Tatiana's French bulldog, Ortipo

[Guinastasia]

IIRC, wasn't Ortino all black?  I believe there's a picture of her sitting on Tatiana's lap in Love, Power and Tragedy.

Was it Ortino who used to fight with Vaska, Olga's kitty?

Yes, I found the picture here.  I hope Bob won't mind if I post it, since I uploaded it to my photobucket account:



(Courtesy of Alexander Palace.  If I erred in posting it, I appologize and offer up my first born as payment. )

 

[Ortino]

I had assumed that Ortino was all black as well, but in the photo you posted he instead looks like a brindle. Though, as I've said before, it may just be the photograph.

[mitia]

It may be added that there are several shades in the brindle coat for french bulldogs : dark brindle, light brindle, silver brindle, golden brindle etc...and most of the brindle french bulldogs have that white patch on the chest which I do not particularly like. Judging from the different photos available of Ortino, I would say she was the " usual brindle " bitch, mostly black with some fawn hait here and there and a small white patch on the front chest. She had extremly good straight BAT EARS, not the " ten to two " position of the ears which is sadly so common nowadays with this breed of dogs.

Speaking about french bulldogs, maybe some one could help me please : I am trying to find out information about the french bulldog puppy that appears on several photos taken during the last stay of the IF in Hesse-Darmstadt, Wolfgarten, in the autumn of 1910. The dog appears on a family gathering photo, sitting on AF 's laps, and also with Alexis alone or with Alexis and his 2 Hessian cousins. I believe this was a private stay, due to AF more and more declining health and needing a cure. On the internet, I found out that Mr Greg King wrote an article on this particular stay of 1910, in a magazine named " ATLANTIS " but i think that the magazine is no longer published and that the issue with this particular article no longer available. I guess there might be some information about these photos ( already posted in different threads on this site ) with the french bulldog puppy in this article by Mr Greg King, so if anyone would be kind enough to let me know where and how the article or the magazine may be found and purchased, that would be of a great help and very much appreciated. Thanks.

[mitia]

Sorry for the dreadful mistake in my pevious post, I did not mean the " usual brindle " pregnant dog, but the " usual brindle "  female dog, her coat beeing mainly black with a few fawn hair here and there, and a small white patch on the front chest. I would not say Ortino was small, but just the normal size for a young adult female french bulldog.

[matushka]

Does anyone know what kind of dog was the little Anastasia's dog called "Schwibzik". She had it in 1915, and the little thing died the same year, I can find the exact datations. Perhaps was it also a french bulldog? Was it already written in those pages (I am sorry, I have no time to read all once more!) that Tatiana's frenchie gave birth to little dogs? And, by the way, the russians books, and I am thinking especially about "Sisters of mercy" with the GD's diaries are all writting OrtiPo...

[Sarushka]

And, by the way, the russians books, and I am thinking especially about "Sisters of mercy" with the GD's diaries are all writting OrtiPo...

I noticed that too! I've seen the dog's name written "Ortipo" once or twice in English but always assumed it was an error of transliteration. Now I'm beginning to wonder...

[grandduchess_42]

whoa... i didn't know ortino had puppies
that obviouly makes ortino a female dog then 

maybe it was spelled "ortipo" but pronounced "Ortino"

[tatianolishka_1]

Someone gave it an explanation in another thread, possibly Bear's Imperial Pets thread. I think it came down as a translation error because the two letters ("n" and "p" look the same in Russian and the handwriting messes it up). 

Ortino had PUPPIES? Please, somebody post excerpts mentioning this!

Hi matushka! Shwibsik (I write is as Shibzik, but it's the same thing) was believed to be a Japanese Chin or a King Charles Spaniel. Correct me if I'm wrong. 

TatOlia

[Sarushka]

Someone gave it an explanation in another thread, possibly Bear's Imperial Pets thread. I think it came down as a translation error because the two letters ("n" and "p" look the same in Russian and the handwriting messes it up). 

That's what I'd always thought, but the book matushka is referring to is *in* Russian. Of course, it's possible they misread Tatiana's Russian handwriting. "N" and "P" aren't exactly identical in Russian, but they're very similar:
н п

If Tatiana's writing is really *that* difficult to read, even for native Russians, we should probably look at another source for clues -- ideally someone who had actually heard the dog's name spoken! Unfortunately, neither Buxhoeveden, Dehn, Gilliard, nor Vyrubova mention the dog's name in their memoirs.

Does anyone know if Alexandra's letters to Anya Vyrubova were written in English or Russian? Vyrubova quotes a letter from Alexandra in her memoirs that includes the line, "Ortino lies on my feet and keeps them warm."

[matushka]

Sarushka, the others girls are writing about Tatiana's dog in there letters to NA. Yes, Tatiana's handwritting was pretty difficult, but Anastasia's one, or Olga's one are quite easily readable. So, I can not imagine that people who read so much letters with the name Ortipo would have made an error all the time. As for the puppies, here is the quotation from a Tatiana's letter to her father. 17.09.1915 "... Vchera mne privezli Ortipo s detmi, chtoby ih pokazat'. Oni ochen' malen'kie i urodlivye i neizvestno, na chto i kogo oni pohoji. A Ortipo lejala smirno okolo nih v korzinke i strashno, vidno, boyalas, chtoby my ne draznili ili muchili malen'kih. No ih opiat' uvezli i potom privezut uje tol'ko odnu Ortipo." If someome can translate... Thanks! (Sisters of mercy, page 136).
Tatiananolishka, thanks for your answer to my little question!

[Sarushka]

Thank you matushka, for that reference. I will attempt a translation after the holidays. (I fear my brain is wrapped up in a box under the Christmas tree!)

[Joyann1]

I had assumed that Ortino was all black as well, but in the photo you posted he instead looks like a brindle. Though, as I've said before, it may just be the photograph.

yeah it must be the photograph he was black.  Maby he looked brindle but that is maby the sun in the picture

[mitia]

Theoretically, black french bulldogs simply DO NOT EXIST. Some may seem entirely black, but in fact they have a few nearly invisible fawn hair and thus always carry the brindle gene. " Black " ( that is to say nearly no fawn hair ) is highly undesirable for the breed. Brindle means : basic colour fawn with some black hair and NOT basic colour black with some fawn hair, which is what the majority of people think. Light brindle, that is to say a balanced mixture of fawn and black hair is highly desirable for frenchies and they do look thus like miniature tigers coatwise ! Ortino was not black, but brindle, rather dark brindle, that clearly show on all photos.

[tatianolishka_1]

That's interesting! So Ortino WAS a brindle... neat!

[Joyann1]

uhmm ok wel my french bulldog is black