Pit Bull Popularity Pushes Forward — Dave’s Diary

Pit Bull lovers pitched a request to city council last night to lift the city ban on the breed.  A study session in November will focus on just that.  Meanwhile national trends indicate more and more people are interested in the breed.

Next week is National Dog Week and as a precursor, the American Kennel Club has announced that the most popular pooch in the U.S. and it’s no surprise. It is the Labrador Retriever -- for the 22nd consecutive year. And while the German Shepherd is still in the number two, the Golden Retriever moved up a spot and shoved aside the Beagle for number three.

The top 10 dog breeds in America:

1. Labrador Retriever
2. German Shepherd Dog
3. Golden Retriever
4. Beagle
5. Bulldog
6. Yorkshire Terrier
7. Boxer
8. Poodle
9. Rottweiler
10. Dachshund

The most notable dog trends of the year:

"Bully" breeds have pawed their way into people's hearts over the past decade with the Bull Terrier (79 to 51), Staffordshire Bull Terrier (91 to 76) and Miniature Bull Terrier (132 to 126) all making strong gains.

Small dogs that are on the rise this year are the Havanese (31 to 28) and Affenpinscher (139 to 138), while the Chihuahua (14 to 18), Pomeranian (17 to 19) and Pug (26 to 30) seem to have fallen out of favor.