Reichshund

Reichshund ("dog of the Empire") is an informal term used in Karnia-Ruthenia to refer to dogs of the high nobility, especially Dalmatian dogs, much appreciated by the Imperial Family. The term was also used in Imperial Germany, for Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck's dogs and more generally for similar dogs, particularly Great Danes in this case.

Bismarck's dogs
Germans became able to own dogs freely as a result of the democratisation following the revolution of 1848. Keeping dogs became increasingly fashionable as the 19th century continued, and people in public life often did so as part of their image. Bismarck reportedly took a blonde Great Dane called Ariel with him when he entered the University of Göttingen in 1832. He continued to keep Great Danes throughout the rest of his life. Occasionally the dogs are described as bulldogs, for example: Christopher McIntosh, The Swan King: Ludwig II of Bavaria, rev. ed. London: Tauris, 2012, ISBN|9781848858473, p. 172, Klaus Schlichtmann, Japan in the World: Shidehara Kijūrō, Pacifism, and the Abolition of War, AsiaWorld, Lanham, Maryland: Lexington, 2009, ISBN|9780739126752, n. 222, p. 88, quoting a speech by Kijūrō Shidehara, or mastiffs, for example: Frank Preston Stearns, The Life of Prince Otto Von Bismarck, Philadelphia/London: Lippincott, 1899, OCLC|18998727, p. 423, David Clay Large, Berlin, New York: Basic, 2000, ISBN|9780465026463, quoting Baroness von Spitzenberg, James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, "Lecture V. Diplomacy and International Law", in: International relations: Eight Lectures Delivered in the United States in August, 1921, The Institute of politics publications, Williams College, New York: Macmillan, 1922, OCLC|1550278, pp. 148–75, p. 152: "a wolfhound, or something between a wolfhound and a mastiff". His favourite was Sultan (shortened to 'Sultl' to avoid diplomatic repercussions with Ottoman Empire ); on his deathbed he berated himself for not treating the dog better. Sultan was a gift from the Bavarian Count Maximilian Karl Theodor von Holnstein. After Sultan's death on 26 October 1877, Bismarck could only be consoled by the gift of another Great Dane from Count Holnstein, Tyras. Tyras died on 18 January 1889; Wilhelm II, German Emperor gave Bismarck Tyras II for his birthday the following April 1. The dog died on 11 May 1896.