Sparky the Dalmatian

Sparky is the Dalmatian that Dotty replaced. He was retired on 11 May 1997, the same day Dotty was officially introduced, and Dotty took over his style number with a different birthday. Sparky is found only with a fourth generation swing tag and a third generation tush tag.

The changeover showed on the tush tags before Ty said anything. In April 1997, Sparkys began appearing with Dotty tush tags. Ty had not yet put out an introduction announcement for Dotty, so the tag was the first public sign that a new Dalmatian was coming.

His swing tag poem was printed four different ways, and the difference is in the last line. One version runs to five lines. The three four-line versions each word the stepping-on line differently, from 'Often gets stepped on crying yelp' to 'Step on him and he'll let out a yelp'.

Beyond the Dotty tag, Sparky has been found wearing Bubbles, Ears, Flip, Hippity and Rover tush tags.