Find your ideal dog breed

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Ready made lists for families, first time owners, apartments, allergies and more, each worked out from published breed ratings with the rule shown.

• Best dog breeds for families with children (127)
  Every breed whose published profile rates them reliably good with children, the top score of five.
• Best dog breeds for first time owners (25)
  Breeds that ask the least of a new owner on paper: easy with people and dogs, moderate energy, manageable grooming, and not giant.
• Best dog breeds for apartments and small homes (65)
  Toy and small breeds with low or moderate energy, which is the part of apartment life the published profiles can speak to.
• Dog breeds often suggested for allergies (27)
  The breeds the American Kennel Club lists for people with allergies. No dog is allergen free, so read the note below before you choose.
• Low maintenance dog breeds (36)
  Breeds with low grooming needs and low or moderate energy: the least brushing and the fewest miles.
• Best dog breeds for runners and active owners (69)
  The breeds with the highest published energy score. They need an owner who is out every day, and a job for the brain as well as the legs.
• Calm, low energy dog breeds (8)
  The breeds with a low published energy score. Every puppy is busy, so calm here means the adult dog.
• Best dog breeds for homes with other dogs (81)
  Every breed rated reliably good with other dogs, the top score of five.
• Small dog breeds that are good with children (51)
  Toy and small breeds rated usually or reliably good with children.
• Big dog breeds that are good with children (42)
  Large and giant breeds rated reliably good with children, the top score of five.
• Dog breeds with the longest lifespans (63)
  Breeds whose published life expectancy reaches 16 years or more at the top of the range, longest first.

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How the breed finder works

Each answer switches on a few rules, and each rule compares one published breed trait with what the answer asks for. Most traits are the American Kennel Club's own one to five ratings (energy, trainability, barking, shedding, grooming, affection, playfulness, good with children and other dogs, adaptability). The Royal Kennel Club's home size, garden size and exercise guidance adds the rest, along with findings from studies (RVC VetCompass heatstroke records, the Darwin's Ark and Finnish anxiety studies) and the breed advice of the AKC and the PDSA vet charity. Every line under a match names where it comes from.

Where nobody publishes a trait for a breed, the finder counts it as neutral: it neither helps nor sinks that breed, and the card says when much of a score is neutral. No rating is estimated or borrowed from a similar breed.

A rating is a breed tendency, and individual dogs vary. In the Darwin's Ark study of thousands of dogs, breed explained only about 9% of the differences in behaviour between individuals. Meet the parents, ask the breeder or rescue about temperament, and think about an adult dog whose personality is already known.