Former EMT, been in a lot of old firehouses, seen a lot of old photographs and read a lot of old documents laying around during my off time. Because of their endurance, dalmatians were used as carriage dogs. That is, the ran ahead or along side the horses and kept the path clear of predators or animals that could spook the horses. In the days of horse drawn fire engines, dalmatians continued to serve as carriage dogs, and as guard dogs for the firehouse and equipment. As horses were replaced with trucks, dalmatians continued to be used as guard dogs and mascots.