About the Kennel
The whole story began somewhere in my childhood, when I came into direct contact with domestic animals. Where I grew up, in the Budapest metropolitan area, my parents and grandparents kept dogs and cats, and we even had a poultry yard. One of my grandfathers also had pigeons, which lived in the attic and could breed freely. They went up only occasionally to take a handful of squabs to cook a tasty soup from them. Until one day I noticed that the existing pigeon family had “brought down” with them, during one of their daily circles above the house, a pigeon that was unknown to me but certainly had a special color and appearance. According to my grandfather, this is a common story in the life of a pigeon family: they may bring in a tired carrier pigeon, or a pigeon that belongs to another loft. As it later turned out, this was a female “Monor Tumbler.”
After a few months, her offspring also appeared in the yard, and to my great surprise I realized that these were descendants of the new hen—because all of their distinctive external traits, their special plumage and color, were inherited from their mother. This sparked such an interest in me that, at the age of 12 or 13, I became fascinated by animal breeding. I watched the chicks hatching in the poultry yard and how their color and shape changed compared to their parents. Then I also saw the suffering a dying young animal can go through, and how distressing it can be to witness its passing, so I decided not to pursue a career in breeding. So I turned to another field close to my heart: horticulture. After elementary school, I attended a school specializing in ornamental plant cultivation. Later, I graduated as a horticultural instructor from the teacher-training faculty of GATE in Gödöllő. After a long entrepreneurial career in horticulture and trade, I now teach at an elementary school in Veresegyház, part of the country's largest public education institution.
I must have been around 16, during my high-school years, when one afternoon they screened the newly released and hugely successful film “101 Dalmatians.” It captivated me so much that I was hooked for life. The way the Dalmatian breed was portrayed in the film appealed to me so much that, now, after 30 years with the breed, I am convinced that whoever drew the dogs knew the breed—and may even have kept Dalmatians—because the film portrayed the breed remarkably realistically, including the individuality of the different dogs. I was 20 years old when, in 1988, I bought my first Dalmatian from what was considered the most successful Hungarian kennel at the time, the Hadrianus Dalmatian kennel. Two years later, in 1990, my first litter was born, which is when the Falcatus (pronounced “fahl-kah-toos”) Dalmatian kennel was founded.
Where did the name come from? My first dog, a female, had the registered name Hadrianus Aphrodite—so the ancient influence was there. Then, because I attended a horticultural school, I also had to learn plant names in Latin. This is where the word and sound “falcatus” came from, while the name Hadrianus also played a part in the choice. Back then, I read a great deal about the breed. It was often described as a “pack” dog, or “falka” in Hungarian, which sounds similar to the pronunciation of “falcatus,” and slowly the idea took shape. As a result of these influences, the “Falcatus” Dalmatian kennel came into being.
For me, the Dalmatian has become part of my life; it shapes my everyday life. I could identify with its constant need and desire for movement. I have the same need—to be able to exercise outdoors. I satisfy my daily need for exercise with them; this gives me the strength and endurance to carry out my work and daily tasks well, precisely, and in a balanced way. The Dalmatian’s natural element—movement—also helps me keep my body and mind in good condition.