Dog Breeds · 50 full guides

Dog Breed Guides

WARN publishes full guides to 50 dog breeds, each with size, lifespan, temperament, coat, common health problems and what the breed actually needs from an owner. Browse by popularity, size, or the job you want the dog to do.

Browse by what you need

Each list says how it was compiled. Where a list is our editorial selection rather than a filter over recorded data, it says that too.

Most Popular Dog Breeds The most popular dog breeds ranked, with size, temperament, lifespan, common health issues and what each breed actually needs from an owner. 50 breeds →
Best Guard Dog Breeds Guard dog breeds compared on temperament, size, trainability and health — and an honest account of what protection work actually requires from an owner. 8 breeds →
Best Family Dog Breeds Family dog breeds compared on temperament with children, size, exercise needs, lifespan and health — with an honest note on what breed cannot guarantee. 13 breeds →
Small Dog Breeds Small and toy dog breeds compared on size, temperament, lifespan, exercise needs and the inherited health problems that affect several of them. 21 breeds →
Large Dog Breeds Large and giant dog breeds compared on size, temperament, exercise requirements, lifespan and the joint and cardiac problems that affect big dogs. 17 breeds →
Best Dog Breeds for First-Time Owners The most forgiving dog breeds for first-time owners, compared on trainability, temperament, exercise needs and health — plus why an adult rescue often beats a puppy. 10 breeds →

All 50 breeds, A–Z

Every breed has a full guide covering history, temperament, grooming and care needs, lifespan and the health problems the breed is prone to.

Dog Breeds: frequently asked questions

How many dog breeds are there?

Somewhere between 200 and 400 depending on which registry you use, because different national kennel clubs recognise different breeds. There is no single global list. WARN publishes full guides to the 50 most searched breeds.

What is the most popular dog breed?

The Labrador Retriever has led most international registries for decades, though the French Bulldog has overtaken it in several countries recently — driven by city living and social media rather than by suitability.

Which dog breed should I get?

Start from your household rather than the breed. How much exercise can you genuinely commit to daily, how much space do you have, how much grooming and noise can you live with, and how many years are you planning for? A breed that fails on any one of those is the wrong breed however appealing it looks.

Is it better to adopt or buy a dog?

Adopting an adult dog from a rescue gives you a known quantity — adult size, temperament and energy level are already established rather than predicted, and many are already house-trained. Buying a puppy means far less certainty about the adult dog, and demand for popular breeds drives the volume breeding that causes most inherited health problems.

Before you go

Most of the world's dogs have no breed, and no owner

An estimated 300 million dogs live on the world's streets. They are not a breed, they are not registered anywhere, and in cities like Karachi they face poisoning and culling campaigns that the World Health Organization has repeatedly said do not reduce dog numbers or rabies risk.

What does work is CNVR — catch, neuter, vaccinate, return — carried out street by street, alongside community education. WARN funds CNVR in Karachi. It is unglamorous, it is measurable, and it is the difference between a dog being killed and a dog being vaccinated and left alone.

Help the street dogs of Karachi → Why culling makes it worse