About Us

Falaise is a small, select South African show kennel, located in Midrand which is situated

halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.

We, Lucienne Ferres and Greg Smith, have had the great privilege of being owned by Dalmatians since 1974 and 1987 respectively, and have each been exhibiting and breeding ever since. Our dogs are all house dogs - for our sins even the rescues sleep inside. We see no point in keeping our dogs in kennels - after all, part of the fun of owning Dals is to share your life with them, hair-shedding and all.

Although we take showing very seriously, we have also always tried to make showing fun for the dogs. We show selectively, we are exceedingly careful when it comes to their comfort both at local and away shows, and the dogs respond to this by regarding shows as an adventure. Although we may be trashed at the end of a show weekend, they never seem to tire. Ah yes, it is indeed a Dal's life.

To us, a sound typical Dalmatian is one who combines the correct conformation with excellent temperament and good spotting. Soundness of body must always go hand-in-hand with soundness of mind.

There is absolutely no point in having a beautiful looking dog if the foundation isn't stable or if the lift doesn't go all the way up to the penthouse.

Equally, there is no point in producing wonderfully good natured dogs who can't make it to the corner and back. And yes, while excellent spotting should never take precedence over good conformation, good spotting is important. After all, it is a unique feature of the breed.

Our Views on Breeding

It has never been our mission in life to subsidise the family income or to populate the world with little Dalmatians. Nor have we bred litter after litter in the hope that "this time we'll get a good one". In our breeding program we have always known what we were aiming for and have looked very carefully into the conformation, pedigrees and background of our breeding stock. We have always been very selective in our choices and have been equally discerning in not allowing our stud dogs to be used indiscriminately on inferior quality bitches.

We firmly believe that excellence in breeding cannot depend on pot-luck or a numbers racket. Indiscriminate breeding makes no sense - we feel that if you breed at all you should also exhibit regularly - in the final analysis competition makes us all better.

We are justly proud of our record, as thus far, in limited breeding we have produced 13 South African, 6 Zimbabwean and 4 Zambian Champions in only 13 litters.

Now, come and meet the gang - all of them very much loved and cherished companions who give meaning to our world and joy to our days.