Like the rest of the world, the Swiss have a strong connection to "man’s best friend," with over half a million dogs now registered in the alpine nation. To find out more about our furry friends, animal data centre Identitas has revealed which dogs are most common, the most popular dog names in Switzerland and which towns, cities and cantons are the most dog-mad.
According to the report, 551.964 dogs were registered with the Amicus dog database at the end of February 2025. For certain animal species, including dogs, registration is mandatory in most Swiss cantons, so that canines can be traceable across the country.
Identitas noted that the number of new dogs registered in Switzerland has declined slightly in the last year, after growing consistently in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Much of this previous growth was blamed on the number of families and individuals adopting and buying dogs during the COVID pandemic.
The most popular pure breed of dog in Switzerland is the Labrador Retriever, with 28.992 registrations as of February 2025. Chihuahuas followed in second, with 27.347 of the tiny creatures adorning the handbags of the alpine nation's upwardly mobile. Overall, the top eight most popular breeds are:
Interestingly, none of the most popular pure breeds originate in Switzerland, although 407.882 dogs were classified as either "other breed", "crossbreed" or were not able to be identified.
According to the study, Zurich has the largest number of dogs registered in Switzerland, with 70.102 hounds calling the canton home. This was followed by Bern (65.660) and Vaud (59.199). However, there is evidence to suggest that Zurich may be a cat city, not a dog one, as it has a reported feline population of over 100.000.
Interestingly, Jura has the highest concentration of dogs in the country, with 11,3 pooches per 100 people. Despite the large number of dog residents, because of its high human population, Canton Basel-Stadt has the lowest density of dogs at just 3,1 for every 100 people.
Interestingly, when taken by per capita of population, the small town of Treytorrens in Canton Vaud is the most dog-mad. According to the data, 59 dogs live in the village of just 105 people, of which most are Tibetan Spaniels. The reason? One of the residents breeds them.
Now onto the thorny issue of what to name your four-legged pal. In Switzerland’s case, many follow European trends in naming their pets.
For female dogs, the most popular names in Switzerland nationally are:
Interestingly, the name Luna was the most popular name in German, French and Italian-speaking areas of the country. However, the language regions soon started to disagree over the rest of the podium, with German areas ranking Luna, Kira and Nala as their top three, the Romandie going for Nala in second and Lola in third, and Ticino placing Kira and Mia on the podium.
For male dogs, the overall top 10 are:
While regions of Switzerland were somewhat uniform on girls' names, the three languages can't seem to agree on a coherent podium. German areas placed Rocky first, Balu second and Lucky third, and the Romandie went for Lucky in first, Rocky in second and Max in third. Ticino was the most different with, Leo, Jack and Rocky as the most popular three.
For everything else you need to know about dogs in Switzerland, check out the official website.