While I believe that all dogs are good dogs, only one can take the crown as the most popular, and Indiana's favorite breed was surprising.

For the Love of Dogs

According to Forbes, dogs are the most popular pet for U.S. households as 44.5% of U.S. households own dogs whereas 29% own cats. It's safe to say that whether you have a cat or a dog (or maybe both) Americans love their pets, but which breeds are people the most fond of?

When it comes to dog breeds I'm personally a fan of the "mutt."  Both of my dogs (pictured above) were adopted through local rescues and fall into the "pitbull" category, even though who knows what breeds they're actually mixed with.  So while I think it's fun to learn about the top dogs in the country, there will forever be a special place in my heart for a lovable mutt (especially of the bully breed persuasion) and I encourage you to not count out local shelter pets when looking for your next furry family member.  

Indiana's Favorite Dog Breed

Recently, U.S. News broke down the most popular dog breeds in the United States, and then broke those statistics down even further, to the most popular dog breed in every state. And according to U.S. News, the most popular dog breed in the Hoosier State is...the chihuahua.

Listen, no shade to our small timid friends, but I'll be honest, the results here did shock me. I thought for sure it would be something like a labrador or golden retriever.  But nope, the small (but big in personality) chihuahua is the top dog in Indiana. If you are also a little surprised at this result, you may want to know how they figured out the chihuahua's popularity. U.S. News' research was based on more than 800,000 data points.

Our 360 Reviews team analyzed 811,798 data points from a third-party pet insurance industry partner fall of 2023. The 800,000+ data points analyzed included dog breeds (including hybrid breeds) and state residence, which was filtered by state and ranked to show the most popular dog breeds in each state.

 

The Top Five Dog Breeds in Indiana

U.S. News also ranked the top five most popular dog breeds in Indiana, and they are as follows:

H/T: I am shocked! This is New Jersey’s favorite dog breed! (nj1015.com) for inspiring me to find the results for my own state.