Last Updated on June 15, 2023
For the past three decades, the Labrador Retriever ranked as America’s top dog breed. But the popular lab just got dethroned!
The Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s top dog breed. The Lab, which led the number of new puppy and dog registrations each year since 1991, fell to second place in 2022. That’s according to the American Kennel Club, which keeps a close eye on these things and publishes an annual list.
Last year, the French Bulldog, nicknamed the Frenchie, ranked in the second-place slot. But for 2022, the little Frenchie edged out the Labrador Retriever. The AKC says one in every seven new dog registrations last year went to a French Bulldog. The French Bulldog had steadily climbed the rankings over the last decades, hitting No. 14 in 2012, CNN reported.
The Frenchie first broke into the top five in 2017, taking the fourth place slot over its cousin the regular Bulldog. It stayed in fourth place in 2018 and 2019. But in 2020 and 2021, it jumped to second place.
OK, you can’t deny that they’re cute little things. They come in a variety of colors, just like the Labrador Retriever does. The little scrunched up nose and perky ears definitely gets attention.
But the price tag alone is enough to sway some people from the smaller choice. While the average price of a Lab puppy can range from about $800 to about $2,000, a Frenchie puppy can range from $1,500 to $3,000!
Both make excellent family dogs and while Labs have a loud bark, Frenchies aren’t known for excessive yapping.
But Canine Journal adds this:
This breed doesn’t make the cut in the smartest dog breeds contest, but that doesn’t mean they lack intelligence. They seem to understand commands but choose to obey or disobey based on their mood.
“To some, that shows extreme intelligence,” the site notes. To me, it shows plain old stubbornness. But then we all have our moments, don’t we?
More concerning to me would be the potential health problems. They are one of several breeds known as brachycephalic dogs, which means their shortened skulls and snouts make them more prone to respiratory, eye, skin and spinal problems.
My pick once again doesn’t make the top 20
If you’ve read this blog for a while, you surely know the top dog breed on my list. That would be the Rough Collie. You might recognize it better if I call it the Lassie dog, based on the canine character in the books, movies and TV series.
I grew up with a Collie. That’s something I hear from a lot of people when they comment as they see me walking mine. My first question that I never have the nerve to actually ask is, “Why don’t you still have Collies?”
They’re great dogs — very smart, very loyal, loving and gentle. Some are turned off because of the shedding. Yes, they do shed. But to some degree, four of the five dogs in the top five in 2022’s list — the Frenchie, the Lab, the Golden Retriever, and the German Shepherd — also shed to some degree or another. Only number five on this year’s list, the poodle, doesn’t.
But the Collie dropped one spot in 2022 from 38th to 39th on the list.
If more people were exposed to Collies, they’d rank a lot higher.
