NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - The Labrador Retriever was named the top dog in the United States on Wednesday for the 20th consecutive year by the American Kennel Club.
The rankings remained largely unchanged from last year with the German Shepherd in second place in 2010, followed by the Yorkshire Terrier. The Beagle beat out the Golden Retriever, which ended up fifth.
Most surprising was a jump in popularity for the Bulldog, which ended up sixth, its highest ranking in a century.
"'Bob' was the first AKC registered Bulldog in 1886, and today the breed enjoys its highest ranking in 100 years at number six," said American Kennel Club spokeswoman Lisa Peterson.
The Boxer, the Dachshund, the Poodle and the diminutive Shih Tzu rounded out the top 10 most popular dogs in the list of 167 breeds. The ranking is based on the number of registrations for the breed with the American Kennel Club.
For next year, the club will expand its breed registry by adding the Norwegian Lundehund, the Xoloitzcuintli and the Entlebucher Mountain Dog.
The club said it saw a rise in popularity of larger dogs, with breeds such as the Great Dane rise from 28th place to 17th or the Mastiff, from 39th to 28th.