The top 10 dog breeds for pet owners. Is yours on the list?
May 2nd, 2008 by omidog
The American Kennel Club (AKC), the go-to resource for everything dog, has been keeping track of the most popular dog breeds in America for several years now. Looking at the chart over the past 10 years, it’s interesting to see how some breeds have stayed at their designated rank the entire time, while there have been massive jumps in others! For example, Yorkies barely made the top 10 in 1997, coming in at #9 on the list. Now, they’re up at #2. Bulldogs jumped 16 spots in the rankings over the past 10 years, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels jumped a whopping 45 spots! (Perhaps Nintendogs had something to do with it?) Otterhounds and Foxhounds have been bringing up the rear of the list consistently, along with Harriers, the Finnish Spitz and Pharaoh Hounds. I guess it’s not all that common that we see these breeds, and now here’s the factual evidence to show that it wasn’t just us not paying attention!
Without further ado, here are the top 10 dog breeds in America for this past year. Is your pup on the list? Or are you proud to have a less popular pooch?
- Labrador Retriever
- Yorkshire Terrier
- German Shepherd Dog
- Golden Retriever
- Beagle
- Boxer
- Dachshund
- Poodle
- Shih Tzu
- Bulldog
Close behind were the Miniature Schnauzer, Chihuahua, Pomeranian, and Pug. Small dogs have definitely been more ‘en vogue’ in the past few years, with many celebrities treating them like fashionable accessories to accompany (or sit in…) their designer handbags. And besides, they’re so cute!
If you don’t see your dog on this list, have a peek at the full list to find your breed’s rank. Despite this exhaustive list of dog breeds, I have a feeling one of the top if not the very top type of dog around is a mutt. Maybe your dog is a mix of a bunch of different placeholders on the AKC list. And isn’t that the best of many worlds?