Did Alexander the Great Have a Dog? - History Myth Buster

Peritas might have looked a bit like this dog statue in the British Museum - Courtesy of Marie-Lan Nguyen

Alexander the Great's Great Dog

Alexander the Great is said to have been just a child when he received a dog, called Peritas, as a gift from the King of Albania. In fact, Alexander was so young when he got Peritas, he didn’t have his title of “the Great” yet. He was just Alexander the Regular.

Dog Eat Dog in Battle

Alexander the Great's dog, Peritas was said to be an enormous, muscular dog that would have been specially bred to fight in battles. And that’s exactly what he did. Ancient historians claim that Peritas joined Alexander on loads of military campaigns.

Peritas the Powerful Pooch

The historical rumour mill even suggests that Peritas fought an elephant AND a lion at the SAME time. And won! This challenging battle was probably set up in an arena to test the pooch's battle prowess. I think we can all agree, Peritas passed with flying colours.

A Life-Saving Doggo

The powerful pooch was so loyal to his master that he saved Alexander’s life several times. Legend has it that his master was so grateful to the dog that he even named a city after Peritas, much like Alexander did with his favourite horse, Bucephalus.

Peritas wasn’t just a good dog, he was a Great dog.