How many dog breeds are there?

There is no single answer. The FCI recognises breeds through its international nomenclature while national kennel clubs maintain their own lists, so published totals range from roughly two hundred to over four hundred depending on the body.

Where do the heights and weights come from?

From the official Royal Kennel Club breed standard for each breed, quoted as the figure the standard states.

Why do some breeds have no life expectancy figure?

Because the VetCompass UK life tables only cover breeds with enough recorded deaths in the study. We leave the cell empty rather than publish an estimate.

Dog breeds list

How many dog breeds exist depends entirely on who is counting. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale, the international federation that brings national kennel clubs together, recognises breeds through a nomenclature organised in ten groups, and national clubs each recognise their own list, which is why published totals range from roughly two hundred to well over four hundred. The table below is not that list: it is the 36 breeds covered in detail on this site, with the figures from their official standards.

Updated on 2026-10-07.

Sled dogs resting in harness — Photo: M. Rehemtulla — CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

The facts in one table

Breed	Size	Height	Weight	Coat	Life expectancy
Chihuahua	toy	—	1.8–2.7 kg	short	7.91 years
Pomeranian	toy	—	1.8–2.5 kg	long	—
Yorkshire Terrier	toy	—	≤ 3.2 kg	long	12.54 years
Maltese	toy	≤ 25 cm	—	long	—
Pug	small	—	6.3–8.1 kg	short	7.65 years
Bichon Frise	small	23–28 cm	—	curly	—
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel	small	—	5.4–8.2 kg	long	10.45 years
Miniature Dachshund	toy	—	≤ 5 kg	short	—
Toy Poodle	toy	≤ 28 cm	—	curly	—
Miniature Poodle	small	28–38 cm	—	curly	—
Standard Poodle	large	≥ 38 cm	—	curly	—
Shih Tzu	small	≤ 27 cm	—	long	11.05 years
Lhasa Apso	small	≤ 25 cm	—	long	—
French Bulldog	small	—	11–12.5 kg	short	4.53 years
Miniature Schnauzer	small	33–36 cm	—	wiry	—
Jack Russell Terrier	small	25–30 cm	—	wiry	12.72 years
Bedlington Terrier	medium	41 cm	—	curly	—
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier	medium	46–49 cm	—	curly	—
Beagle	medium	33–40 cm	—	short	9.85 years
Cocker Spaniel	medium	38–41 cm	13–14.5 kg	long	11.31 years
Lagotto Romagnolo	medium	41–48 cm	—	curly	—
Shetland Sheepdog	medium	35.5–37 cm	—	long	—
Border Collie	medium	≤ 53 cm	—	long	12.1 years
Portuguese Water Dog	medium	43–57 cm	19–25 kg	curly	—
Labrador Retriever	large	55–57 cm	—	short	11.77 years
Golden Retriever	large	51–61 cm	—	long	—
German Shepherd Dog	large	58–63 cm	—	short	10.16 years
Boxer	large	53–63 cm	30–32 kg	short	10.04 years
Siberian Husky	large	51–60 cm	20–27 kg	long	9.53 years
Alaskan Malamute	large	58–64 cm	34–39 kg	long	—
Rottweiler	large	58–69 cm	—	short	—
Dobermann	large	65–69 cm	—	short	—
Bernese Mountain Dog	large	58–70 cm	—	long	—
Newfoundland	giant	66–71 cm	64–69 kg	long	—
St Bernard	giant	≥ 70 cm	—	long	—
Great Dane	giant	≥ 71 cm	—	short	—

All figures as stated in the Royal Kennel Club breed standards, with life expectancy at birth from the VetCompass UK life tables where the study covers the breed.

Sources: Royal Kennel Club · Royal Veterinary College — VetCompass · Fédération Cynologique Internationale

Our own chart, from the module’s breed database (each breed’s official standard).

Why nobody agrees on the number

A breed is recognised by an organisation, not by nature, so the count is an administrative fact. The FCI maintains a nomenclature in which every recognised breed sits in one of ten groups, with a country of origin and an official standard; the Royal Kennel Club in the UK organises its own recognised breeds into seven groups, and other national clubs differ again. A breed can be recognised in one country and not another, and varieties within a breed are sometimes counted separately and sometimes not.

That is also why the group a breed sits in can look surprising. The Miniature Schnauzer and the Poodle are both in the Utility group in the UK; the Chihuahua is in Toy; the Border Collie is Pastoral. The groups record what the breed was developed to do, not how big it is or how it looks.

Sources: Fédération Cynologique Internationale · Royal Kennel Club

How to read the columns

Height and weight are taken straight from the official standard, including its quirks: some standards give an ideal, some a range, some a minimum, some separate figures for males and females. Where a standard does not specify a measure, the cell holds a dash. The coat column is the standard's own description reduced to a type, and the life expectancy column is the figure from the VetCompass UK life tables for breeds that study measured — it is empty for the rest rather than filled with an estimate.

Treat the whole table as a description of the breed target, not of an individual dog. Standards exist so that judges and breeders have a shared reference; they do not promise that the animal in front of you matches.

Sources: Royal Kennel Club · Royal Veterinary College — VetCompass

Function explains more than appearance

If you read the table from the top, the pattern that emerges is functional rather than visual. The gundogs — Labrador, Golden Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Lagotto Romagnolo — share a working style and tend towards water-resistant coats. The pastoral breeds share stamina and responsiveness. The working group collects the guarding, draught and sled breeds, which is why it contains both the Great Dane and the Siberian Husky.

This matters when you are choosing, because the group is a better predictor of daily life than the size column. A dog bred to run beside livestock all day will need that outlet whether it weighs 15 kg or 40 kg.

Sources: Royal Kennel Club · Fédération Cynologique Internationale

What most people get wrong

"There are exactly N dog breeds." The number depends on which organisation you ask, because recognition is administrative and varies by country.
"Breed groups are size categories." They record original function. The Working group holds both the Great Dane and the Siberian Husky.
"The standard describes every dog of the breed." It describes a target used by judges and breeders, not a guarantee about an individual animal.

Sources: Fédération Cynologique Internationale · Royal Kennel Club

Frequently asked questions

How many dog breeds are there?: There is no single answer. The FCI recognises breeds through its international nomenclature while national kennel clubs maintain their own lists, so published totals range from roughly two hundred to over four hundred depending on the body.
Where do the heights and weights come from?: From the official Royal Kennel Club breed standard for each breed, quoted as the figure the standard states.
Why do some breeds have no life expectancy figure?: Because the VetCompass UK life tables only cover breeds with enough recorded deaths in the study. We leave the cell empty rather than publish an estimate.

How to read the numbers

The numbers on “Dog breeds list” come from the facts table at the top, with the official source alongside.

Where the data comes from

Each section of “Dog breeds list” names its source (agency, university or breed club) with a verification date.

What this page doesn’t replace

Educational information, not a substitute for a vet, agronomist or specialist assessing your specific case.

Words on this page

Hypoallergenic

A term used for breeds that shed less allergen into the environment, usually because they shed less fur. No dog or cat breed is fully allergen-free: a cat’s main allergen comes from saliva and skin, not only fur, and a very sensitive person can react to any breed.

Standard definition by American Kennel Club · Hypoallergenic

Life cycle

The sequence of stages an organism passes through from birth to death — for an animal, young, adult and senior; for a plant, germination, growth, flowering and, in annuals, death after setting seed.

Life cycle

Toxicity

A plant’s or substance’s capacity to harm an organism, which varies with the species exposed, the amount ingested and the animal’s size. A plant "toxic to dogs" is not necessarily toxic to humans at the same dose, and the reverse holds too.

Standard definition by ASPCA — Animal Poison Control Center · Toxicity

Hemisphere

Half of the globe split by the equator. The seasons flip between the two: when it is winter in the northern hemisphere, it is summer in the southern one, which shifts the pruning, bloom and harvest calendar described on this page.

Hemisphere

Hardiness zone

A numbered band that ranks a region by the average coldest winter temperature it reaches, used to tell whether a plant survives there outdoors. The reference system is the US one (USDA), from zone 1, coldest, to 13, warmest.

Standard definition by USDA — Agricultural Research Service, Plant Hardiness Zone Map · Hardiness zone

Dormancy

The period when a plant slows its metabolism and stops visible growth, usually in autumn and winter, to survive cold or drought. Pruning, transplanting or fertilising during dormancy is usually less stressful for the plant than doing it in full growth.