History Main / FirehouseDalmatian

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[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/DotTheFireDog https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dotfiredog.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Always there when times are [[{{Pun}} ruff]].]]

* Sparky from ''Smokey Stover'' is the pet Dalmatian of the titular fireman.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* During the Brooklyn Bridge chaos scene in ''Film/FantasticFour2005'', a firetruck is shown having a dalmatian on the passenger seat moments before a stray explosion knocks it off the side. The four managed to save the truck ''and'' the dalmatian, of course.

* Most of the comedy in ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' was mined from almost-identical scenes played painfully straight in ''Film/ZeroHour1957''; alongside scenes where the pathos was twisted into jokes, some shots were left nearly or even exactly the same to genuinely heighten plot tension. In both movies, as Ted is coming in for his final approach to the airport, with anxiety high all around, there's a brief shot of two firefighters perched on their engine near the runway with a firehouse dog between them, waiting to respond. In ''Film/ZeroHour1957'' the dog is a collie, but in ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' they fully invoked this trope and made the dog a Dalmatian--not because it was hilarious in itself but because hitting the trope dead-on was more effective for the overall parody. (See the shots side-by side [[https://youtu.be/8-v2BHNBVCs?t=704 here]].)
* ''Film/DieHard'': John [=McClane=] promises to kiss their Dalmatian when he sees them approaching the building.

* The Dog Whisperer was once called in to help a company of firefighters get their new Dalmatian puppy acclimated to their firehouse.

* In the ''This is Daniel Cook'' episode, "This is Daniel Cook at the fire station", the firefighter giving Daniel a tour around the fire station shows him a Dalmatian stuffed animal.

* ''TabletopGame/CootieGames'': While subtle, editions of ''Ants in the Pants'' featuring the dalmation have him wearing a fire helmet.

* ''Webcomic/{{Forestdale}}'': has the Burnsides, a family of Dalmatians with both parents working as firefighters and the youngest child aspiring to follow in their footsteps.

* In ''Rescue Squad Mater'', an episode of the [[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts Cars Toon]] sub-series ''Mater's Tall Tales'', Mia and Tia have their bodies painted white with black spots, like typical firehouse Dalmatians, along with bigger black mirrors that resemble dog ears, and as an added touch firefighter helmets. They even let out a "Bow-wow!" while watching Mater put out the fire.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Inhuman Torch" has the Planet Express crew take over as New New York's firefighters. To look the part, they paint their ship firetruck red, and their mascot Nibbler (partially) white to resemble a firehouse Dalmatian.

Aside from being the stars of a [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians certain Disney movie]], Dalmatians are also recognized as the dog most likely seen with firefighters, often serving no purpose other than being a mascot. This wasn't always the case; in the old days Dalmatians were chosen to help the fire department because the breed works well with horses, in the days that the fire apparatus was drawn by horses before the proliferation of internal combustion engines and by extension self-propelled vehicles. Since no fire department has used horse-driven wagons in nearly a century, [[TheArtifact there's no real reason to use Dalmatians over any other breed,]] but firefighters and Dalmatians have been associated with each other in our culture for so long [[GrandfatherClause it's unlikely this will ever change.]]

Aside from being the stars of a [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians certain Disney movie]], Dalmatians are also recognized as the dog most likely seen with firefighters, often serving no purpose other than being a mascot. This wasn't always the case; in the old days Dalmatians were chosen to help the fire department because the breed works well with horses. Since no fire department has used horse-driven wagons in nearly a century, [[TheArtifact there's no real reason to use Dalmatians over any other breed,]] but firefighters and Dalmatians have been associated with each other in our culture for so long [[GrandfatherClause it's unlikely this will ever change.]]

* The toy line for ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' had a character named Hot Spot who was a Dalmatian in a fireman's outfit and came with fire-fighting equipment like an axe.

* [[Toys/{{LEGO}} LEGO]] has released a few City fire sets with a Dalmatian dog included. Rather humorously, in the animated short ''Lights, Camera, Fire!'', the station's dog puts out the last of the fire by peeing on it.
* Ember Flicker Flame, the firefighter-themed Toys/{{Lalaloopsy}} doll, comes with a pet Dalmatian.