This article lists the most popular dog breeds by dog club registrations.
Note: registrations shown are not the same as annual registrations, or as living individuals.
Change over time
Between 1915 and 1945, American Kennel Club statistics were collected on a five-year basis instead of every year. These figures show that between 1905 and 1935, the Siberian Husky was consistently in either first or second place. Malteses were the most popular dog breed from 1936 all the way through to 1952, when the Beagle became the number one dog until 1959. Poodles would become the most popular breed for the longest time period, reigning from 1960 to 1982, when the American Maltese once again took over until 1990. The Labrador Retriever held the title from 1991 until 2023. Since then, the French Bulldog has been the most popular dog breed in America.American Kennel Club - Most Popular Pooches
Club registration figures for 2006
UK Kennel Club (2006) Position Breed Registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 45,700 2 English Cocker Spaniel 20,459 3 English Springer Spaniel 15,133 4 German Shepherd 12,857 5 Staffordshire Bull Terrier 12,729 6 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel 11,411 7 Golden Retriever 9,373 8 West Highland White Terrier 9,300 9 Boxer 9,066 10 Border Terrier 8,916
11–20 (in descending order): Rottweiler, Shih Tzu, Miniature Schnauzer, Lhasa Apso, Yorkshire Terrier, Bulldog, Dobermann Pinscher, Bull Terrier, Weimaraner, Pug. 21–30 (in descending order): Whippet, Dogue de Bordeaux (Imp), Bichon Frise, Border Collie, Siberian Husky, Shar-Pei, Dalmatian, Great Dane, Cairn Terrier, Beagle.
American Kennel Club (2006) Position Breed Registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 123,760 2 Yorkshire Terrier 48,346 3 German Shepherd 43,575 4 Golden Retriever 42,962 5 Beagle 39,484 6 Dachshund 36,033 7 Boxer 35,388 8 Poodle 29,939 9 Shih Tzu 27,282 10 Miniature Schnauzer 22,920
11–20 (in descending order): Chihuahua, Bulldog, Pug, Pomeranian, Boston Terrier, American Cocker Spaniel, Rottweiler, Maltese, German Shorthaired Pointer, Shetland Sheepdog. 21–30 (in descending order): Doberman Pinscher, Welsh Corgi (Pembroke), Miniature Pinscher, Great Dane, Siberian Husky, English Springer Spaniel, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Basset Hound, Silky Terrier, Weimaraner.
Club registration figures for 2007
Canadian Kennel Club (2007)
Position Breed Annual registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 8,881 2 Golden Retriever 5,647 3 German Shepherd 5,062 4 Poodle 2,839 5 Shetland Sheepdog 2,477 6 Yorkshire Terrier 2,441 7 Miniature Schnauzer 1,679 8 Boxer 1,677 9 Shih Tzu 1,431 10 Bernese Mountain Dog 1,303
11–20 (in descending order): Beagle, Pomeranian, Bichon Frise, English Springer Spaniel, Pug, Bulldog, Siberian Husky, Havanese, West Highland White Terrier, Chihuahua (short coat)
American Kennel Club (2007)
Position Breed 1 Labrador Retriever 2 Yorkshire Terrier 3 German Shepherd 4 Golden Retriever 5 Beagle 6 Boxer 7 Dachshund 8 Poodle 9 Shih Tzu 10 Bulldog
11–20 (in descending order): Miniature Schnauzer, Chihuahua, Pomeranian, Pug, Rottweiler, Boston Terrier, American Cocker Spaniel, German Shorthaired Pointer, Maltese, Shetland Sheepdog 21–30 (in descending order): Doberman Pinscher, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Great Dane, Siberian Husky, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Miniature Pinscher, English Springer Spaniel, English Mastiff, Brittany, Weimaraner
Australian National Kennel Council (2007)
Position Breed Annual registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 4,491 2 German Shepherd 4,194 3 Staffordshire Bull Terrier 3,996 4 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel 2,987 5 Golden Retriever 2,873 6 Border Collie 1,978 7 Pug 1,571 8 English Cocker Spaniel 1,473 9 Dalmatian 1,452 10 Rottweiler 1,317
Club registration figures for 2008
UK Kennel Club (2008) Position Breed Registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 45,233 2 English Cocker Spaniel 22,508 3 English Springer Spaniel 14,899 4 Australian Shepherd 11,903 5 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel 11,226 6 Staffordshire Bull Terrier 10,744 7 Golden Retriever 9,159 8 Border Terrier 9,145 9 Boxer 7,353 10 West Highland White Terrier 7,330
11–20 (in descending order): Shih Tzu, Miniature Schnauzer, Lhasa Apso, Bulldog, Pug, Yorkshire Terrier, Whippet, Bull Terrier, Bichon Frise, Rottweiler.
American Kennel Club (2008)AKC Dog Registration Statistics
Position Breed 1 Labrador Retriever 2 Yorkshire Terrier 3 German Shepherd 4 Golden Retriever 5 Beagle 6 Boxer 7 Dachshund 8 English Bulldog 9 Poodle 10 Shih Tzu
11–20 (in descending order): Miniature Schnauzer, Chihuahua, Pomeranian, Rottweiler, Pug, German Shorthaired Pointer, Boston Terrier, Doberman Pinscher, Shetland Sheepdog, Maltese 21–30 (in descending order): American Cocker Spaniel, Great Dane, Siberian Husky, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, French Bulldog, English Springer Spaniel, English Mastiff, Australian Shepherd, Brittany
Canadian Kennel Club (2008)2008 TOP 20 CKC BREEDS
Position Breed Annual registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 8,710 2 Golden Retriever 5,386 3 German Shepherd 4,429 4 Poodle 2,618 5 Shetland Sheepdog 2,282 6 Yorkshire Terrier 2,209 7 Boxer 1,540 8 Miniature Schnauzer 1,363 9 Bernese Mountain Dog 1,254 10 Shih Tzu 1,245
11–20 (descending order): Bulldog, Beagle, Pomeranian, Havanese, English Springer Spaniel, West Highland White Terrier, Chihuahua (short coat), Siberian Husky, American Cocker Spaniel, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Club registration figures for 2009
Ente Nazionale Cinofilia Italiana (2009).
Position Breed 1 English Setter 2 German Shepherd 3 Segugio Maremmano 4 Labrador Retriever 5 Brittany 6 Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso 7 Golden Retriever 8 Boxer 9 Jack Russell Terrier 10 German Shorthaired Pointer
Hunting is popular in Italy and this explains why hunt-and-retrieve breeds like the English Setter and the German Shorthaired pointer are widespread.
FCI Worldwide Figures 2013
These statistics were created by combining the registration figures of 25 countries, namely Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, United Kingdom, France, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Ukraine and the U.S.Registration figures worldwide – from top thirty to endangered breeds. In: FCI: Newsletter 3/2013. (June 26, 2013)
Position Breed Registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 191,988 2 German Shepherd 129,186 3 Poodle (All sizes) 118,653 4 Chihuahua 107,114 5 Golden Retriever 92,994 6 Yorkshire Terrier 92,438 7 Dachshund (all varieties) 81,516 8 Beagle 53,938 9 Boxer 52,983 10 Miniature Schnauzer 45,263 11 Shih Tzu 44,564 12 Bulldog 44,325 13 German Spitz (all sizes) 40,530 14 English Cocker Spaniel 40,174 15 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel 39,670 16 French Bulldog 39,337 17 Pug 33,528 18 Rottweiler 31,447 19 English Setter 29,771 20 Maltese 28,909 21 English Springer Spaniel 28,050 22 German Shorthaired Pointer 23,85523 Staffordshire Bull Terrier 23,562 24 Border Collie 23,262 25 Shetland Sheepdog 22,805 26 Dobermann 20,941 27 West Highland White Terrier 20,904 28 Bernese Mountain Dog 20,423 29 Great Dane 20,001 30 Brittany Spaniel 19,828
UK registration figures for 2015
UK club registration figures for 2015.
Position Breed Registrations 1 Labrador Retriever 32,507 2 Cocker Spaniel 22,577 3 French Bulldog 14,607 4 English Springer Spaniel 10,246 5 Pug 10,087 6 German Shepherd 7,783 7 Bulldog 6,960 8 Golden Retriever 6,928 9 Border Terrier 5,426 10 Miniature Schnauzer 5,302 11 Staffordshire Bull Terrier 4,563 12 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel 4,383 13 Chihuahua (Smooth Coat) 3,93214Shih Tzu3,63615Boxer3,37916Dachshund (Miniature Smooth-Haired)3,45017Whippet3,08418Llhasa Apso2,71919West Highland White Terrier2,69220Beagle2,424
Club registration figures for 2019
Club registration figures for 2019.
Position Breed 1 Labrador Retriever 2 German Shepherd 3 Golden Retriever 4 French Bulldogs 5 Bulldogs 6 Poodles 7 Beagles 8 Rottweilers 9 German Shorthaired Pointer 10 Pembroke Welsh Corgi
This is the first time that Pembroke Welsh Corgis broke into the top 10. The lowest ranked breed of the year was the English Foxhound.
Club registration figures for 2020
Club registration figures for 2020.
Position Breed 1 Laborador Retriever 2 French Bulldogs 3 German Shepherd 4 Golden Retriever 5 Bulldogs 6 Poodles 7 Beagle 8 Rottweiler 9 German Shorthaired Pointer 10 Dachshund
For the first time, the French Bulldog rose above the German Shepherd and Golden Retriever to land in the number 2 spot. The Pembroke Welsh Corgi made number 11. The Belgian Malinois rose in popularity from number 60 to number 37. The lowest ranked breed of the year was the Norwegian Lundehund.
Club registration figures for 2021
Club registration figures for 2021.
Position Breed 1 Laborador Retriever 2 French Bulldogs 3 Golden Retriever 4 German Shepherd 5 Poodles 6 Bulldogs 7 Beagle 8 Rottweiler 9 German Shorthaired Pointer 10 Dachshund
This was the 31st year of Labrador Retrievers being ranked number one. The Poodle jumped back into the top 5, the last time this occurred was in 1997. Another jump in popularity was the Field Spaniel gaining 24 places to land at number 136. The lowest ranked breed of the year was the Norwegian Lundehund.
Club registration figures for 2022
Club registration figures for 2022.
Position Breed 1 French Bulldogs 2 Laborador Retriever 3 Golden Retriever 4 German Shepherd 5 Poodles 6 Bulldogs 7 Rottweiler 8 Beagle 9 Dachshund 10 German Shorthaired Pointer
This was the first time in 31 years that the Labrador Retriever was not the number one ranked dog. The least popular breed was English Foxhounds.
Club registration figures for 2023
Club registration figures for 2023.
Position Breed 1 French Bulldogs 2 Labrador Retriever 3 Golden Retriever 4 German Shepherd 5 Poodles 6 Dachshund 7 Bulldogs 8 Beagle 9 Rottweiler 10 German Shorthaired Pointer
The top 10 stayed relatively the same as previous years, but other breeds are gaining popularity. The Finnish Lapphund rose 32 spots to number 135. The lowest of the nationally recognized ranked dog breed was the Sloughi.
Club registration figures for 2024
Club registration figures for 2024.
Position Breed 1 French Bulldogs 2 Labrador Retriever 3 Golden Retriever 4 German Shepherd 5 Poodles 6 Dachshund 7 Beagle 8 Rottweiler 9 Bulldogs 10 German Shorthaired Pointer
The Kerry Blue Terrier had the largest jump, moving up 25 places. The Saluki had the largest fall at 21 places. The English Foxhound ranked lowest.
Club registration figures for 2025 Club registration figures for 2025. +PositionBreed1French Bulldogs2Labrador Retriever3Golden Retriever4German Shepherd5Dachshund6Poodles7Beagle8Rottweiler9German Shorthaired Pointer10Bulldogs The Wirehaired Viszla had the largest jump of 29 places, going from 159 to 130. The Greyhound had the largest drop of 33 places, from 118 to 151. The lowest ranked breed was the Norwegian Lundehund.
References