Discover The Most
Popular Dog Breeds

Man's best friend comes in as many breeds as it does, shapes, sizes and colors. While dogs have moved from the outdoors indoors over the centuries, in the earliest of days, we put our best friends to work, helping us to hunt, shepherd, guard or haul. There are dogs that shepherd sheep. Dogs that shepherd cattle. There are even dogs that shepherd fish. There are dogs to guard people. Dogs to guard livestock. And there are dogs to guard places. There are big dogs. Little dogs. And dogs somewhere in between. There are also dogs that should remain puppies forever but somehow that never seems to happen.

Some dogs have always been highly revered by the pious, nobility and royalty. The Pug, originating of China, was highly revered by the Monks of Tibet and kept as fiercely devoted companion pets. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was so revered by King Charles II, they became his namesake. The Irish Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier could at one point only be owned by nobility or royalty as was the case with many other breeds including the Akita of Japan, and the Weimaraner, a distinctive, grey-toned, hunting dog of Germany.

Modern dogs have changed by vocation and design over the years. Formidable breeds such as the Rottweiler, the Doberman and the German Shepherd have always been military or guard dogs and that hasn't changed into the modern era as they work in detection and search and recue. As society has changed, the need for service animals has also increased including therapy dogs, dogs for autism and dogs for the hearing and visually impaired. And while Standard Poodles and Labrador Retrievers have filled the bill, both the Labradoodle and the Schnoodle were bred with service capability in mind.