UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new dog moved into Downing Street this week, after being adopted from a pet shelter. The Jack Russell-cross pup's name is called Dilyn, which is Welsh for "follow" — a tip of the hat to the part of the UK where the 15-week-old puppy was born.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was gifted an alabai puppy called Verney by Turkmenistan President Berdymukhammedov (l) in 2017. Putin is a well-known dog lover, but has been shown with a host of other creatures, from polar bears to Siberian tigers. "He knows that they are great for photo opportunities," political science professor Burdett Loomis once told the Washington Post.

But another of Putin's dogs, the black lab Koni, worked against him in 2007. The Russian leader let the hound wander around during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "The dog does not bother you, does she? She's a friendly dog and I'm sure she will behave herself," Putin said during the talk. A true faux pas as the German chancellor is terrified of dogs after being bitten in 1995.

A real pro at making the most of photographic moments is former US President Barack Obama. The charismatic leader grabbed people's attention at nearly any event, but the Obama family's dog, Bo, was also known to steal the show in the media.

Former US President George W. Bush's terrier Barney was famous enough to have have his own page on the White House's website. US media often showed Barney (here, in a more somber image) racing across the White House lawn, with the former president smiling broadly as he tried to keep up with his pet.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, shown with his then wife and likewise politician Doris Schröder-Köpf, made for a pretty family back in 2003 along with border terrier Holly. Holly, once known as the "First Dog," was with the family for 14 years, but died of cancer in 2017, with Doris reporting the passing on Facebook.

French President Emmanuel Macron is known to ease his woes through the comfort of his dog Nemo, shown here in 2017. Like Boris Johnson, Macron acquired his Labrador-Griffon cross dog from an animal shelter. The name is a tribute to Captain Nemo, commander of the Nautilus submarine in the Jules Verne classic "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" — Macron is reportedly a fan of the book.

Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most famous people in the world, but nearly equally famous are the dogs that surrounded her through much of her royal life. The corgi breed has always been dear to her heart, as the then Princess received her first Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Susan, on her 18th birthday. But the Queen (shown here in 1998) also had other dogs, including cocker spaniels and dorgis.

No, not Danish. These gentle giants are actually German. They're the result of German royals breeding ever-larger hunting companions in the 17th century. Great Danes are the world's largest dog breed — pictured above is the world's tallest dog from 2013. Germans today call them "Deutsche Dogge," a linguistic reference to the canine's British ancestors from the 16th century.

This dog suddenly became "American" after World War I, when the US dropped all references to its German origin. A territorial yapper, it became famous as a comic sidekick in US circus acts. Though the American Kennel Club calls this dog a unique breed, the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in Belgium disagrees. They say it remains what it has always been: a German Spitz.

In the 1800s, three men in Munich bred a bulldog with a breed of unknown origin, and continued that experiment for a few more generations. The result is a dog with one of the most instantly recognizable faces in the canine world, one still defined by German guidelines written in 1902. The origin of the name "boxer" remains a mystery, though.

"Dachs" means badger, while dachshund dogs were bred to hunt. Even today, these canines, often called wiener dogs in English, still enjoy burrowing — but also biting. A 2008 study showed 20 percent of domesticated dachshunds have bitten strangers. German Emperor Wilhelm II owned one, and when he visited Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand, it attacked and killed the archduke's golden pheasant.

Small Munsterlanders (pictured) owe their revival in 1902 to a German named Edmund Löns, who saw in the neglected breed a fine-tuned hunting ability and a beautiful coat. They're the smallest of the German pointer/setter dogs, but, confusingly, are not at all related to large Munsterlanders. Small Munsterlanders are hard to come by, as high breeding standards keep them relatively scarce.

With their silver coats, piercing eyes and biological need for human affection, what's not to love about Weimaraners? They were first bred in Weimar, the city of thinkers and poets, as a gun dog that was also family-friendly — a rarity. So beloved was the breed that, prior to shipping them abroad, they were sterilized in the hope that they'd remain exclusive to the German empire. But they didn't.

A half-day's walk from Weimar, in the town of Apolda, a court clerk named Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann had a problem. It was the late 1800s, and as a tax collector and officer, he needed protection during his night duties. Fortunately, he also ran the local pound. Through the crossbreeding of Weimaraners, pinschers and pointer dogs, he created the guard dog we now call the Doberman pinscher.

Schnauzers are so closely related to pinschers that the two are considered a single group by the international dog authority, the FCI. In southern Germany, schnauzers served primarily as stall dogs, catching rats and mice. Since rodents have sharp teeth, the dogs' ears and tails were trimmed to protect them from bites. Today, "cropping" and "docking" are illegal in much of the EU and in Australia.

They protected cattle and wagons carrying meat, scared away thieves and wild animals — rottweilers were a medieval trader's fiercely loyal companion. And they were fierce. They were bred in Rottweil, Germany, a former trade center, to protect goods at all cost. Their jaws are the strongest of any dog, with 328 pounds of bite pressure (149 kilograms).

A dog named "Horand von Grafrath" is the pretentious first entry in the Breed Registry of the Club of German Shepherds in 1899. After World War I, the English rechristened them Alsatians, the US dropped the word German altogether, and for decades Australia banned them on fears they'd breed with dingoes. Their use by the Nazis further darkened their reputation: Over his lifetime, Hitler owned six.