Dalmatians are named after the region they originate from – Dalmatia, an area in Croatia along the Adriatic Sea. The puppies are born completely white. Their unique pattern of dark brown or black spots develops over the next few weeks. Eye color can be brown, blue, or a combination of both. Ten percent of Dalmatians are born deaf, but this does not prevent them from fulfilling their duties. For thousands of years, Dalmatians worked as carriage dogs – they ran alongside horse-drawn carriages and wagons, urging the horses on. Before the invention of the automobile, fire engines were pulled by horses, and the Dalmatian encouraged the horses to run as fast as they could to the fires.