The Complete Dachshund Popularity Ranking by Year: From No. 13 Back to the Top 5

Looking up the dachshund popularity ranking by year should take thirty seconds, and it doesn’t. You see the 2026 headline that Dachshunds just broke into the American Kennel Club’s top five, and then you try to find out where the breed stood in 2010, or the year your own Doxie was born. What you get is a pile of single-year press releases, slideshows that only list the top 10, and the occasional blog that confidently puts the 2002 Dachshund at No. 10 when the AKC’s own table says No. 5.

If you’re a Dachshund person settling a debate, writing a club newsletter, or just curious whether your breed is “trendy” right now, that mess is frustrating. So we went back to the AKC’s own registration tables, including archived pages and scanned AKC Gazette statistics, and pulled the Dachshund’s rank for every year from 1990 through 2025 into one place.

Where does the Dachshund rank in the AKC’s latest list?

The Dachshund ranks No. 5 in the AKC’s 2025 rankings, up from No. 6 in 2024. It passed the Poodle and now sits behind only the French Bulldog, Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever and German Shepherd Dog.

The AKC’s 2025 most popular breeds announcement describes the move plainly: the Dachshund “moved up in popularity from No. 6 to No. 5,” pushing the Poodle out of the top five. As Sidewalk Dog pointed out, that is the breed’s first top-five finish since 2003, a 22-year gap. Our archive check confirms it: the AKC’s tables show No. 5 in 2003, then No. 6 in 2004, and no year inside the top five again until 2025.

One thing to know before you search for a “2026 Dachshund ranking”: it doesn’t exist yet. The AKC publishes each year’s list in the following spring, after the year’s registrations are counted. The 2025 list came out in 2026, so the 2026 list should land sometime in 2027. Any page claiming a final 2026 rank right now is guessing.

The complete Dachshund popularity ranking, year by year (1990-2025)

Here’s the full record. Ranks come from the AKC’s registration statistics for each year. Where the AKC published a registration count for Dachshunds in a source we could open, we’ve included it. Top-five years are highlighted.

If you only want the shape of the Dachshund popularity ranking over 36 years, it’s this: steady top-10 breed in the early 1990s, a peak at No. 4 around the turn of the century, a slow slide that bottomed out at No. 13 in the mid-2010s, then a fast climb back to No. 5.

How the Dachshund’s popularity changed decade by decade

A year-by-year Dachshund popularity ranking is great for lookups, but the decade view makes the trend easier to read. The AKC itself named the Dachshund among the most popular breeds of the 2000s, and the numbers back that up.

1990s: a reliable No. 8, then a breakout

In 1990, the last year the Cocker Spaniel held No. 1, the Dachshund ranked No. 9 with 44,470 registrations. It then sat at No. 8 for five straight years. A 1996 Seattle Times report on the 1995 rankings lists it at No. 8 with 44,680 dogs, behind the Lab, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Golden, Beagle, Poodle and Cocker. By 1998 the Rottweiler and Poodle numbers were falling fast, and the Dachshund moved past them to No. 5.

2000s: the peak and the start of the slide

The Dachshund held No. 4 in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Its 2000 total of 54,773 registrations is the highest count in our dataset. After that it slipped one place every year or two as the Yorkshire Terrier, Boxer and Bulldog moved up.

2010s: the low point

This is the decade most “Dachshund popularity” articles skip, probably because the breed wasn’t in the top 10 for most of it. It fell to No. 11 in 2014 and No. 13 for 2015-2017, according to the AKC’s own full ranking list covering 2014-2018. Breeds like the French Bulldog, German Shorthaired Pointer and Siberian Husky passed it during those years.

2020s: the comeback

The climb back started in 2018 and sped up after 2022. The AKC’s 2023 rankings called out the Dachshund’s jump from No. 9 to No. 6, the biggest single-year gain in this whole record. Two years later it was No. 5.

Is the Dachshund more popular now than in the 1990s?

By rank, roughly the same. It sits at No. 5 now and was No. 4 to No. 9 in the 1990s. By raw registrations, no. Far fewer Dachshunds are AKC-registered today than in 2000.

This is the part that trips people up. In 2000, 54,773 Dachshunds were registered with the AKC. In 2024, according to Dachshund Club of America data cited by ShowSight Magazine, the figure was 19,826 individual dogs from 13,941 litters. AKC registrations fell across most breeds over that period, so rank tells you how the Dachshund compares with other breeds. It doesn’t tell you how many Dachshunds exist.

Keep in mind that the AKC list only counts registered purebreds. Dachshund mixes, rescues without papers and dogs registered elsewhere don’t show up. If you’re curious about the mixes, we built a separate Dachshund mix popularity ranking from real search data.

Why does the AKC ranking matter for Dachshund owners?

For most owners, the rank is fun trivia and a point of breed pride. It also has a practical side. When a breed climbs, more puppies get bred to meet demand, and not all of them come from breeders who work to the breed standard. ShowSight’s analysis notes that only 585 Dachshunds finished AKC championships in 2024, about three percent of the dogs registered that year. Most registered Dachshunds are never evaluated against the standard at all.

That matters when you’re picking a puppy. A popular breed means more choice, but it also means more sellers. Ask about health testing and the parents’ backs. Our guide to Dachshund back problems and IVDD prevention explains why the spine comes first. Be wary of “rare” colors sold at a markup, too. Our dapple Dachshund buyer’s guide covers the double-dapple risk, and the broader Dachshund coats and colors overview shows which patterns are standard.

If you’re still deciding whether a Dachshund fits your life, start with our Dachshund 101 owner’s guide and the breakdown of the different Dachshund types and sizes. The AKC treats the breed as one in its rankings, but miniature and standard Dachshunds with smooth, long or wire coats can be quite different dogs to live with.

How does the AKC calculate breed popularity?

The AKC ranks breeds by the number of individual dogs newly registered with it during the calendar year. It’s a count of registrations, not a survey of owners or search interest.

Three things follow from that. First, all Dachshund sizes and coat varieties are counted together as one breed. Second, breeds newly recognized by the AKC join the list and can push existing breeds down a spot. The AKC notes that three new breeds recognized in January 2026 will debut in the 2026 rankings. Third, registration counts can include dogs born in an earlier year, which is why litter numbers and dog numbers don’t match exactly.

Dachshund AKC ranking FAQ

Methodology: Ranks for 1990-2001 come from the AKC registration statistics archive (scanned AKC Gazette tables) and AKC’s 2001 registration page. Ranks for 2002-2012 come from archived AKC registration statistics pages, which list current and comparison years. Ranks for 2013-2025 come from AKC’s annual ranking pages and articles, with 2021 confirmed through coverage of AKC’s announcement. Where two sources overlapped, they agreed. Registration counts appear only where an AKC table or a cited parent-club figure gave one. This article was written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor.