Alexander II's Dog, Milord
A favorite dog of Alexander II was an Irish Setter named Milord. Contemporaries wrote that Milord was a Black Setter, but now it is understood to have been a Red Setter with black color on the tips of its hair – which gave the dog a black color with a red nuance.
Milord was given to emperor Alexander by a Polish landowner, and was said not to be pure bred. Evidently that fact did not upset Alexander, as it was said that he never parted from the dog – not even for a second.
Many citizens of Saint Petersburg came to know the figure of the emperor – a tall stately man, who frequently walked with his Setter along the lattice of the Summer Garden. Milord was likely the most famous animal in the Russian Empire at that time.
The personal doctor of the emperor Alexander II supposedly also owned an Irish Setter, and when she had a litter, one puppy was given to Russian author Leo Tolstoy – who raised the dog at his estate, Yasnaya Polyana.
Read more about this topic: Alexander II Of Russia