Random Dog Breed Generator: 268 Breeds With Size, Country and a Fact: how it works
The 268 breeds on this page are all recognised by the FCI, the largest international federation of kennel clubs, from the Chihuahua, the smallest recognised breed, to the Irish wolfhound. One press draws five, each with its type, size, country and a checked fact. Pick a type and a size together: Terriers and Small leaves 27 breeds.
Where the type, country and size come from
The Fédération Cynologique Internationale sorts its breeds into ten groups, and the eight Type chips follow them. Pointers, retrievers, spaniels and water dogs share Gun dogs, and the Dachshund, a group to itself, sits with the scent hounds. The country is the one the FCI lists a breed under, so the Siberian husky, bred by the Chukchi of Siberia, shows the United States. Size is our own band, from the tallest shoulder height in the breed's article: small up to 41 cm, medium up to 61 cm, large above.
A dog breed randomizer with a tick sheet
Tick the breeds you have seen and the tally counts them, and a ticked breed stays while the next press changes the rest. Draw up to 40 and press Print: the sheet comes out with an empty box beside each breed. For a quiz, press Hide all facts, read out a name and ask for its country. Save the Norwegian lundehund for last: six toes on each foot, and it once climbed cliffs to hunt puffins.
Tips
Tap Sighthounds for the 13 breeds that hunt by sight. Eleven are large, and the Italian greyhound is the only small one.
Seven breeds pass only Any size. Six come in several sizes, the Poodle and the Dachshund among them, and the Bull terrier's FCI standard sets no height.
Writers: draw one breed for a character's dog.
Questions and answers
Does the random dog breed generator include mixed breeds?
No. Every breed here is on the FCI's list, so this random dog generator leaves out mixed-breed dogs and crossbreeds such as the Labradoodle. Each fact was checked against its Wikipedia article in September 2026. Wolves, foxes and the Dingo are in the random animal generator.
How many dog breeds are there?
It depends who is counting. In September 2026 the FCI's ten group pages held 344 breeds, and national kennel clubs keep lists of their own. This page holds 268 of the FCI's breeds, each with a Wikipedia article to check a fact against.
Why is the Pomeranian listed under Germany?
The FCI counts the Pomeranian as the smallest variety of the German spitz, so it shares that breed's number and country. The Keeshond is there too, as the Wolfsspitz. Most people know both by their own names, so each has a card here.
🐕BeagleSmall scent hound, Great Britain. In the United States the Beagle Brigade sniffs out food in luggage.
🐕Black and tan coonhoundLarge scent hound, United States. Hunts raccoons by scent, with a loud baying bark.
🐕BloodhoundLarge scent hound, Belgium. Famous for following a human scent trail that is days old.
🐕DachshundDachshund in several sizes, Germany. Its name is German for badger dog. It has an FCI group to itself.
🐕DalmatianMedium relative of the scent hounds, Croatia. Puppies are born white and get their spots later.
🐕DreverSmall scent hound, Sweden. A short-legged hound used for hunting deer and other game.
🐕English foxhoundLarge scent hound, Great Britain. A pack hound bred to hunt foxes.
🐕Finnish houndMedium scent hound, Finland. Used to hunt hare and fox.
🐕Grand basset griffon VendéenMedium scent hound, France. A French hunting hound derived from the Grand Griffon.
🐕Grand bleu de GascogneLarge scent hound, France. A tall French pack hound with a mottled blue-looking coat.
🐕HamiltonstövareMedium scent hound, Sweden. Named after Count Adolf Hamilton, who founded the Swedish Kennel Club.
🐕Hanover houndMedium leash hound, Germany. Tracks wounded animals. It descends from the bloodhounds of medieval times.
🐕HarrierMedium scent hound, Great Britain. Bred to hunt hares, between the beagle and the English foxhound in size.
🐕Italian short-haired segugioMedium scent hound, Italy. The smooth-haired one of the two kinds of Segugio Italiano.
🐕OtterhoundLarge scent hound, Great Britain. Bred to hunt otters, with a rough, waterproof coat.
🐕Petit basset griffon VendéenSmall scent hound, France. Bred to trail hares through the brambles of the Vendée.
🐕Polish houndLarge scent hound, Poland. A hunting dog with a keen sense of smell.
🐕PorcelaineMedium scent hound, France. White, sometimes with orange spots on the ears.
🐕Rhodesian ridgebackLarge relative of the scent hounds, South Africa. Bred to bay lions. Its ridge is hair growing the other way.
🐕Spanish houndMedium scent hound, Spain. A scent hound from the far north of the Iberian Peninsula.
🐕Swiss houndMedium scent hound, Switzerland. A Swiss scent hound that comes in four colour varieties.
🐕Transylvanian houndLarge scent hound, Hungary. From Transylvania, once in the Kingdom of Hungary and now part of Romania.
Sighthounds 13
🐕Afghan houndLarge sighthound, Afghanistan. Has a long silky coat. It comes from the cold mountains of Afghanistan.
🐕AzawakhLarge sighthound, Mali. A tall, lean sighthound of the Tuareg and other nomads of the Sahel.
🐕BorzoiLarge sighthound, Russia. Bred in Russia to hunt wolves.
🐕Galgo EspañolLarge sighthound, Spain. The Spanish greyhound, bred for coursing hare.
🐕GreyhoundLarge sighthound, Great Britain. Built for speed, it has been used for coursing and for greyhound racing.
🐕Irish wolfhoundLarge sighthound, Ireland. Hounds like it once hunted wolves in Ireland.
🐕Italian greyhoundSmall sighthound, Italy. The smallest of the sighthounds.
🐕Magyar agárLarge sighthound, Hungary. Its other name, Hungarian greyhound, is a misnomer.
🐕Polish greyhoundLarge sighthound, Poland. First bred to hunt great bustards and wolves.
🐕SalukiLarge sighthound, Middle East. Used by nomads to hunt gazelle.
🐕Scottish deerhoundLarge sighthound, Great Britain. Bred to run down red deer.
🐕SloughiLarge sighthound, Morocco. Also called the Arabian greyhound, and still used for hunting in North Africa.
🐕WhippetMedium sighthound, Great Britain. Between the greyhound and the Italian greyhound in size, and very fast.
Spitz and primitive dogs 45
🐕AkitaLarge Asian spitz, Japan. Hachikō, who waited daily for his master at Shibuya Station, was an Akita.
🐕Alaskan malamuteLarge sled dog, United States. Bred for the strength to haul heavy freight as a sled dog.
🐕American AkitaLarge Asian spitz, Japan. Split from the Japanese Akita by the FCI in 1999 and named American Akita in 2006.
🐕BasenjiMedium primitive-type dog, Central Africa. Does not bark in the usual way. It makes a yodel-like sound.
🐕Canaan dogMedium primitive-type dog, Israel. The national dog of Israel.
🐕Canadian Eskimo dogLarge sled dog, Canada. A working dog of the Arctic, once the way Inuit travelled in northern Canada.
🐕Chow ChowMedium Asian spitz, China. Has a blue-black tongue and a mane like a lion's.
🐕Cirneco dell'EtnaMedium primitive-type hunting dog, Italy. Hunts rabbits on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily.
🐕East Siberian laikaLarge Nordic hunting dog, Russia. A Russian hunting spitz from Siberia east of the Yenisei River.
🐕EurasierMedium Asian spitz, Germany. Created in Germany in 1960 from the Chow Chow and the wolf-grey spitz.
🐕Finnish lapphundMedium Nordic herder or watchdog, Finland. Comes from the reindeer-herding dogs of the Sami people.
🐕Finnish spitzMedium Nordic hunting dog, Finland. The national dog of Finland. It barks to show where a bird is sitting.
🐕German spitzEuropean spitz in several sizes, Germany. Has five varieties, from the Keeshond to the tiny Pomeranian.
🐕Greenland dogLarge sled dog, Greenland. Descends from dogs the Thule people brought from Siberia 1,000 years ago.
🐕HokkaidoMedium Asian spitz, Japan. Also called the Ainu dog. Japan named it a living natural monument in 1937.
🐕Ibizan houndLarge primitive-type hunting dog, Spain. A lean, agile hound with large upright ears.
🐕Icelandic sheepdogMedium Nordic herder or watchdog, Iceland. The only dog breed native to Iceland, brought by the Vikings.
🐕JämthundLarge Nordic hunting dog, Sweden. Also called the Swedish elkhound. It has hunted bear, elk, wolf and lynx.
🐕Japanese spitzSmall Asian spitz, Japan. Developed in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s, with a thick, pure white coat.
🐕Kai KenMedium Asian spitz, Japan. A brindle hunting dog. Puppies are born one solid colour and grow their stripes.
🐕Karelian bear dogMedium Nordic hunting dog, Finland. Used on large game such as brown bear, moose and wild boar.
🐕KeeshondMedium European spitz, Germany. Counted by the FCI as the Wolfsspitz. Once called the Dutch barge dog.
🐕KishuMedium Asian spitz, Japan. A hunting dog. Most are white today, though early on most were not.
🐕Korean JindoMedium Asian spitz, South Korea. From the island of Jindo. It is one of South Korea's National Treasures.
🐕Lapponian herderMedium Nordic herder or watchdog, Finland. One of three breeds from the dogs the Sami used to herd reindeer.
🐕NorrbottenspetsMedium Nordic hunting dog, Sweden. A hunting spitz named after Norrbotten in the far north of Sweden.
🐕Norwegian buhundMedium Nordic herder or watchdog, Norway. A farm dog that herds and keeps watch.
🐕Norwegian elkhoundMedium Nordic hunting dog, Norway. The national dog of Norway, known for tracking elk and other large game.
🐕Norwegian lundehundSmall Nordic hunting dog, Norway. Has six toes on each foot and once climbed cliffs to hunt puffins.
🐕Peruvian hairless dogPrimitive-type dog in several sizes, Peru. Kept in Peru in Inca times and by cultures before the Incas.
🐕Pharaoh houndLarge primitive-type dog, Malta. The only Maltese breed recognised internationally. It hunts rabbits.
🐕PomeranianSmall European spitz, Germany. The FCI counts it as a German spitz. Queen Victoria owned a very small one.
🐕Portuguese podengoPrimitive-type hunting dog in several sizes, Portugal. Its small, medium and large sizes are not interbred.
🐕SamoyedMedium sled dog, Northern Russia and Siberia. Descends from the Nenets herding laika, a reindeer herder.
🐕Shiba InuSmall Asian spitz, Japan. Bred to flush small game such as birds and rabbits.
🐕ShikokuMedium Asian spitz, Japan. From the mountainous island of Shikoku, where it hunted deer and boar.
🐕Siberian huskyMedium sled dog, United States. Bred by the Chukchi of Siberia. Teams ran in the 1925 serum run to Nome.
🐕Swedish lapphundMedium Nordic herder or watchdog, Sweden. Called the black beauty of Norrland. Its ancestors herded reindeer.
🐕Swedish vallhundSmall Nordic herder or watchdog, Sweden. A short-legged herder of cows, bred in Sweden over 1,000 years ago.
🐕Taiwan dogMedium primitive-type hunting dog, Taiwan. Also called the Formosan mountain dog.
🐕Thai Bangkaew dogMedium Asian spitz, Thailand. Comes from Bangkaew village in central Thailand.
🐕Thai ridgebackMedium primitive-type hunting dog, Thailand. Has a ridge of hair along its back, in eight patterns.
🐕Volpino ItalianoSmall European spitz, Italy. Solid white, red or black. It nearly died out by the 1960s.
🐕West Siberian laikaMedium Nordic hunting dog, Russia. A hunting spitz that comes from the dogs of the Mansi and Khanty people.
🐕XoloitzcuintlePrimitive-type dog in several sizes, Mexico. A hairless breed named after the Aztec god Xolotl.
Gun dogs 48
🐕American cocker spanielSmall flushing dog, United States. The smallest sporting dog recognised by the American Kennel Club.
🐕American water spanielMedium water dog, United States. The state dog of Wisconsin.
🐕BarbetLarge water dog, France. A French water dog with a long, woolly, curly coat.
🐕Blue Picardy spanielMedium pointing dog, France. A French spaniel from around the mouth of the River Somme.
🐕Bracco ItalianoLarge pointing dog, Italy. Dogs like it appear in paintings as far back as the fourteenth century.
🐕Braque d'AuvergneLarge pointing dog, France. A black and white pointer from the Auvergne in France.
🐕Braque du BourbonnaisMedium pointing dog, France. A French pointer that is sometimes born with a short tail.
🐕BrittanyMedium pointing dog, France. A French gun dog whose tail may be short or missing at birth.
🐕Český fousekLarge pointing dog, Czech Republic. A pointer with a beard. Fousek comes from a Czech word for whiskers.
🐕Chesapeake Bay retrieverLarge retriever, United States. The state dog of Maryland.
🐕Clumber spanielMedium flushing dog, Great Britain. Named after Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire.
🐕Curly-coated retrieverLarge retriever, Great Britain. The tallest retriever, covered in a mass of tight curls.
🐕Drentsche patrijshondLarge pointing dog, Netherlands. A partridge dog from the Dutch province of Drenthe.
🐕English cocker spanielSmall flushing dog, Great Britain. The word cocker comes from flushing woodcock.
🐕English pointerLarge pointer, Great Britain. Freezes and points its nose at hidden game birds.
🐕English setterLarge setter, Great Britain. Its flecked coat pattern is called belton.
🐕English springer spanielMedium flushing dog, Great Britain. Named for flushing, or springing, game birds.
🐕Field spanielMedium flushing dog, Great Britain. Now rare, even in the United Kingdom.
🐕Flat-coated retrieverLarge retriever, Great Britain. Usually black, sometimes liver.
🐕French spanielLarge pointing dog, France. One of the largest spaniel breeds.
🐕German shorthaired pointerLarge pointing dog, Germany. An all-round gun dog that points, retrieves and swims.
🐕German spanielMedium flushing dog, Germany. Also called the Deutscher Wachtelhund, or German quail dog.
🐕German wirehaired pointerLarge pointing dog, Germany. A pointer with a harsh wiry coat, accepted by the FCI in 1954.
🐕Golden retrieverMedium retriever, Great Britain. Bred in nineteenth-century Scotland by Sir Dudley Marjoribanks.
🐕Gordon setterLarge setter, Great Britain. A black and tan setter, kept at the kennels of the 4th Duke of Gordon.
🐕Irish red and white setterLarge setter, Ireland. Almost died out at the end of the 19th century, despite its early origins.
🐕Irish setterLarge setter, Ireland. Its Irish name, sotar rua, means red setter, after its red or chestnut coat.
🐕Irish water spanielMedium water dog, Ireland. A curly-coated spaniel with a smooth tail like a rat's.
🐕KooikerhondjeSmall flushing dog, Netherlands. A spaniel-type dog first used in a decoy to lure ducks.
🐕Labrador retrieverMedium retriever, Great Britain. Descends from fishing dogs of Newfoundland and was developed in Britain.
🐕Lagotto RomagnoloMedium water dog, Italy. An Italian water dog that now hunts truffles.
🐕Large MünsterländerLarge pointing dog, Germany. A black and white German pointing dog.
🐕Nova Scotia duck tolling retrieverMedium retriever, Canada. Plays along the shore to lure ducks closer, which is called tolling.
🐕Old Danish pointerMedium pointing dog, Denmark. A white and brown Danish pointing dog.
🐕Portuguese pointerMedium pointing dog, Portugal. Mainly used to hunt red-legged partridge.
🐕Portuguese water dogMedium water dog, Portugal. Herded fish into nets and carried messages between boats.
🐕PudelpointerLarge pointing dog, Germany. Began as a cross between the poodle and the English pointer.
🐕Small MünsterländerMedium pointing dog, Germany. A versatile German pointing dog from the Münster region.
🐕Spanish water dogMedium water dog, Spain. Has herded sheep, retrieved game from marshes and helped fishermen on the coast.
🐕Spinone ItalianoLarge pointing dog, Italy. Rough-coated. The modern breed began in Piedmont in the nineteenth century.
🐕StabyhounMedium pointing dog, Netherlands. One of the rarest breeds in the world, from Friesland in the Netherlands.
🐕Sussex spanielSmall flushing dog, Great Britain. Its golden liver coat is unique to the breed.
🐕VizslaLarge pointing dog, Hungary. A Hungarian pointer with a golden rust coat.
🐕WeimaranerLarge pointing dog, Germany. Its coat is mouse-grey, roe-grey or silver-grey.
🐕Welsh springer spanielMedium flushing dog, Great Britain. Known for its red and white coat.
🐕WetterhounMedium water dog, Netherlands. A Frisian water dog once kept to hunt otter and polecat in the water.
🐕Wirehaired pointing griffonMedium pointing dog, France. Founded by the Dutch breeder Eduard Korthals, whose kennel was in Germany.
🐕Wirehaired vizslaLarge pointing dog, Hungary. Made in the 1930s by crossing the vizsla with the German wirehaired pointer.
Companion and toy dogs 24
🐕Bichon FriseSmall companion dog, Belgium and France. Its French name means curly-haired small dog.
🐕BologneseSmall companion dog, Italy. Named after the Italian city of Bologna.
🐕Boston terrierSmall companion dog, United States. Called the American Gentleman because its markings look like formal wear.
🐕Cavalier King Charles spanielSmall companion dog, Great Britain. A toy spaniel, larger than its cousin the King Charles spaniel.
🐕ChihuahuaSmall companion dog, Mexico. The smallest recognised dog breed in the world.
🐕Chinese crested dogSmall companion dog, China. Hairless and coated puppies, called Powderpuffs, can be born in the same litter.
🐕Coton de TulearSmall companion dog, Madagascar. Named for its cotton-like coat and the port of Tuléar in Madagascar.
🐕French bulldogSmall companion dog, France. Has ears like a bat's. It comes from toy bulldogs brought to Paris from England.
🐕Griffon BruxelloisSmall companion dog, Belgium. Has a domed head, a short nose and an underbite.
🐕HavaneseSmall companion dog, Cuba. The national dog of Cuba.
🐕Japanese ChinSmall companion dog, Japan. Bred for Japanese royalty.
🐕King Charles spanielSmall companion dog, Great Britain. A toy spaniel made famous by King Charles II, who owned many small dogs.
🐕KromfohrländerMedium companion dog, Germany. Goes back to Peter, a stray dog taken in near Siegen, Germany, in 1945.
🐕Lhasa ApsoSmall companion dog, Tibet. Served as a sentinel at palaces and monasteries high in the Himalayas of Tibet.
🐕LöwchenSmall companion dog, France. The little lion dog, named for its lion-style haircut.
🐕MalteseSmall companion dog, Central Mediterranean Basin. A toy dog with a silky, pure white coat.
🐕PapillonSmall companion dog, Belgium and France. Papillon is French for butterfly, after its wing-shaped ears.
🐕PekingeseSmall companion dog, China. A lapdog of the Chinese imperial court. One legend makes it the child of a lion.
🐩PoodleCompanion dog in several sizes, France. A water dog in four sizes: standard, medium, miniature and toy.
🐕PugSmall companion dog, China. Came from China to Europe in the 1500s. The House of Orange made it popular.
🐕Russian toySmall companion dog, Russia. One of the smallest breeds in the world.
🐕Shih TzuSmall companion dog, Tibet. Its name comes from the Chinese word for lion.
🐕Tibetan spanielSmall companion dog, Tibet. Sat on monastery walls, keeping watch over the countryside.
🐕Tibetan terrierSmall companion dog, Tibet. Despite its name, it is not a member of the terrier group.
How this list was compiled: All 268 entries were checked on 2026-09-18. Every breed is on the breed nomenclature of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) at https://www.fci.be/en/nomenclature/; the FCI number (x.fci), group, section and country were read from the ten group pages there that day, where 344 breed entries were counted. The country is the one the FCI lists the breed under, which is not always where the dogs first lived: the Siberian husky and the Alaskan malamute are listed under the United States, and the Central Asian shepherd dog under Russia. Pomeranian and Keeshond share FCI number 97 with the German spitz, because the FCI counts them as varieties of it. Each fact was read against the breed's English Wikipedia article, fetched that day; the article checked is the x.src URL on each item (for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Lundehund). Facts the article did not state plainly were reworded to what it does say or left out. Size is our own band, from the tallest shoulder height the article gives for the breed: small up to 41 cm, medium up to 61 cm, large above that. A breed whose article gives only a minimum height of 60 cm or more counts as large (Old English sheepdog, Greenland dog). Where the article gives no height the FCI standard was used: Smooth fox terrier (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/012g03-en.pdf), Manchester terrier (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/071g03-en.pdf) and Skye terrier (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/075g03-en.pdf). Four breeds are placed by the weights in their standards: Bulldog, medium (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/149g02-en.pdf); Yorkshire terrier (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/086g03-en.pdf), Cavalier King Charles spaniel (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/136g09-en.pdf) and Pug (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/253g09-en.pdf), small. The Bull terrier has no size because its FCI standard (https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/011g03-en.pdf) sets no height or weight limits. Six breeds come in several sizes and sit outside the size chips: Dachshund, Poodle, German spitz, Xoloitzcuintle, Peruvian hairless dog and Portuguese podengo. The eight type chips follow the ten FCI groups: groups 7 and 8 are joined as Gun dogs, and group 4, the Dachshund alone, sits with the scent hounds of group 6. Our size bands do not always match the size words in FCI section names. Four thin fact lines (Sloughi, Bedlington terrier, Shih Tzu, Irish setter) were rewritten on 2026-09-19 from a fresh read of the same articles. Wording is our own. Licence: own work