Thoughts
July 2, 2021
Now that the project is complete, I want to think about my goals when I started and what I learned doing my first large-scale breeding project from my own lines.
​
This project took me longer than I expected; breeding can become drudgery sometimes, especially if no new mutations pop up when you really want one! I was also being picky about the kinds of mutations I wanted; I had soooo many pupz with red or brown coats that I couldn't use because I wanted only white. Similarly, eyelid mutations were frustrating; while I decided on black eyelids for the lighter colored eyes like pink and silver, getting those white lids to pass was pretty tricky. But worth it in the end!
​
The setup of everything made it easier. On Gin's wonderful advice about NIB Dali lines, I separated batches of 8 dogz into 16 groups, which I then gave themes (like D&D Monsters or Greek Mythology). I could keep track of the mutations and traits in each group much more easily than if I hadn't sorted them this way. Once I got into higher generations, I started keeping a spreadsheet with more in-depth information like eye colors carried and shown, lid colors, ears, etc. I also sketched (although a better word might be "scribbled") a breeding tree with the different eye colors I wanted to pass based on the genetics of the parents.
All in all, this was a very rewarding experience! If you're thinking of starting any sort of breeding project, I very much encourage you to give it a go. You get fun surprise mutations, a bunch of pretty petz, and the knowledge that you're bringing new life (lol literally!) into the PC. And hit me up if you've got some NIB dalis of your own! I'd love to breed some 9th Gen cuties with you.
​