Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, the current

president of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

, has owned many dogs over time. His fondness of dogs has led to dogs becoming a notable political gift in Russian diplomatic relations.

List of dogs

When Putin took office, the Putin family had two

poodles , nickname = , stock = , country = Germany or France (see history) , height = , maleheight = , femaleheight = , weight = , maleweight = , femaleweight = , coat ...

, Tosya and Rodeo. They reportedly stayed with his ex-wife Lyudmila after their divorce. Vladimir Putin and Koni-1

Konni (1999–2014)

Konni (1999–2014) was a female black Labrador Retriever. Konni was born in 1999 and presented to Putin in December 2000. Konni was often seen at Putin's side, and was sometimes allowed to attend meetings when he greeted world leaders during visits to Russia. During a meeting with

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

at the time, in 2007 in Putin's home in Sochi, Konni attended the meeting. Merkel, who was bitten by a dog in 1995, was seen freezing up as Konni sniffed her. Merkel later stated of the incident that: "''He's afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.''" Putin himself said in 2016 to the German newspaper '' Bild'', that he had no intention of scaring Merkel and that he had apologized to her. Putin was being updated on the progress of the Russian

Global Navigation Satellite System A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pr ...

(

GLONASS GLONASS (russian: ГЛОНАСС, label=none, ; rus, links=no, Глобальная навигационная спутниковая система, r=Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, t=Global Navigation Satellite System) is ...

) in 2007 when he inquired whether he would be able to buy a device hooked into GLONASS that would allow him to keep track of his dog, Konni. The collar was demonstrated on Konni on 17 October 2008, thus making Konni the first recipient of a GLONASS-enabled pet collar.

Buffy (2010–present)

Buffy, a caramel and white Bulgarian male 10-week-old shepherd Karakachan dog, was given to President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Bulgaria in November 2010 by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. The name 'Buffy' was chosen by a five-year-old boy during a nationwide competition.

Yume (2012–present)

Yume, a 3-month-old female

Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto ...

puppy, arrived in Moscow from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan, in July 2012, as the Akita Prefecture's gift to show gratitude for assistance from Russia after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

. 'Yume' means 'dream' in Japanese. In 2016, the Japanese government offered Putin a male Akita puppy as a companion for Yume, but this gift was declined.

Verni (2017–present)

Verni was a birthday gift from

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957), also known as Arkadag (Cyrillic: Аркадаг, "protector"), is a Turkmen politician who served as the second president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022. A dentist by profe ...

President of Turkmenistan The president of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň prezidenti), officially the president and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, is the head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan. The president is also the supreme c ...

, during a meeting in Sochi in October 2017. The puppy is an Alabai, a top Turkmen-bred variety of the Central Asia shepherd dog. 'Verni' means 'faithful' or 'loyal' in Russian.

Pasha (2019–present)

Pasha ( sr-cyr, Паша) is a

Šarplaninac The Šarplaninac ( sr-Cyrl, Шарпланинац; mk, Шарпланинец; sq, Qeni i Sharrit), formerly also known as Illyrian Shepherd Dog (Macedonian and Serbian: Илирски Овчар, Ilirski Ovčar; sq, Deltari Ilir), is a do ...

puppy that was given to Vladimir Putin from Serbian

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012. Vučić serve ...

during an official visit in January 2019.

Gallery

File:Vladimir Putin and Koni-4.jpg, Putin with Konni in 2002 File:Buffy dog.jpeg, Buffy in 2013 File:Vladimir Putin 24 March 2013 (14).jpeg, Putin with Yume and Buffy in 2013 File:Vladimir Putin and Yume (2016-12-13) 01.jpg, Putin with Yume in 2016 File:Vladimir Putin (2017-10-11).jpg, Putin with Verni as a puppy in 2017 File:Российско-сербские переговоры 08.jpg, Vučić presenting Putin with Pasha in 2019

References

{{Vladimir Putin