America’s most popular dog breeds
According to figures recently released by the American Kennel Club, the sweetly slobbering Labrador retriever remains America’s top dog for the 16th consecutive year, and the golden retriever hangs in at No. 2. However, the yippy Yorkshire terrier unexpectedly nips at their hind paws in the No. 3 spot–its highest national ranking since it entered the AKC in 1885–having made kibble out of the German shepherd and the beagle. The Yorkie well could snatch the top slot next year, according to Lainie Cantrell, director of public relations at the AKC.
“I’m not surprised,” said Jaime Bishop, a New York marketing executive, walking Madison, a 4-year-old Yorkie wearing a faux mink coat. “They’re very much like a child. They have a lot of energy, but they’re always looking for love and affection. And she’s so small, I take her everywhere,” said Bishop, showing off Madison’s candy-pink dog tote decorated with a plush pink bone. In New York, Yorkies are the fourth-most popular dog and come in sixth in Chicago.
Popularity shifts wildly. But, since humans domesticated dogs some 15,000 years ago, the popularity of breeds has shifted wildly according to the needs of civilized society and fickle fashion. Working dogs once protected campsites for Neanderthals, pulled carts in medieval Europe, herded sheep in Scotland and guarded fire engines in New York. These days, dogs primarily serve as companions and protectors in a 21st Century America where doggie day-care centers abound and canine couture runs all the way from bow-wow booties to Burberry raincoats and Hermes collars.
But dogs are not always well-served by humans. Shelters annually take in between 6 million and 8 million dogs, a quarter of which are purebreds, estimates The Humane Society of the United States. Registered purebreds represent a tiny drop in the water bowl of the some 73 million dogs owned in the U.S. 46 percent of which are mixed-breed mutts, according to the 2005-2006 National Pet Owners Survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.
America’s most popular dog breeds are: …
Based on American Kennel Club registration statistics (no ranking means breed not among city’s top 10)
Labrador retriever
Nationwide 1
Chicago 1
Los Angeles 1
Miami 3
New York 2
Golden retriever
Nationwide 2
Chicago 3
Los Angeles 3
Miami –
New York 5
Yorkshire terrier
Nationwide 3
Chicago 6
Los Angeles 4
Miami 2
New York 4
German shepherd
Nationwide 4
Chicago 2
Los Angeles 2
Miami 1
New York –
Beagle
Nationwide 5
Chicago –
Los Angeles –
Miami –
New York –
Dachshund
Nationwide 6
Chicago –
Los Angeles –
Miami 9
New York 3
Boxer
Nationwide 7
Chicago 4
Los Angeles –
Miami 6
New York –
Poodle
Nationwide 8
Chicago 10
