Guide Dogs Great British Dog Survey: the Results 2017

Guide Dogs Great British Dog Survey: The Results 2017

Contents

Welcome to the results

The survey: in numbers

Quick top 5: The UK’s most popular dog breeds

Which county has the most dogs?

England

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

What’s in a name?

Male Names

Female Names

Welcome to the results

Thank you to you and your pooch for taking part in The Great British Dog Survey. From personality, to training, to food; you have told us so much about the dogs of our nation, and we’re now so excited to finally share the results with you!

Read on to discover how your furry pride and joy compares with thousands of other dogs across the UK – you might even spot them here! This year, you’ll also be able to learn more about our extraordinary guide dogs, including how a puppy becomes a life changing mobility aid for people living with sight loss (see page 10).

The survey: in numbers

Over 23,000 pooch pics sent in to us

A whopping 920 different dog breeds

Quick top 5: The UK’s most popular dog breeds

Labrador Retriever
Cocker Spaniel
Border Collie
Jack Russell Terrier
Springer Spaniel

Which county has the most dogs?

According to our survey, Lancashire is home to the most dogs in the UK. Lancashire is a county of contrasting landscapes – so many varied dog walks! The map below shows the counties with the most dogs, across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. A huge woof out to everyone that took part…

England

Lancashire
Hampshire
Kent
West Yorkshire
Essex
West Midlands
Cheshire
North Yorkshire
Devon
Greater London

Northern Ireland

Antrim
Down

Scotland

Aberdeenshire
Fife
Glasgow
Midlothian
Angus
South Lanarkshire

Wales

Cardiff
Carmarthenshire
Monmouthshire
Swansea

Quick fact: The places in the UK with the fewest dogs are Fermargh,

Inverclyde and the Outer Hebrides!

What’s in a name?

We loved reading about so many different dog names in the survey this year! From the glamorous, like Princess Trixabelle the Bichon Frise to the more unusual, like Choxi Cookie Monsta the chocolate Labrador. In 2016, Alfie and Poppy stormed the leaderboard for the most popular male and female dog names. But have they done it again...or have

Molly and Charlie taken the lead? It’s finally time to find out as here are the top 20 names. The arrows show how the leaderboard has changed from 2016, is your pooch listed?

Male Names

Alfie
Charlie
Max
Oscar
Bailey
Archie
Milo
Buddy
Dexter
Toby
Barney
Monty
Jack
Jasper
Harry
Teddy
Murphy
Ollie
Buster
Harvey

Female Names

Poppy
Bella
Molly
Daisy
Ruby
Rosie
Lola
Luna
Millie
Tillie
Willow
Holly
Lucy
Roxy
Lily
Bonnie
Maisie
Meg
Skye
Lottie

Most popular dog breeds: Top 10

Over 200 pure breeds were entered into the survey, and over 700 mixed breeds! This year you also told us about some less familiar breeds; like Godric the Griffon Blue de Gascoigne! According to his owner, he has awful doggy singing…have you ever met (or listened to) a Griffon Blue de Gascoigne? Let’s look at the most popular dog breeds overall –including two cross breeds!

Labrador Retriever
Cocker Spaniel
Border Collie
Jack Russell Terrier
Springer Spaniel
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Golden Retriever
German Shepherd
Cockapoo
Labradoodle

We loved reading about the many interesting cross breeds within the survey – and especially their brilliant names! Can you guess what mix these breeds are a combination of?

Pugalier
Newfypoo
Zuchon
Malshi
Schnocker
Chiweenie

What breeds make the best guide dog?

So that we can offer a range of guide dogs to suit the varied needs of people who are blind and partially sighted, we use several different breeds. Labradors, golden retrievers and German shepherds have been and still remain our most common breeds. In fact, the golden retriever crossed with the labrador has produced the most successful guide dog of all - combining the fantastic traits of both breeds!

However, we also have a small number of curly coated retrievers and standard poodles on our books. When these breeds are crossed with the more established breeds, we can produce successful guide dogs but with added benefits. The poodle and curly coated retrievers when crossed offer a different coat type which is great for people who suffer from allergies.

Age

Take a look at the stats below to see the current age ranges of the UK doggy population. Can you see where your dog sits?

9% - Puppy (less than one-year-old)
34% - Teenager (one to three years old)
25% - Young Adult (four to six years old)
18% - Adulthood (seven to nine years old)
12% - Young Senior (10 to 13 years old)
2% - Senior (Over 13 years)

We even had 201 dogs entered into the survey that were over 15 years old!

Personality

We don’t need to tell you that dogs have incredible personalities – it’s one of the reasons humans have kept them as pets for the last 30,000 years! Of course, no pooch has the same personality but we have noticed some trends in our furry friends…

Affectionate – 31%%
Playful puppy – 20%
Brilliantly bonkers – 20%
Incredibly curious – 9%
Bit of a wuss – 9%
Fearless, nothing stops them – 6%
Genius, a doggy mastermind – 5%

Boxers are the most brilliantly bonkers dogs in the UK, with over 43% of them having this personality!

The Miniature Pinscher comes out top when it comes to being fearless. 29% of their owners said nothing stops them!

We’re not surprised that 41% of Beagle’s have the incredibly curious personality! These Sniffers just love to follow their nose.

Puppy love

As you have just read 9% of the dogs entered into our survey were less than a year old. We’ve put together a fun fact file about the puppies of the UK when our survey took place.

Puppies need lots of rest and our survey shows that 24% prefer to have a snooze in their crate.

When it comes to training, puppies of the UK aren’t quite fully trained, 47% will just ‘sit’ from time to time.

Top 5 puppy breeds:

Cross breed
Labrador Retriever
Cocker Spaniel
Border Collie
Golden Retriever

The survey revealed that this year the most popular puppy name is Luna!

Training

In this year’s Great British Dog Survey, we wanted to find out more about how your pet pooch is trained.

How well trained are the dogs of Great Britain?

Will sit from time to time – 37%
Even does tricks – 33%
Fully trained – 28%
Not at all trained right now – 2%

How do most people train their dogs?

Followed my instinct – 38%
Attended group puppy classes – 30%
Used advice on dog training from books and internet – 22%
Hired a professional trainer – 6%
I haven’t trained them (yet) – 4%

48% of Shetland Sheepdog owners said their dog was fully trained. Belgian Malinois, Rottweiler, Australian Kelpie, Kerry Blue Terrier and Australian Cattle Dog are all runners up. (P.s 27% of Dandie Dinmont Terriers haven’t been trained…not yet anyway!)

Cheeky habits

As well as training, we loved hearing about your dog’s cheeky habits. But what naughty little habit came out top? Let’s find out!

Jumping up at people
Pulling on the lead (taking you for a walk)
Finding something smelly to roll in
Stealing food off the work surface
Excessive barking

45% of Australian Kelpie owners said that their dog has zero habits. What lucky Kelpie owners!

How do we make a guide dog?

Have you ever wondered how we train a little puppy to become a life changing guide dog? Well, it doesn’t happen overnight! Read on to discover more about the different stages of training a guide dog.

Guide Dogs have a worldwide reputation as a breeder of working dogs. Once born, each litter is named after a letter of the alphabet. So, an A litter might have an Adam, Amy, Albert. The only letter not used is X.
Puppies are vaccinated and meet their volunteer puppy walker at 6-8 weeks of age. A puppy walker introduces them to sights, smells and sounds - such as busy roads and public transport. They are also taught to walk ahead on the lead and obey simple commands such as sit, down, stay and come.
At one-year-old they say goodbye to their puppy walker and go to school. At school, they wear a brown training harness and learneverything they need to know to guide a person. This includes learning to walk in a straight line unless there’s an obstacle and not to turn corners unless told to do so. Learning to stop at kerbs, deal with traffic and wait for the command to cross or turn. They even learn to judge height and width so that its owner does not bump their head or shoulder!
Next the dog is matched with an owner. To do this they have to consider the length of owner’s stride, their height and lifestyle. The owner and guide dog train together for 4 weeks.
If successful, the guide dog is awarded with a smart white harness and their working partnership begins! A guide dog partnership will last for approximately seven to eight years, but we’ve made a lifetime promise to provide every one of our guide dog owners with a guide dog for as long as they need one.

Food glorious food

We asked you to tell us all about your dog’s dining habits and the results are in.

The household hoover – 53%
Frequent snacker – 24%
Fussy eater – 23%

What do the dogs of the UK eat for their main meals? The Great British Dog Survey discovered that you served branded dry dog food the most, and left over human food the least. We’ll keep our roast dinners to ourselves then!

Dry dog food branded - 68%
Tinned wet dog foodbranded - 13%
Raw diet ready-made - 6%
Dry dog food supermarket brand 5%
Tinned wet dog food supermarket brand - 4%
Raw diet homemade - 3%
Left over human food - 1%

Finally let’s talk treats! We’re not surprised that the favourite treat of our four-legged friends is (drum roll please) …chews or sticks! Yummy.

Chews/sticks – 42%
Doggy biscuits – 24%
Table leftovers – 22%
Juicy bones – 12%

Toys & Gifts

Time to discuss…toys! Whilst not every dog likes to play with toys the majority of canines in the UK absolutely love them! What do you think topped the leaderboard for most popular toy? It was a close call, but the cuddly toy is number one followed VERY closely by the good old-fashioned ball. Let’s check out the numbers.

Cuddly toy – 35.3%
The good old-fashioned ball – 34.7%
A chewy bone – 15.1%
Knot rope tuggy – 13.2%
A Frisbee – 1.8%

Fun fact: When our puppies are living with their puppy walkers or in guide dog training, they are taught not to chase balls, squirrels, bunnies, or even Frisbees. This is because balls are considered ‘distractions’ and it is extremely important for the puppies not to be distracted when they start working!

We all love to spoil our pets every once in a while! So, in the survey, we asked if you wanted to buy your dog a present for being such a good boy or girl, what would it be? Check out the answers below!

Another toy to add to their growing collection - 45%
Yummy food treats - 37%
A cosy, soft blanket to snuggle up on - 13%
Something for them to wear, be it practical or fashionable! - 3%
A lovely new dog bowl - 2%

Sleeping

Zzz…let sleeping dogs lie! Our survey revealed the favourite places the dogs of our nation like to sleep and the overwhelming favourite was a

family member’s bed. Let’s see how the rest of the answers stack up.

Family member’s bed - 29%
Sofa - 22%
Basket - 19%
Sprawled out on you! - 19%
Crate - 7%
Next to the fire - 4%

Holidays

When chatting about holidays our survey discovered that 70% of you like to take your dog on holiday! But where do you like to go?

The coast, nothing beats running along the beach – 58%
Mountain ranges so we can hike – 11%
A city break, they are a top tourist – 1%

With miles of beaches and endless waves to leap through, it’s no surprise that the dogs of our nation love going to the beach! The UK has some amazing beaches, so The Great British Dog Survey Team has put together five of our personal favourite dog friendly seashores. How many has your pooch visited?

Sandymouth, Cornwall
Holkham Bay, Norfolk
Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire
Westward Ho!, Devon
West Kirby Beach, Wirral

What’s the best thing about being a dog owner?

We asked you to tell us everything you like to do with your dog and the results are in! With a whopping 72% of you agreeing that you just like to be together.

Just being together, we’re the best of friends - 72%
Long walks in the countryside - 65%
Having a snooze or a cuddle on the sofa - 61%
Playing games in the garden - 45%
Visiting friends and family - 30%
Lazy pub lunches - 19%
Running - 11%

But what’s the best thing about having a dog in your life? Well, we asked and this is what you thought…

My dog is the most wonderful and loving companion - 73%
They encourage me to get out of the house - 13%
My dog understands how to calm me down when I feel stressed - 7%
My dog keeps me fit - 4%
They keep me and my family safe - 2%

We truly loved hearing about what your dog means to you. Some of the answers were emotional, some were funny but all were full of love and loyalty. In fact, over 6000 of you said that your dog was ‘everything’. This is what some of you wrote….

Mya’s owner says, “She is my best friend, my protector, my training buddy and the best dog I could wish for.”

Merrie’s owner says, she is “My fun, loving, excitable, funny, crazy, slipper stealer and cuddly companion!”

Millie’s owner says, “She’s part of the family and has brought our family joy and laughter, we wouldn’t be without her.”

A very special relationship

What does your dog mean to you?

“I’m not sure I could love Skipp more if I tried! He enables me to be the best that I can be, and I am so grateful to him every single day”

Skipp is not just Ellen’s loyal companion. Skipp gives her all the confidence and freedom to live her life as a normal 21-year-old.

Ellen was born with Ushers syndrome and was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa when she was 16. She now lives with severe hearing and sight loss but thankfully, she has Skipp.

Guide Dogs have been there for Ellen since the day she was diagnosed. Helping her from childhood to learn braille, touch typing, how to cook and clean independently and more. All the skills Ellen needed to become the independent and capable person she is today.

With Skipp by her side, Ellen is able to study for her history and politics degree, and has just started a placement year in the House of Commons. They are now both getting to grips with living in busy London but Skipp is taking it all in his stride. Ellen is determined not to let her visual impairment stop her from achieving her dreams, and she has even completed a challenging trek in Iceland, all to raise money for Guide Dogs.

“Guide Dogs have given me the gift of freedom and independence in the form of a four-legged fluff ball (which should not be understated). I couldn’t tell you what the future holds, but it feels like there are lots of doors and opportunities open for me, and it’s really exciting!”

Doggy profile: Border Collie

Many proud owners of gorgeous Border Collies filled in our survey.

53% Male, 47% Female.
26% of this delightful breed are affectionate and caring with 24% of collies described as brilliantly bonkers!
A huge 43% of border collies are fully trained with 43% of owners following their own
instinct to train them. Pulling on the lead is the worst habit of border collies as 34%
are guilty of this.
74% of border collies enjoy long country walks with their owners, and nearly 70% of collie owners just love spending time together. Possibly playing with
58% of collie’s favourite toy…a good old-fashioned ball!
40% of collies absolutely love chews and sticks, and just over a quarter enjoy crunchy doggy biscuits too!
45% of border collies aren’t picky about their food and are described as the household hoover!

Doggy profile: Jack Russell Terrier