What’s the Most Popular Dog Breed in America?

Thanks to the American Kennel Club’s annual list of top dog breeds in the country – released yesterday – we now have an answer to that question.

🏅 The top five… The AKC’s rankings are drawn from the more than 800,000 purebred puppies and older pooches that joined the nation’s oldest canine registry last year.

1. Labs (who’ve been in the top spot for an unprecedented 31 straight years)
2. French Bulldogs
3. Golden Retrievers
4. German Shepherds
5. Poodles (their first appearance in the top five since 1997)

🐶 Zoom out: More than 23 million American households – nearly 1 in 5 nationwide – adopted a pet during the pandemic, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), though many are mutts who wouldn't be included in the rankings.

• Pre-pandemic, roughly two million dogs were adopted from shelters each year.

+Fun fact: Poodles were the top dog (lol) in America from 1960 to 1982.

+Dig deeper: See the full rankings.