Top Dog Breeds of 2009

This year the AKC celebrates its 126th anniversary and for the 19th year in a row, the Labrador retriever is once again America's favorite purebred dog, according to registration numbers tallied by the American Kennel Club. The AKC released the figures and, as in past years, the Labrador far outstrips the other dogs in the top 10.

In 2008, for the first time the bulldog made it into the top ten list since 1935 and has continued to increase and jumped up to 7th place this year.

Another big change this year is that the German Shepherd Dog came in at #2 knocking the Yorkshire Terrier down one notch to #2 dog. The is the first time the German Shephered has ranked #2 in over 30 years.

Last year, all breeds in the top 10 were the same as the prior year. Changes in this ranking include that the Bulldog increased from #8 to #7 bumping the Dachshund down one notch as well as the German Shepherd Dog jump from #3 to #2.

Over the past several years, the top 10 list has been relatively stable. The biggest changes are that three years ago, in 2005, one new breed joined the top 10 list and one got bumped off. The Miniature Schnauzer came in at #10 displacing the Chihuahua into the #11 position. In 2007, the Miniature Schnauzer was dropped from the top 10 list. And in 2008, the Bulldog jumped on the top 10 list.

The Top 10 Breeds of 2009 are:

1. Labrador retrievers
2. German shepherds
3. Yorkshire terriers
4. Golden retrievers
5. Beagles
6. Boxers
7. Bulldog
8. Dachshunds
9. Poodles
10. Shih Tzus