We've slid down the popularity pole.

 
Bull Terriers are #52



Not number one?  What?  To be perfectly honest with you, I'm very happy about it.  You know what happens when a dog becomes popular?  The "in" thing to have?  Doom, that's what happens.  All the no good, greedy breeders hop on the band wagon to turn a quick buck.  It happened to the Dalmatian after the Disney 101 Dalmatian movie.  It happened to the Jack Russells after the Wishbone television show, My Dog Skip movie and Eddie appearing on the Frasier show.  It happened to the Beagle after the Shiloh movie and it will happen again and again and again.  Humans are a funny thing.  So I am not unhappy that the poodle is slipping in popularity.

So let's have a look at the "popular" breeds in the US. 

The list is of registration stats from the AKC.

Top 10

1. Labrador Retriever
2. German Shepherd Dog
3. Golden Retriever
4. Beagle
5. Bulldog
6. Yorkshire Terrier
7. Boxer
8. Poodle
9. Rottweiler
10. Dachshund

These statistics are taken from the number of dogs registered with the AKC; which in all honesty does not give a clear look at who is out there.  Lots of dogs are not registered; even some purebred dogs are not registered.  Luke is not registered with the AKC; I never had it done as I saw no point in it.  He was not competing in anything, not going to be bred; he was just going to be my companion.  Although his litter was registered, it was left to the new owners to get each dog individually registered and I chose not to.  Elsa is, because I may want to compete with her at some point and she has to be registered to do that. 

What I see out in the parks, fields and beaches are mixed breed dogs.  Yep, I'd say that the most popular dog right now are mixes.  I do see a lot of Labradors, they have always been a popular breed along with the Golden Retrievers.  I see a lot of Springer Spaniels, Shetland Sheepdogs, Pit Bulls and Corgis of late.  Several years ago King Charles Cavaliers were the big ones; but they seem to be declining with that fad.  Doodles, doodles and more doodles.  They are everywhere, every size and color.  A doodle to me is anything mix with a poodle. They are advertised as wonder dogs, the best of everything.  But people forget that they are still dogs; who poop, pee, bark, jump, scratch and destroy.  Yep, they are just a dog and they do dog things; and when they do they are thrown out with the trash.    I asked a lady the other day if her dog was a Doodle and she answered "no, she is a Labradoodle."  Funny. 

I say, let's stop following popularity fads and just like what we like.  Fads and promoting rarity is always a bad thing when it involves living creatures.  New colors that are being introduced to many breeds are seeing numbers grow; of course this is do to the "rare" advertising.  Some genetically rare colors are also breeding health issues for our dogs.  Stay away from all that is new when it comes to dogs.  Dogs have been around a very long time so anything new is typically been done out of greed. 

I for one am happy to see my breed slipping. 








4 comments:

  1. Let's stop pretending that all the doodles -- labradoodles, goldendoodles, etc -- are even a breed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. All dogs are breed. Maybe a mixed breed but a breed nonetheless. Love your blog today. Of course my breed is rescue so it is the largest bred there is. Unfortunanlty that is because people buy breeds instead if dogs then dump them when they turn out to be a dog. such a sad thing. (i'm not knocking breeders just knocking bad owners)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was most impressed when I was researching breeds that Poodles ranked only below Border Collies in intelligence.

    ReplyDelete

Love to hear from you.