Royal canines: Queen Victoria's beloved dogs
How many Queen Victoria dogs do you know about? Here’s a look at several of them — from the cute Dash of her childhood to dachshunds and Pomeranians.
Image: Looty the Pekingese | Public Domain
When you read about Queen Victoria, various particular themes are bound to pop up. There’s her isolated childhood as well as her later marriage to Prince Albert and the nine children they had together.
What you might not see mentioned quite as often, however, is the sheer number of dogs she had. Much like Queen Elizabeth II was known for her corgis, her great-great-grandmother often had a cute canine keeping her company.
Below, Sky HISTORY recalls Victoria’s extraordinary life story — and explains how, at many of its pivotal moments, a poochy presence was never too far away.
Who were the most famous Queen Victoria dogs?
According to Queen Victoria’s diaries, she owned 640 dogs spanning 32 breeds. Her love for animals is also evidenced by the patronage she gave to charities supporting their welfare.
These charities included Battersea Dogs Home and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Victoria was even responsible for bestowing the ‘Royal’ upon the latter’s name!
So, of the dogs she personally owned, which have cemented their places in the history books? Here are several of the best-known Queen Victoria dogs…
Dash the King Charles Spaniel
At the time of Victoria’s birth, the British monarchy was in the midst of a succession crisis. By 1817, the offspring of the then-reigning George III had produced only one legitimate heir, Princess Charlotte.
Charlotte’s unexpected death that year led the King’s fourth son — Edward, Duke of Kent — to marry in the hope of siring an heir. The result was Victoria, who went on to become Queen aged just 18.
Before then, however, Sir George Hayter depicted her beside her King Charles Spaniel, Dash, in an 1833 painting. There’s a story that, after Victoria’s coronation in 1838, she quickly returned to Buckingham Palace to bathe Dash.
If you’re fascinated by Queen Victoria as a historical figure, you might have watched various films and TV series about her life. High-profile examples include 2009 film The Young Victoria and the late-2010s series Victoria.
Victoria is played by Emily Blunt in the former and Jenna Coleman in the latter. We even get to see a dog playing Dash. Yes, that’s ‘dog’, not ‘dogs’ — as it’s actually the same dog in both instances!
Coleman revealed this little-known Victoria fact back in 2019. She explained that the dog in question, Tori, had her first acting job in The Young Victoria and wrapped up her acting career in Victoria.
Eos the Greyhound
Queen Victoria married Prince Albert on 10th February 1840. He hailed from Germany but certainly didn’t arrive in England alone. He brought along his greyhound Eos, who later appeared in Sir Edwin Landseer’s 1841 painting Victoria, Princess Royal, with Eos.
Dachshunds
The long-bodied dogs of this breed have become strongly associated with Queen Victoria. She once famously claimed: 'Nothing will turn a man’s home into a castle more quickly and effectively than a dachshund.'
Victoria is known to have had sausage dogs by the names of Deckel and Waldman VI (the latter said to have been the Queen’s favourite dachshund).
Sharp the Collie
In her lifetime, Victoria owned 88 smooth-haired collies — of which her favourite was one called Sharp. The Queen was photographed with Sharp on several occasions.
The resultant images were sold to the general public as cartes-de-visite (small photographic portraits each mounted on a piece of card).
Looty the Pekingese
On 18th October 1860, British troops destroyed Peking’s ‘summer palace’ — so-called as it had served as a summer residence for the Chinese Manchu emperors.
However, before the palace did meet its demise, it was plundered. Captain Dunne, who was on the scene, returned to Britain and, in 1861, brought Queen Victoria a peculiar gift.
It was a female Pekingese dog, representing a breed not exactly mainstream in Britain at the time. The bitch was named Looty — strangely appropriately, given how she had been acquired.
Pomeranians
The international dog show Crufts began in 1891, when six Queen Victoria dogs — all of them Pomeranians — participated.
Turi, another dog of this breed, was by her side when she passed away a decade later in January 1901.
Learn more about a fascinating, transformative reign
Queen Victoria’s reign lasted a mammoth 64 years. In that time, Britain changed significantly. How exactly? You can find out many of the ways by subscribing to the Sky HISTORY Newsletter. We can keep you updated when it comes to new stories and programmes about the Victorian era.
