Dog breed quiz: which breed suits you?
The right breed is the one that fits the life you actually live, not the one you admire from a distance. Answer five questions about your home, your time and how much grooming you will keep up, and see which breeds fit, then meet dogs of those breeds waiting in UK rescues.
The short answer
The dog breed that suits you is set by three things you can check honestly: how much exercise you will give every day, how much space you have, and how much grooming you will keep up. Looks and personality are the fun part, but those three decide whether a dog settles. The quiz below checks your answers against what the Royal Kennel Club says each breed needs, and then shows you real dogs rather than stopping at a breed name.
Where do you live?
How this quiz decides which dog breed suits you
Each breed has the Royal Kennel Club's own answers to four questions: how much exercise it needs a day, what size of home suits it, how often it needs grooming, and whether its coat sheds. A breed fits when it asks for no more than you said you can give. Giving more is fine: a dog that needs an hour is happy with two.
The exercise question uses the Kennel Club's bands, which go from up to 30 minutes a day to more than two hours, so a Border Collie or a Husky is described as it is. Where the Kennel Club gives different answers for types of one breed, such as the Rough and Smooth Collie or the Toy, Miniature and Standard Poodle, the quiz scores the more demanding one or lists each type, and says so on the result.
Results come in order of fit, then by how many dogs of that breed UK rescues have listed right now, because a breed you can actually meet is more use than one you can't.
Breed is a starting point. The individual dog is the answer.
A breed tells you what a dog tends to need. It doesn't tell you about the dog in front of you, and rescue dogs often come with a history the breed label can't explain. The people who know that dog best are the rescue staff and fosters who have looked after it.
It also matters because so many rescue dogs have no single breed. Right now 795 of the 2057 dogs listed on LocalPetFinder are crossbreeds or lurchers. Search only by breed and you'll never see them, yet the things this quiz asks about, exercise, space and grooming, apply to them just as much.
So use the result to understand what shape of dog fits your life, then search rescue dogs near you and ask the rescue about the ones you like.
Frequently asked questions
Tap a question to expand
How does the dog breed quiz work?
It compares your answers with the Royal Kennel Club's breed information for 36 breeds: daily exercise, size of home, how often to groom, and whether the coat sheds. A breed fits when it needs no more than you said you can give. Results show the Kennel Club's own wording, so you can see why each breed made the list.
Is a dog that does not shed good for allergies?
The quiz only uses the Royal Kennel Club coat listing, which says whether a coat sheds. It is not an allergy test, and we have not found a source we trust that lists breeds as safe for allergy sufferers. Spend time with the dog before you adopt, and ask the rescue.
What if no breed fits all my answers?
The quiz says so and shows the closest breeds, each with the one thing that does not fit. That is useful to know before you fall for a breed. Decide which answer could change, or ask a rescue which of their dogs would suit your home as it is.
Can I find these breeds in rescue?
Yes. Each result links to the dogs of that breed listed by UK rescues on LocalPetFinder, with a live count, and the results show some of those dogs. Rescues know each dog as an individual, so ask them how the dog you like matches your home, whatever the breed tends to need.