He was educated at home before joining Moscow State University, where he earned two silver medals and was commemorated with his name in gold letters on a marble plaque.

On July 14, 1818, during the ministry of Count Kapodistrias and with the rank of State Councillor, he was appointed the second adviser to the Russian embassy in Constantinople.

Recalled on January 3, 1820, from his post at the embassy, Dashkov, on behalf of the minister, engaged in reviewing the Russian consulates in the Levant.

In 1828, he received the Order of Saint Anna 1st class and was appointed to service with Nicholas I at army headquarters during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29.

The committee, acting on a proposal of foreign minister Karl Nesselrode and Dashov, recommended leniency, which Nicholas I endorsed, opting "for the maintenance of the established order and against unpredictable and fearsome change.

Dashkov's initial literary experiments date to his time at the university hostel and consist of translations from French: in the second book of the "Morning Dawn" of 1803 his idyll is printed: "Traces of the Golden Age", in the third book of 1805 his article appeared: "On Suicide", and in 1804 in the periodical: "And Rest in Favor", he placed an essay entitled: "Sciences, Arts, Scientists, Artists and Universities in Germany".

Ivan Dmitriev instructed him to publish Zhukovsky's "Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors", to which Dashkov wrote notes.

With almost all members of the society of "Arzamas geese" Dashkov, "Chu", was briefly familiar with many of them who conducted active friendly correspondence and was a recognized authority in the field of literary and artistic criticism.

In 1814, Vasily Pushkin dedicated a poem to Dashkov: "My Dear Friend in a Country Where the Volga Flows Along with the River Banks...".

Together with Dmitry Bludov and Vasily Zhukovsky, Dashkov was the founder and one of the most active members of the Arzamas literary society and was nicknamed "Chu" here.

In 1816, at the meeting of Arzamas on the occasion of the election of Vasily Pushkin as his member, Dashkov made a speech directed generally against Shishkov's "Conversations of Lovers of the Russian Word" and in particular against Prince Shakhovsky.

According to a contemporary, Madame Dashkova was a typical high-ranking woman: beautiful, domineering, of direct character, and of a lively, serious mind.