The poodle and golden retriever, predecessors to the recent crossbreed phenomenon that is the goldendoodle, continue to rank among the most popular breeds in America, according to the American Kennel Club. With the poodle coming in at number eight and the golden retriever coming in at an impressive number four, both breeds seem to be still among America’s best friends with no signs of dropping in popularity any time soon. Thanks to their reputations as wonderful family dogs with great attitudes, it’s no wonder that the poodle and golden retriever made the list of top 10 dog breeds of 2007.
Thanks to the American Kennel Club’s research into popular breeds in cities around the country, we know a little more about where the poodle and golden retriever find themselves to be the most popular. Poodles have long been a favorite in Manhattan, hitting the top of the list in both 2005 and 2006. They’ve been knocked down to third place, thanks to the rise in popularity of the dachshund and the Labrador retriever, but are still the preferred pooch for many city slickers. The golden retriever, on the other hand, is hanging ten and saying “Aloha!” in Honolulu, where they made the top of the list this year.
Of course, it should come as no surprise that both breeds maintain their popularity, as they have both long been popular choices throughout the twentieth century. The poodle came into its own in 1960, when it started a consecutive reign of an unbelievable twenty-three years. This is a record that still hasn’t been broken – while other breeds may have longer total years in the top spot, none have been back to back. Despite the fact that the golden retriever was bumped from the number two spot last year, the breed has been floating around the top five since the 1990’s, only to be rebuffed from the top spot from its cousin, the Labrador retriever.
Unfortunately, the goldendoodle has not yet been accepted by the American Kennel Club, but fanciers are hopeful that the popularity of the breed will continue to make gaining acceptance a possibility for the future. Until that time, let’s congratulate the poodle and the golden retriever – without them, we wouldn’t have our wonderful goldendoodles!
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