Dogs come in all shapes and sizes - the UK Kennel Club recognises 221 different pedigree dogs, from Affenpinscher to Yorkshire Terrier (there are sadly no dog breeds starting with the letter ‘z’!).
Then there are all manner of crossbreeds, from so-called ‘designer dogs’ to lovable mongrels.
Each has its own list of positive and negative attributes, and it’s important to take plenty of time to think about what breed will fit into your lifestyle the best - for instance a smaller dog if you live in a flat, or a hypoallergenic dog if the mere mention of dog hair makes you think about sneezing.
There is even scientific research to guide you, in particular psychologist Stanley Coren’s groundbreaking book The Intelligence of Dogs.
Dog breeds regularly fall in and out of fashion for myriad reasons and the Royal Kennel Club (formerly the UK Kennel Club) keeps an eye on the numbers by publishing how many dogs of each breeds are registered with them each year.
Their figures for 2025 were recently released and Briefcase PR have been crunching the numbers to see which breeds are falling in popularity the fastest by comparing the data from 2025 with the numbers from the year before.
Here are the 10 dog breeds that are currently suffering a drop in popularity.
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9. Border Terrier
Named after the border between England and Scotland where it was first bred, there were 3,181 Border Terrier registrations in 2025, compared to 3,675 the year before - a drop of 494 pooches. | Getty Images
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10. Pug
The wonderfully wrinkly Pug completes our list, with 482 fewer registrations in 2025 than the year before - dropping from 1,316 to 834. | AFP via Getty Images