Posted on 01/28/2010 1:38:35 PM PST by JoeProBono
For the 19th consecutive year, the Labrador Retriever has held on to its title as America's "Top Dog," according to the American Kennel Club's (AKC) 2009 registration statistics.
In a nod to watchdog breeds, the German Shepherd Dog overtook the Yorkshire Terrier to claim the spot of "second most popular pooch" for the first time in more than three decades. An American favorite since the time of Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd Dog became the number one breed of the 1920s, but then slipped in popularity until after World War II.
The German Shepherd Dog isn't the only working canine to sniff out a place in the Top 10. Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Beagles have all been employed by law enforcement military and homeland security personnel to help with border patrol, bomb and narcotics detection and searching for missing persons.
Here is the AKC's Top 10 list of most popular dogs for 2009:
* 1. Labrador Retriever* * 2. German Shepherd Dog * 3. Yorkshire Terrier * 4. Golden Retriever * 5. Beagle * 6. Boxer * 7. Bulldog * 8. Dachshund * 9. Poodle * 10. Shih Tzu*
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
We have had Labs for the last 20 plus years.
I dont have the agility to travel with my two Labs anymore (thank goodness we have fenced in property so they can run/hunt in a rain forrest terrain).
I added (had one as a child) a male Dachshaund a year ago.
What a different breed from Lovable laid back Labs. LOL
My Lil Man is a huge Mamas boy and the other day I started to tease him in play and he stopped looked at me as if to say You dont want to tease the Dachshaund and I thought about him latching on to my nose in a I hunt badgers death bite.
What a lovable bossy lil brat he is, cant stand to be apart from him.
I told my son the other day that he was acting like Lil Man Too and he stopped looked at me and said Hey I AM the Original Little Man (yeah 30yrs ago mister, not so little anymore).
So what kind of Doxie do you have?
No wonder we elected a moron like Obama!
RIP good buddy! (The dog, not Obama...)
SharpRightTurn’s household includes one each of (i) Scottish terrier, (ii) Cairn terrier, and (iii) West Highland terrier.
I guess we run with the small dogs.
Great dogs, though.
My 4 Shih tzu babies came in at number 10. Poor Sadie (my 5th dog) the pekashih didn’t rate but she is Sassy’s favorite!
Yeah! Twenty pounds of dog with a hundred pounds of attitude.
Here are my two herders, crazy Belgian Sheepdogs!
Ahhh, that little cutie is about the size of mine’s paw.
I had a husky before. Best friend ever and talk about SMART. It still rips my heart out thinking of her and it’s been like 5 years.
I wouldn’t trade my Border Collie for anything. She’s our youngest child!
Amen. Fantastic dogs, if you can exercise and entertain them.
She’s beautiful!
They have such unique personalities. We call the Husky our little bit*h. She is so aloof, and independent. But when we come home, she will snuggle with us (to a point).
Our lab is a typical lab. All it takes to keep her happy is to be around people. She would much rather be with us than any other dog. She is getting older though, and for her to keep up with the 2 year old is a funny site. She tries, but after a few minutes, she just wants to lie down, and be pet.
Another thing about labs, their tails never stop. She is our second lab, and I think we will stick with that breed forever. They are my "girls", and I still ponder how anyone could give them up (they were both adopted).
Aww... That looks like a Neufie. Labs I think were descended from Neufies.
Labs are tremendously popular here. Many of my friends have them. They’re nice dogs but their popularity is a mystery to me. They don’t really look like a breed to me. They shed. They tend to get fat when they get older. I just don’t get it. I know they are sweet and swim, but they still aren’t much to look at IMO.
I like Dobermans and Springer Spaniels. Now we have small dogs, not small as in Yorkie but on the small side. A rare breed, most of you here probably never heard of them.
Had one as a kid. Smart, and FAST like a bolt of lightning.
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