When I wander round British suburbs, I see a lot of cockapoos. But on a recent trip to Italy, Australian shepherds were everywhere I turned. Dog breeds rise and fall in popularity, and some are more common in certain countries and climates than others. But which breeds are actually the most common today?
Using the Kennel Club’s latest registration data, we’ve explored trends across hounds, gundogs, terriers and more. Some results might surprise even seasoned dog lovers.
What’s the most common dog breed in the UK?
The Kennel Club publishes information on the registrations of dog breeds received in the UK – although that number is not fully comprehensive, as not all dog owners are required to register their pets.
However, the Kennel Club registers over 250,000 pedigree and crossbreed dogs every year, making their numbers are a good place to start.
They divide their data by breed group. Here are the most common dog breeds of each breed group from 2024:
Most common hounds
- Miniature smooth-haired dachshund (11,664 registrations)
- Whippet (3,643 registrations) (one of the healthiest dog breeds)
- Miniature long-haired dachshund (3,450 registrations)
- Beagle (1,170 registrations)
Most common working dogs
- Boxer (2,427 registrations) (one of the best active dog breeds)
- Rottweiler (2,209 registrations)
- Dobermann (984 registrations)
- Bernese mountain dog (623 registrations) (one of the most beautiful dog breeds in the world)
Most common terriers
- Staffordshire bull terrier (5,447 registrations)
- Border terrier (3,675 registrations)
- Bull terrier (1,225 registrations)
- West Highland white terrier (1,087 registrations)
Most common gundogs
- Labrador retriever (34,141 registrations) – find out the difference between the Labrador and the golden retriever here
- Cocker spaniel (23,177 registrations)
- Golden retriever (10,201 registrations) (one of the smartest dog breeds)
- English springer spaniel (6,527 registrations)
- Hungarian vizsla (1,903 registrations) (one of the fastest dog breeds)
- German shorthaired pointer (1,313 registrations)
Most common pastoral dogs (including herding dogs)
- German shepherd (4,817 registrations)
- Border collie (1,463 registrations) (one of the toughest dog breeds)
- Welsh corgi (760 registrations)
- Rough collie (453 registrations)
Most common utility dogs
- French bulldog (13,789 registrations) (one of the unhealthiest dog breeds)
- Bulldog (3,865 registrations)
- Miniature schnauzer (3,695 registrations) (one of the best hypoallergenic dog breeds)
- Toy poodle (2,013 registrations) (one of the smallest dog breeds)
Most common toy dogs
- Cavalier King Charles spaniel (3,132 registrations) (one of the best family dogs)
- Pomeranian (1,832 registrations)
- Pug (1,316 registrations)
- Long-coat chihuahua (915 registrations)
Looking at this data, we can see that the most common UK dog breed is likely to be the Labrador retriever – with gundogs considered to be the most common dog breed category.
What’s the most common dog breed in the world?
Again, this is a difficult question to answer – even more so, perhaps, because of the lack of worldwide institution to manage global registrations.
If we look to the US, the American Kennel Club releases rankings of the most popular dog breeds in the country, based on their registration statistics for the previous year. In 2024, the most common dog breeds in the US were as follows.
Most common dog breeds in the US
- French bulldog
- Labrador retriever
- Golden retriever
- German shepherd
- Poodle
- Dachshund
- Beagle
- Rottweiler
- Bulldog
- German shorthaired pointer
If we look at these statistics together, it’s fairly safe to assume the Labrador retriever is one of the most common dog breeds in the world.
In 2012, a Swedish canine organisation conducted a study of different dog breeds worldwide, combining data from 37 different countries. The results were as follows:
- Labrador retriever
- German shepherd
- Poodle
- Chihuahua
- Golden retriever
- Yorkshire terrier
- Dachshund
- Beagle
- Boxer
- Miniature schnauzer
Although this data was from 2012, it seems fairly consistent across more recent numbers from various kennel clubs around the world that the Labrador retriever remains among the most common dog breeds.
Top image credit: Getty Images
