I wouldn’t trust a Dalmatian either. They are not good people or kid dogs. I knew someone who had a pair once and they were aggressive as all get out. They had to constantly warn kids who saw the dogs and wanted to pet them to NOT TOUCH THEM, under any circumstances.
That is so not worth the risk.
You brought up a great point. They became popular after the 101 Dalmatians movie came out, and were being bred by lots of people that shouldn’t have. They didn’t care about the temperament or health of the parents, and their breeding practices produced a lot of dogs that were not a good representation of the breed. They were the number one biters for a while, and during that time we got an awful lot of them at the shelter.
I remember having to restrain a one-year old dal that was being euthed (it peed on the carpet and the people didn’t train it, they got another one). When people stop treating dogs like children and take responsibility for their dogs’ behavior, we will see a decline in attacks of all breeds. There are some great dalmatians out there, and they represent the majority, just like with pit bulls. The minority that cause harm, however, is the only thing most people see, so that is what they believe is true for all, IMO.