The most popular dog breed list in Australia, America, Canada 2012
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THE most popular or best dog breed list for 2012 is here! Firstly you may be interested in how the most popular dog is defined. In modern terms everything is done on-line, and so this is the most popular dog breeds as searched on Google in Australia, America and Canada. IS YOUR DOG ON THE LIST?
The list is also compared to the 2011 most popular dog lists so that you can see changes in people’s preferences for dog breeds, and differences in country’s dog trends.
In this report, the popularity of dog breeds in Australia is also be compared with those in America and Canada. These counties are chosen, as except for England and Ireland, they are the leading dog ownership countries per capita in the world, and they also have some of the highest online searches per person in the world for dog associated topics.
The mechanics of the ranking are that the breeds are listed with the highest search volume on Google listed at the top, and subsequent breeds are listed as a proportion of the leading dog volume search numbers per month. For 2012 a six month average of Google search volumes was taken to provide a more accurate reference, these were for the months April to September 2012.
AUSTRALIA most popular dog breed list 2012
The most popular dog breed search in Australia is still the German Shepherd. Google shows it to have approximately 8,100 exact searches per month via its search engine and search partners. The top five most popular dog breeds in Australia are taken up with three large dogs (german shepherd 100%, labrador 82%, golden retriever 82%) and two small dogs (Pomeranian 90% and French bulldog 82%).
The fifth top breed has still the exact same proportion of search terms (82%) of the top breed dog as it did in 2011 showing that all these breeds are fairly even in popularity. The fifteen most popular dog breed is still 23% of the highest breed term, showing fairly good depth in dog breed popularity across the dog breeds.
Every dog breed in the Australian top ten of 2012 are discrete breeds and adult version, not the puppy versions. The Pomeranian and French bulldog both moved up one spot on the dog breed popularity list while the Labrador dropped a place and 18% in popularity compared to the leading breed in 2012.
Dog Breed Popularity rankings of dog breeds seventh to thirteenth are all NEW entries in the top 15 most popular dogs. These are cavalier king Charles 62%, shih tzu 62%, dachshund 62%, cocker spaniel 54%, Staffordshire bull terrier 43%, west highland terrier 29%.
This means that the following breeds did not make the top fifteen in Australia in 2012: beagle, bullmastiff, bernese mountain dog, poodle and boxer dogs.
In 2012 the last three dog breeds to make the popularity list are all puppy versions of the adult dogs found higher up on the list: German shepherd puppies, golden retriever puppies, German shepherd puppies for sale.
AUSTRALIAN MOST POPULAR DOG BREED LIST 2012, 2011
| RANK |
2012 |
% | RANK |
2011 |
% |
|
1 |
[german shepherd] | 100% |
1 |
[german shepherd] | 100% |
|
2 |
[pomeranian] | 90% |
2 |
[labrador] | 100% |
|
3 |
[labrador] | 82% |
3 |
[french bulldog] | 82% |
|
4 |
[french bulldog] | 82% |
4 |
[pomeranian] | 82% |
|
5 |
[golden retriever] | 82% |
5 |
[golden retriever] | 82% |
|
6 |
[rottweiler] | 79% |
6 |
[beagle] | 82% |
|
7 |
[cavalier king charles spaniel] | 62% |
7 |
[rottweiler] | 82% |
|
8 |
[shih tzu] | 62% |
8 |
[bullmastiff] | 44% |
|
9 |
[dachshund] | 62% |
9 |
[bernese mountain dog] | 36% |
|
10 |
[cocker spaniel] | 54% |
10 |
[poodle] | 36% |
|
11 |
[staffordshire bull terrier] | 43% |
11 |
[golden retriever puppies] | 36% |
|
12 |
[west highland terrier] | 29% |
12 |
[german shepherd pups for sale] | 29% |
|
13 |
[german shepherd puppies] | 27% |
13 |
[boxer dogs] | 24% |
|
14 |
[golden retriever puppies] | 25% |
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|
15 |
[german shepherd puppies for sale] | 23% |
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American most popular dog breed list 2012
Like the Australian most popular dog breed list, the German shepherd also topped the USA list for 2012. The total average monthly volumes searched on Google and its partners for April to September 2012 was 145,000 searches per month for the German Shepherd.
The next four most popular dogs in America in 2012 were: Shih tzu 87%, Pomeranian 69%, English bulldog 46% and the Yorkshire terrier 26%. There has been a dramatic change in the most popular dog breeds in America between 2011 and 2012. In the space of a year the French bulldog has dropped from position two in 2011 (67%) to less than 15%; the bernese mountain dog (45%) and boxer dog (20%) have also dropped below 15% and fifteenth place.
Another unusual characteristic of the American dog popularity list for 2012 is that there is little depth in the list while the top ranked German shepherd has 145,000 searches, the tenth placed breed has only 18% of the leading breed search volumes.
You will also note that ‘breeds’ seven to thirteen are PUPPY versions of the breeds. You may consider this technically as splitting the popularity of a particular breed, however the top ranked puppy is also the German shepherd! And the eighth ranked breed is ‘boxer puppies’ 21% (while boxers themselves do not make it on the top fifteen list).
The 2011 American most popular dog breed list only has seven entries on it, as only those breeds that made it in the top fifty dog associated terms were counted. In 2011 by the time the list got to the seventh dog breed it was already down to 11% of the top breed dog search volumes – the German shepherd.
In contrast, in 2012 fifteen breeds and puppies made it within the top 50 searches and the fifteenth most popular breed was still 14% of the most popular dog search volumes.
AMERICAN MOST POPULAR DOG BREED LIST 2012, 2011
| RANK |
2012 |
% | RANK |
2011 |
% |
|
1 |
[german shepherd] | 100% |
1 |
[german shepherd] | 100% |
|
2 |
[shih tzu] | 87% |
2 |
[french bulldog] | 67% |
|
3 |
[pomeranian] | 69% |
3 |
[bernese mountain dog] | 45% |
|
4 |
[english bulldog] | 46% |
4 |
[boxer dogs] | 20% |
|
5 |
[yorkshire terrier] | 26% |
5 |
[newfoundland dog] | 20% |
|
6 |
[cavalier king charles spaniel] | 26% |
6 |
[portuguese water dog] | 20% |
|
7 |
[german shepherd puppies] | 25% |
7 |
[papillon dog] | 11% |
|
8 |
[boxer puppies] | 21% | |||
|
9 |
[golden retriever puppies] | 19% | |||
|
10 |
[husky puppies] | 18% | |||
|
11 |
[pomeranian puppies] | 17% | |||
|
12 |
[maltese puppies] | 16% | |||
|
13 |
[english bulldog puppies] | 15% | |||
|
14 |
[portuguese water dog] | 15% | |||
|
15 |
[yorkie puppies] | 14% |
AUSTRALIA V AMERICA most popular dog breed list 2012
While direct comparisons within a country are important, so are the developing trends internationally. While the fifteenth most popular dog breed in Australia is 23% of the most popular dog breed, in America the fifteenth breed position is only 14% of its most popular dog breed.
The top five most popular breeds in Australia were: German shepherd, pomeranian, labrador, french bulldog, golden retriever, rottweiler.
The top five most popular breeds in America were: german shepherd, shih tzu, pomeranian, english bulldog, yorkshire terrier
So the two breeds common within the top five are german shepherd and Pomeranians. It is very interesting that the labrador is the third most popular dog in Australia but did not make the top fifteen in America. Nor did the French bulldog.
The fourth most popular dog in America, the English bulldog did not make it on the Australian list. More curious than this is that the American Bulldog exists, but did not make the top fifteen in America!
The list exclusions of each country are also telling. In Australia the following breeds dropped off the top fifteen most popular dogs list: beagle, bullmastiff, bernese mountain dog, poodle and boxer dogs. In America the major dogs to drop off the list from 2011 to 2012 were: French bulldog, bernese mountain dog, and boxer dog.
As America has over 15 times the population of Australia and Australia’s popular culture is mostly driven by America it would appear that the popularity of the dog breeds in Australia were also driven by America in 2011 and as they have become less popular in America in 2012 they have fallen off popularity lists in Australia too.
CANADA most popular dog breed list 2012
The most popular dog in Canada in 2012 was the shih tzu (15,900 exact searches per month across all google networks). The amazing point here is that not only was it the second most popular dog breed in America in 2012, but the shih tzu did not appear on the top fifteen list in either America or Canada in 2011.
The dog breeds that round out the top five most popular list in Canada in 2012 are: golden retriever 93%, German shepherd 87%, Rottweiler 79%, Pomeranian 77%
VERY similar to the excluded breeds on the American 2012 dog breed list, many of the same breeds that were present in the Canada 2011 dog list were excluded in their 2012 list.
For instance, the bernese mountain dog was equal top breed in 2011 in Canada but did not make the top fifteen in 2012. Other breeds missing from the 2012 list are: beagle, French bulldog, bullmastiff, Labrador, Newfoundland dog, jack Russell terrier and boxer.
While in 2011 the top fifteen breeds all had search volumes within 30% of the four equal highest searched dogs, but in 2012 the fifteenth searched dog only had 16% of the top searched dog breed. This shows that the depth of interest in dog breeds is declining (as the top searched dogs had around the same absolute search volumes for 2011 and 2012.
CANADA MOST POPULAR DOG BREED LIST 2012, 2011
| RANK |
2012 |
% | RANK |
2011 |
% |
|
1 |
[shih tzu] | 100% |
1 |
[bernese mountain dog] | 100% |
|
2 |
[golden retriever] | 93% |
2 |
[german shepherd] | 100% |
|
3 |
[german shepherd] | 87% |
3 |
[golden retriever] | 100% |
|
4 |
[rottweiler] | 79% |
4 |
[rottweiler] | 100% |
|
5 |
[pomeranian] | 77% |
5 |
[pomeranian] | 82% |
|
6 |
[bichon frise] | 43% |
6 |
[beagle] | 82% |
|
7 |
[yorkshire terrier] | 38% |
7 |
[french bulldog] | 67% |
|
8 |
[cocker spaniel] | 36% |
8 |
[bullmastiff] | 67% |
|
9 |
[english bulldog] | 35% |
9 |
[yorkshire terrier] | 55% |
|
10 |
[portuguese water dog] | 34% |
10 |
[labrador] | 55% |
|
11 |
[yorkie] | 27% |
11 |
[portuguese water dog] | 45% |
|
12 |
[cavalier king charles spaniel] | 23% |
12 |
[labrador retriever] | 45% |
|
13 |
[staffordshire bull terrier] | 18% |
13 |
[newfoundland dog] | 36% |
|
14 |
[west highland terrier] | 18% |
14 |
[jack russell terrier] | 36% |
|
15 |
[golden retriever puppies] | 16% |
15 |
[boxer dogs] | 30% |
CONCLUSIONS
The top three breeds in the countries under analysis were: Australia (german shepherd, pomeranian, labrador/ french bulldog/ golden retriever); America (german shepherd, shih tzu, pomeranian); Canada (shih tzu, golden retriever, german shepherd).
Australia had a few puppy varieties towards the tail of the top 15 while America had seven in the bottom half, and Canada had none.
Similar breeds of dogs that disappeared from the 2012 list in Australia also disappeared from America and Canada’s 2012 list. In particular these were the: beagle, bullmastiff, bernese mountain dog, boxer.
It is likely that breeds that ranked very high in a country in 2012, that were not on a country’s previous list in 2011, may also be a trend dog that disappears from the next year’s list (2013). There are dogs like the shih tzu in all countries and the cavalier king charles spaniel in Australia, and the English bulldog in America.
If you are interested in this popular dog breed list analysis, you may also enjoy the analysis is the English and the Ireland popular dog breed analysis. Especially since these two countries have the highest ownership rate in the world and the highest Google search rate for dog related topics.
Article by Bruce Dwyer. If you wish to use any of this information please refer to the article as a reference and provide a link to https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au