Poodles pop in popularity, but Labs still No. 1 US dog breed

NEW YORK (AP) — Labrador retrievers are still tugging hardest on U.S. dog lovers’ heartstrings, but poodles just strutted back into the American Kennel Club’s top five most popular dog breeds for the first time since 1997. The club’s annual popularity rankings come out Tuesday (March 15, 2022). They’re drawn from more than 800,000 purebred puppies and older pooches that joined the nation’s oldest canine registry last year. Labs have been No. 1 for an unprecedented 31 straight years. Rounding out the top five are French bulldogs, golden retrievers, German shepherds and poodles. After that come bulldogs, beagles, Rottweilers, German shorthaired pointers and dachshunds.