Dog Breeds in the UK: Which Are Rising, Falling, and Why

What Are the Most Popular Dog Breeds in the UK Right Now?

The Kennel Club publishes annual breed registration statistics covering all KC-registered pedigree dogs. The figures below are for the full calendar year 2024, published by the Kennel Club in February 2026.

Source: Kennel Club Breed Registration Statistics 2024, via Statista (published February 2026).

One important caveat: KC registration figures only count KC-registered pedigree dogs. Crossbreeds including the Cockapoo, Cavapoo, and Labradoodle are not KC-registered and do not appear in this table at all. The full picture of which dogs people are actually buying is considerably different.

Which Dog Breeds Are Growing in Popularity?

Between 2024 and 2025, three breeds saw the strongest registration growth according to Kennel Club data analysed by Briefcase PR.

Which Dog Breeds Are in Decline?

The French Bulldog recorded the steepest registration fall between 2024 and 2025, down by 6,039 in a single year. The Labrador Retriever followed with a drop of 4,222, while the Miniature Smooth-Haired Dachshund, Cocker Spaniel and Bulldog all saw notable decreases. The Miniature Schnauzer, English Springer Spaniel, German Shepherd, Border Terrier and Pug completed the top 10 fastest-declining breeds for that period.

The overall KC registration figure fell from 187,772 in 2024 to 158,901 in 2025, a drop of around 15%. But the flat-faced breeds fell far harder than the market average, which points to something more specific than a general dip in dog ownership.

What Is Happening to Flat-Faced Dog Breeds in the UK?

The numbers here are stark. Between 2016 and 2025, KC registrations for the three key brachycephalic breeds collapsed:

• Pug: down 92%, from 10,408 registrations in 2016 to 834 in 2025
• French Bulldog: down 64%, from 21,470 to 7,750
• English Bulldog: down 65%, from 7,785 to 2,711

Source: UK Brachycephalic Working Group, citing Royal Kennel Club data (May 2026).

Brachycephalic dogs, which have shortened skulls and flattened faces, can suffer from a range of serious health conditions: breathing difficulties caused by Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), overheating, eye problems, skin fold infections, and complications during birth. These health concerns have been central to a decade-long public awareness campaign by the UK Brachycephalic Working Group, the British Veterinary Association and veterinary organisations including the BSAVA.

The BVA's #BreedToBreathe campaign and the BWG's sustained push to encourage prospective buyers to “stop and think before buying a flat-faced dog” appear to be working, though welfare organisations stress that unregistered brachycephalic dogs, which fall outside KC statistics entirely, remain widely sold.

New breeding regulations are also coming into effect in the UK that will tighten standards on features such as flat faces and excessive skin folds. The registration decline is likely to continue.

Are Crossbreeds More Popular Than Pedigrees in the UK?

KC registration figures only capture one part of the UK dog population. Crossbreeds cannot be KC-registered, which means the country's most popular puppy types are entirely absent from the official data.

Research from the Royal Veterinary College's VetCompass programme found that among dogs under one year old in the UK, the most common types were:

1. 1.Non-designer crossbreed (20%)
2. 2.French Bulldog (7%)
3. 3.Cockapoo (6.2%)
4. 4.Labrador Retriever (5.8%)
5. 5.English Cocker Spaniel (4.7%)
6. 6.Chihuahua (4.2%)

The Cockapoo, a Cocker Spaniel crossed with a Poodle, is effectively the second most popular puppy type in the country and does not appear in a single KC table.

The PDSA PAW Report 2023 found that 55% of UK dog owners described their dog as a pedigree, while 28% said crossbreed and 14% said specialist crossbreed (such as a Labradoodle). That 14% figure has risen from 8% in 2017 and is still climbing. The shift away from registered pedigrees towards designer crosses is one of the most significant structural changes in UK dog ownership of the past decade.

Are Designer Crossbreeds Actually Healthier Than Pedigrees?

Many owners choose Cockapoos, Labradoodles, and Cavapoos partly on the belief that crossbreeding produces healthier, more robust dogs through hybrid vigour. The evidence is more complicated.

A 2024 peer-reviewed study published in PLOS One, which surveyed owners of Cockapoos, Labradoodles and Cavapoos alongside their purebred parent breeds, found that the health picture was mixed. Designer crossbreeds did not consistently show better health outcomes than their progenitor breeds. Cockapoos, in particular, showed more undesirable traits than their parent breeds in the majority of behavioural comparisons. Labradoodles showed a more mixed result.

This does not mean crossbreeds are unhealthy. Many are robust, well-tempered dogs that thrive in family homes. It does mean that the assumption of automatic hybrid health benefit is not well-supported by current evidence, and that each crossbreed type should be assessed on its own merits rather than as a category.

The practical takeaway for buyers: focus on the breeder's practices and the health of the parent dogs, not on whether the puppy is pedigree or crossbreed.

What Is the Most Common Dog in the UK?

The Labrador Retriever is the most registered pedigree dog breed in the UK, with 34,141 KC registrations in 2024. However, when the full dog population is considered, including unregistered pedigrees and all crossbreeds, the non-pedigree crossbreed is the single most common type of dog in the country. The PDSA PAW Report 2023 estimated the UK dog population at 11 million, with crossbreeds making up the largest individual group within that total.

The Royal Effect: How the Monarchy Shapes UK Breed Trends

Britain's relationship with royal dogs is older than any modern breed trend. The Corgi's long association with Queen Elizabeth II drove significant registration peaks throughout her reign. The Jack Russell is following a similar path under Queen Camilla, with a 75% registration surge in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

The Cocker Spaniel is another current beneficiary of royal attention. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Cocker Spaniel, Orla, recently welcomed a litter of puppies, adding to a broader profile that helped the Cocker Spaniel climb from third to second in the KC rankings in 2024, its highest position since 1953 when it was the nation's top breed.

These patterns are real and significant, but they are worth watching carefully. Rapid popularity surges driven by celebrity or royal association can outpace responsible breeding supply, pushing buyers towards lower-welfare breeders and increasing the risk of poorly bred dogs entering the market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Kennel Club Breed Registration Statistics 2024, published February 2026 (via Statista)
• UK Brachycephalic Working Group, registration data report (May 2026), reported by Vet Times and Companion Life
• PDSA Animal Wellbeing Report 2023, pdsa.org.uk
• Royal Veterinary College VetCompass Programme, National Dog Survey 2023, rvc.ac.uk
• PLOS One: "The doodle dilemma" (2024), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0306350
• PLOS One: "Comparing undesirable behaviours between designer Poodle-cross dogs" (2026), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0342847
• Briefcase PR analysis of KC registration data (April 2026), reported by Yorkshire Live and Good News Post
• Countryfile.com UK breed registration breakdown (March 2025, citing KC 2024 data)

This page is updated annually to reflect the latest Kennel Club registration statistics. Figures on this page reflect the full 2024 calendar year and early 2025 trends where data is available.