There’s a new top dog in town: The chihuahua is Washington’s most popular dog breed, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The chihuahua — which makes up 4 percent of dogs in the country — is also the most popular pup among the nation’s 49 million households with dogs. The chihuahua was crowned top dog in 20 other states, according to the recent survey.
In Washington, the golden retriever, German shepherd, French bulldog and Goldendoodle fill out the remaining top five slots.
To analyze the top dog breeds in states and nationwide, U.S. News & World Report looked at pet insurance data, which included dog breeds. Researchers then filtered the data by state and ranked it to find the most popular dog breeds in each state.
Chihuahuas are most popular in the South, the survey found — the breed is a favorite in every Southern state except Florida, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.
The West showed more variety in people’s most beloved dog breeds, with the French bulldog ranking first in California, the Goldendoodle topping Idaho and Utah and the German shepherd being the favorite in Montana and Wyoming. Oregon was among the 21 states in which chihuahuas ranked first.
Nationally, the French bulldog, golden retriever, German shepherd and Shih Tzu round out the top five dog breeds.
An American Kennel Club survey released last year found the golden retriever was Seattle’s top dog breed in 2022. AKC’s survey analyzed registration data pulled from Seattle zip codes.
Nationally, the AKC survey named the French bulldog the top pup in 2022, which knocked the Labrador retriever out of its 31-year record-breaking reign.
