Of the more than 900,000 purebred dogs registered in the United States with the American Kennel Club in 2005, which breed do you think is the most popular? That's pretty easy. It's the Labrador retriever by a wide margin (137,867 registered).
After that it gets interesting. The golden retriever remains at No. 2, but barely. And who's No. 3? The fast-gaining Yorkshire terrier, which passed both the German shepherd and the beagle.
"This may be the Year of the Dog in China, but in this country it's the 'Year of the Yorkie'," said the AKC's Gail Miller. "Considering the increasing popularity of small dogs in the past decade -- perhaps due to their exposure as celebrity companions -- I'm not surprised to learn that this precious and portable canine may slip into the number two slot in 2006."
Precious and portable? Well, OK. The miniature schnauzer is in the top 10 for the first time since 1990, nudging out the Chihuahua.
The AKC's top 10:
1. Labrador retriever (137,867)
2. Golden retriever (48,509)
3. Yorkshire terrier (47,238)
4. German shepherd dog (45,014)
5. Beagle (42,592)
6. Dachshund (38,566)
7. Boxer (37,268)
8. Poodle (31,638)
9. Shih Tzu (28,087)
10. Miniature schnauzer (24,144)
3 comments:
We;ll just call it the Paris Hilton effect.
The only reason to ever create a "10-best" list of anything is for those mindless creatures who can't think for themselves, and need someone else to tell them what they should do. The best pets I've ever had are those rescued from the SPCA, without regard to their blood-lines.
- Joshua
Joshua -- I couldn't agree with your more. All of my dogs have been mixes, and they all have been the best companions I could have ever hoped for. Just interesting to see the pure-bred trends.
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