The numbers don’t lie… here are the winners.

 Most Common Dog Breeds Born in 2022

  1. Cavoodle
  2. Golden Retriever
  3. French Bulldog
  4. Groodle
  5. Border Collie 
  6. Miniature Dachshund
  7. Labradoodle
  8. Labrador
  9. German Shepherd
  10. Maltese Cross

Most Common Cat Breeds Born in 2022

  1. Domestic Shorthair
  2. Ragdoll
  3. British Short Hair
  4. Tabby 
  5. Ragdoll Cross
  6. Maine Coon
  7. Burmese
  8. Devon Rex
  9. Bengal
  10. Peke-Faced Persian

“The Doodle breeds are certainly still a big favourite in Australia, and it’s great to see some cat breeds that were previously rare, like the Bengal and Devon Rex, climbing up the charts,”

Nadia Crighton from Pet Insurance Australia

These statistics give us a really lovely insight into the types of pets Australians are welcoming into their homes. It’s a great mix of traditional pure-bred cats and dogs and our wonderful array of mixed breeds.

When choosing a cat or a dog for your home, researching the type of breed and their compatibility with your lifestyle is always recommended, particularly with dogs as different breeds require different levels of exercise. Some simply adore a Netflix binge on the couch, while others will require a decent amount of exercise to keep them happy and healthy.

Ensuring you choose a pet that suits your lifestyle is very important. Even with cat breeds, some are much more vocal than others, while some felines are ultra smoochy, and some quite aloof.

This information will ensure your future pet will fit with your lifestyle perfectly and prevent the thousands of pets looking for their forever home in a shelter situation.

“We always encourage people to look past the atheistic qualities of a pet and make sure their typical breed traits suit your household,” Crighton says. “Also consider adoption, even if you have a particular breed in mind, contacting local breeders who offer rehoming services or calling your local shelter can allow you to offer a pet a forever home while obtaining the pet of your dreams.”

Also consider:

  • How much room do you have? This will impact the size of the pet you can have.
  • How much time do you have?
  • How active are you and your family?
  • How much training will the dog require? 
  • How much experience do you have with training?

There are plenty of breed selector tools on the internet that can suggest the best breeds for you and your family.

Try dogsaustralia.org.au for a start, or for cats zookie.com.au/breed-selector/cats/