Guidance you can understand.

Sources and photograph credit

We use breed organisations for standards, veterinary sources for health and scientific papers for population-level findings. Sources are collected at the end of each profile. Veterinary guidance may be UK-specific; confirm local recommendations with your own veterinary practice.

At a glance

Activity, experience and everyday suitability are editorial categories, not measured properties of every dog. Size filters use practical small, medium and large groups; breed organisations may classify differently. Missing figures and non-comparable barking information remain unknown.

Which dog fits my life?

The finder compares your answers with the breed information. If the dog would not regularly be left alone, time without care does not exclude a breed. With “up to about two hours”, breeds with a shorter documented limit are excluded. With “about two to four hours”, breeds with a documented limit below four hours are excluded. If alone-time information is missing, a breed can be no more than a partial match when regular absences are planned. More than four hours without care or less than 30 minutes of daily exercise stop recommendations. Costs are not scored; the cost planner helps you prepare a budget. Size, insufficient experience for a breed that needs it, intensive training needs and some situations involving children or other animals can exclude breeds. Less time for other training or grooming, and a mismatch with the home, lower the score. A preference for less shedding also affects the order. The same answers always produce the same order.

A strong match requires at least eight points and no conflict with your answers. All questions must be answered. The breed also needs information on grooming, housing, children, other animals and shedding. If you plan regular time without care, it also needs documented alone-time guidance. Missing information limits the result to a partial match. From four points, a breed may appear as a partial match. The points are not a probability of success. The result shows the reasons and what you still need to check.

The rules award three points for enough exercise time, two for the preferred size, two for sufficient grooming time, one when your experience fits the breed’s needs and two when the training you plan is enough. A low-shedding preference adds one point for a breed in that category and otherwise deducts two. A suitable flat adds one point; a housing conflict deducts one. Insufficient grooming time deducts three points, insufficient training two; a busy environment for a breed needing quiet also deducts two. Missing breed data or skipped questions limit the result to a partial match. Barking is not scored because comparable data is unavailable. We show up to four suitable breeds with the highest scores. Tied scores use a fixed order, so the same answers give the same results.

Suggestions are an initial guide drawn from our published directory. They do not replace meeting a dog and talking to knowledgeable people. Mixed breeds and rescue dogs may be a good fit too.

Assessing cat breeds

The cat finder compares play and care needs with your answers. Breeds with missing activity or care data, or needs beyond your stated availability, are excluded. Size, experience and documented information about children and other animals further narrow the selection. A busy home for a breed assessed as needing quiet lowers the score and is explained. Home preparation does not change the ranking; we link to an equipment guide where helpful. Missing breed facts or skipped answers limit confidence. There are no percentages or guarantees about an individual cat. As with dogs, up to four breeds are shown; browse the directory for further profiles.

How we work

New profiles are published only after core facts, original text, image rights and health sources have been checked. We do not publish empty profiles or automatically generated filter landing pages. Please report errors through our existing support contact.