Figure 2. Distribution of American Kennel Club Registrations by Breed in 2004.

Nearly a million dogs are registered with the American Kennel Club each year. Though the total includes dogs from 154 breeds, most registrations represent a limited number of very popular breeds. The most popular breed, Labrador retriever, accounts for 15.3% of yearly registrations. This is greater than the 118 least popular breeds combined. Each breed on the chart above is represented by a colored block. The height on the y-axis indicates the number of dogs registered in 2004. The blocks are divided into six stacks indicating the percent of overall registrations acquired by that breed, as listed on the x-axis. Above each column is the percent of total registrations for all breeds in that category. Registration statistics can be found at http://www.akc.org/reg/dogreg_stats.cfm.