Breed quiz: which dog fits your life

How scoring works

Every question is scored from 0 to 10 against one part of each breed profile, and the 11 scores are added together and shown as a percentage. Nothing is hidden: the same ratings you see on a breed profile are the ratings used here. The breed profiles follow the standards of the AKC, The Kennel Club and the FCI, and our methodology page explains how we check and source them.

• Your home is scored against the breed's apartment suitability rating: well suited, suited with enough exercise, or not ideal. A house softens the penalty, and a big garden or land removes it.
• Hours alone is scored against the breed's energy rating and barking rating, both from 1 to 5. More hours alone penalises high energy, vocal breeds the most, because they are the dogs most likely to struggle with a long, quiet day.
• Your activity level is scored against the middle of the breed's daily exercise range in minutes. Short strolls count as about 30 minutes, a proper daily walk as 60, active outdoor days as 90, and a running and hiking partner as 120. The closer the match, the higher the score.
• Children at home is scored against the breed's children rating. Breeds rated good with children score full marks at any age; breeds rated better with older children score well for older children and poorly for children under 10.
• Other dogs at home is scored against the breed's rating with other dogs, from good with dogs down to prefers its own kind.
• Shedding is scored against the breed's shedding rating from 1 to 5. If you want as little shedding as possible, a rating of 1 scores 10 and a rating of 5 scores 2.
• Grooming effort is scored against the breed's grooming rating from 1 to 5, in the same way: minimal effort wanted rewards low grooming breeds.
• Barking tolerance is scored against the breed's barking rating from 1 to 5. If the dog must be on the quiet side, a rating of 1 scores 10 and a rating of 5 scores 2.
• Your dog experience is scored against the breed's trainability rating from 1 to 5. First time owners get the widest spread, and a giant breed with high energy loses extra points for a first dog, because size plus energy is a hard first combination. Experienced owners score 10 across the board.
• Monthly budget is scored against an estimated monthly cost for each breed: food worked out from typical adult weight with the standard energy formula used across this site, plus the middle of the breed's insurance range. A breed inside your budget scores 10, a breed up to a quarter over it scores 5, and a breed further over scores 1.
• Size preference is scored against the breed's size class: toy, small, medium, large or giant. An exact class match scores 10 and neighbouring classes score lower the further away they are.

The quiz is a starting shortlist, not a verdict. It compares typical breed traits with the life you described; it cannot judge an individual dog, your exact home, or how much training and help you will have. Use your results to read full profiles, then meet real dogs before you decide.

Ratings come from the breed profiles on this site, which follow AKC, Kennel Club and FCI standards. Cost figures are planning estimates from the formulas above, not quotes. See how we verify for sources.