the King's favourite dog which he named Khun Thongdaeng Sawannachat. Both the former, a Thai word, and the latter, a Pali word, mean literally "red gold", but the actual meaning of Thongdaeng is "copper". The dog is a female of a Thai strain, brown in colour with white legs. She is very well disciplined, intelligent and respectful. Her special status has not made her haughty. She has often appeared with the King on TV in recent years, Wearing a white coat, she always sits at the feet of the King, alert and quiet. In addition to this Canine of the Reign, the King also keeps 33 other dogs.