10 Dog Breeds With a Genuinely Royal History
From Chinese emperors' lapdogs to the sled dogs of Siberian nobility, these ten breeds carried real royal titles centuries before anyone painted a crown on them.
China's Sacred Lapdogs: Pekingese and Shih Tzu
For centuries, the Pekingese was so revered inside China's Forbidden City that commoners caught stealing one reportedly faced execution. Bred exclusively for Chinese emperors and their households, the breed's lion-like mane was meant to echo the temple guardian statues it was named for, and smuggling one out of the palace was treated as a genuine crime against the throne.
The Shih Tzu shares that imperial pedigree, likely descended from Tibetan temple dogs gifted to Chinese royalty and refined within the same palace walls for generations. Nicknamed the Chrysanthemum Dog for the way its facial hair frames its features like petals, it was bred purely for companionship, a rare luxury in an era when most animals had to earn their keep.
Europe's Aristocratic Favorites: Pomeranian and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Pomeranians owe their modern size largely to Queen Victoria, who fell for a considerably larger version of the breed while visiting Italy in 1888 and spent decades breeding hers progressively smaller. Her favorite, a Pomeranian named Marco, is often credited with shrinking the entire breed standard, proof that royal taste could reshape a dog from the outside in.
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel carries its royal name honestly. King Charles II of England was so attached to his spaniels that he reportedly allowed them into any public building, Parliament included, and courtiers of the era grumbled openly that the king paid more attention to his dogs than to matters of state.
The Pug and the House of Orange
Pugs became the official dog of the Dutch House of Orange after one, according to legend, woke Prince William the Silent by barking at approaching assassins in 1572. The breed's loyalty earned it a permanent place at court, later crossing to England when William III took the throne, pugs firmly in tow.
The Chow Chow's royal résumé stretches back even further, to China's Tang Dynasty, where the breed guarded temples and imperial hunting grounds. Its blue-black tongue, unique among dogs, was considered a mark of the divine, and its dense coat suited it equally to a palace courtyard or a mountain patrol.
Russia's Noble Companions: Borzoi and Samoyed
The Borzoi was bred exclusively for Russian aristocracy to hunt wolves across open steppe, and owning one signaled land, wealth and standing at the Tsar's court. Entire kennels were maintained on noble estates, with some Borzoi given as diplomatic gifts between royal families, a four-legged treaty of sorts.
Samoyeds worked harder for their royal reputation, herding reindeer for the nomadic Samoyede people of Siberia before catching the eye of European nobility and polar explorers alike. Their perpetual smile, an upturned mouth shape that keeps drool from icing on their fur, made them irresistible long before they became a fashionable companion breed.
Ancient Royalty: Saluki and Great Pyrenees
Long before Europe had royal courts, the Saluki was hunting gazelle for Middle Eastern nobility and appears carved into Egyptian tombs dating back over 5,000 years, earning it the nickname Royal Dog of Egypt. Bedouin nobility considered the breed a gift too noble to be sold, only ever given.
The Great Pyrenees earned its crown more recently but no less officially: in 1675, Louis XIV of France declared it the Royal Dog of France, stationing the breed as a guardian at the Château de Lourdes. Its thick white coat and imposing size made it as much a statement of taste as of security.
Which Breed Wore It Best
What ties these ten together isn't just bloodline, it's the way each breed carries itself, a certain unbothered confidence that seems to already know its own worth. That quality is exactly what a good portrait is meant to capture, crown or no crown attached to the history.
If your dog already acts like it owns the house, a Monarch-style portrait from Pawtrait Studio simply makes the arrangement official, velvet robe, jeweled crown and painted throne included, turning years of quiet entitlement into something you can finally hang on the wall.