The Labrador Retriever is Scotland’s favourite dog.
That’s based on Millets analysis of official dog registration statistics from the Kennel Club to find out what our favourite breeds are and how this has changed over the past 10 years.
Labradors featured in 1978 registrations, while the Cocker Spaniel came second in Scotland with 1065 registrations. There were 654 French Bulldog registrations in Scotland.
The Lhasa Apso made the top 10 breeds in Scotland only, with an impressive 297 registrations in 2017.
The Cocker Spaniel is the second most popular dog in the country
The Labrador Retriever came out on top for the majority of regions – with the exception of the North East, North West and Wales. The Northern regions instead favoured the charming and attentive French Bulldog.
Millets’ analysis showed the overall number of pedigree puppies registered has perhaps unexpectedly been declining over the past decade.
The figure peaked in 2008 with 271,719 puppy registrations, falling sharply to 219,965 in 2015. The Kennel Club put this decline down to the rise in popularity of cross breeds.
Looking at trends from the past 10 years, figures show French Bulldogs, owned by celebrities including Lady Gaga and the Beckhams, are close to overtaking Labradors as the UK’s most popular dog breed.
In 2008, just 1,025 (0.4%) French Bulldogs were registered, whereas in 2017 this figure rose to a staggering 30,887 (13%) pups.
French Bulldogs are rapidly growing in popularity in Scotland
The beloved Labrador Retriever has seen a steady decline in registrations for most of the past 10 years, with 45,233 (17%) registrations in 2008 compared to 35,068 (14%) in 2017.
Other breeds that have seen significant changes in popularity over recent years include Pugs, Bulldogs, German Shepherds and English Springer Spaniels.
It seems that smaller breeds are generally increasing in popularity whilst larger breeds appear to be on the decline.
The Kennel Club have exclusively shared which breed is set to clinch the top spot this year.
Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko said: ‘The French Bulldog has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years and became the top dog for the first time in the first quarter of 2018.
‘Looking at this year’s dog breed statistics however, the Labrador looks set to regain top spot by the end of the year.’
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