On Friday, the American Kennel Club released its dog popularity rankings, and to the surprise of nobody, the Labrador Retriever topped the list, just as the breed has done since 1991.
That’s right: The Lab has been the most popular dog breed in the U.S. for 23 consecutive years.
Here’s the rest of the top 10:
4. Beagle
5. Bulldog
7. Boxer
8. Poodle
9. Rottweiler
10. Dachshund
None of these is very surprising. They’ve all been mixing it up in the top 10 for years, trying and failing to unseat the Lab. The list gets interesting, however, at No. 11, with the French Bulldog. Back in 2003, the Frenchie was ranked 54. That’s a 323 percent leap in registrations since 2003, according to the AKC.
“That’s a big jump. I haven’t seen anything like that in any breed,” Lisa Peterson, a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club, told Today.com.
What’s behind the jump? The AKC says they are perfect apartment dogs, requiring minimal grooming and exercise. “It’s a wash-and-wear, easy to care for companion dog,” Peterson said.
Another interesting trend has been the push of large dogs on the rankings in the past decade. The Doberman Pinscher went from 22 to 12, and the Great Dane has gone from 27 to 16, and Bernese Mountain Dogs went from 47 to 32.
“Owning bigger breeds — an economic indicator of sorts — has been on the rise during the past five years,” said Peterson. “As the economy has improved, people are turning back to the big dogs they love, which cost more to feed and care for than the smaller breeds that saw a rise in popularity in 2007 and 2008.”
Via Today.com; photos via AKC/Mary Bloom
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