The Dog is the eleventh of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. Recent Dog years are 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 and 2018, and the next begins on February 3, 2030. Because the year starts on Lunar New Year and not on January 1, people born in January or February should check the date. The sign is traditionally said to be loyal, honest and protective.
What years are Dog years?
Dog years are 12 years apart. Here are the first and last days of each, and the element that belongs to it.
| Dog year | First day | Last day | Element |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | February 14, 1934 | February 3, 1935 | Wood |
| 1946 | February 2, 1946 | January 21, 1947 | Fire |
| 1958 | February 18, 1958 | February 7, 1959 | Earth |
| 1970 | February 6, 1970 | January 26, 1971 | Metal |
| 1982 | January 25, 1982 | February 12, 1983 | Water |
| 1994 | February 10, 1994 | January 30, 1995 | Wood |
| 2006 | January 29, 2006 | February 17, 2007 | Fire |
| 2018 | February 16, 2018 | February 4, 2019 | Earth |
| 2030 | February 3, 2030 | January 22, 2031 | Metal |
| 2042 | January 22, 2042 | February 9, 2043 | Water |
Born in January or February? Look at the day
The zodiac year turns on Lunar New Year, which can be any date from January 21 to February 20. Until that day arrives, babies still belong to the previous animal, the Rooster.
- Born on February 5, 1994? The Dog year began on February 10. You are a Rooster.
- Born on February 10, 2018? Also a Rooster. The Dog year started on February 16.
- Born on February 1, 2007? You are a Dog. Most people born in 2007 are Pigs, but the Dog year continued until February 17.
For any other date, use the tool below. It shows the animal and the element for the exact birthday, and it is the one found on the Birthday Profile page.
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What is the Dog's personality said to be?
Of all the zodiac portraits, the Dog's is the closest to what people say about the animal itself. People born in a Dog year are traditionally said to be loyal, honest and protective. National Museums Liverpool describes the sign as loyal and honest, a good colleague, quick-witted and candid, and generous. Its less flattering notes are that a Dog can be stubborn and sometimes lazy, though always ready for an adventure.
Traits commonly attached to the sign:
- Said to be strengths: faithfulness, a sense of fairness, courage on behalf of others, plain speaking.
- Said to be weaknesses: stubbornness, worry, a critical streak, slowness to trust.
How seriously should this be taken? Not very. The Victoria and Albert Museum points out that connecting a person's character with their birth year is a fairly recent development, and that old Chinese texts say nothing of it. Roughly one person in 12 is born in a Dog year, and loyalty is not rationed by date of birth.
What are the five types of Dog?
Each year has an element in addition to an animal. There are five, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, and they follow a cycle of ten "heavenly stems" that turns alongside the 12 animals. The result is that any one pairing, such as Metal and Dog, occurs only once in 60 years.
Dog years end in an even number, and the last digit gives the element.
| Type | Years | Year ends in | The element is traditionally linked with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood Dog | 1934, 1994 | 4 | Growth, generosity and cooperation |
| Fire Dog | 1946, 2006 | 6 | Passion, energy and leadership |
| Earth Dog | 1958, 2018 | 8 | Stability, patience and practicality |
| Metal Dog | 1970, 2030 | 0 | Determination, discipline and strength |
| Water Dog | 1982, 2042 | 2 | Flexibility, intuition and communication |
The element is said to tune the animal's character. A Metal Dog is described as the most principled and unbending of the five, a Water Dog as the most easygoing. This is folklore as well.
Why is the Dog near the end of the Great Race?
The legend gives more than one reason. In the usual story, the Jade Emperor had the animals race across a river for a place in the calendar, and the Dog came in eleventh, ahead of only the Pig.
One playful version, retold by The China Project, explains it with a pun. The Emperor had meant to stop at ten animals. When he called out "That's enough!", which in Mandarin is gou, the official taking notes heard gou in a different tone, the word for dog, and wrote the Dog into the list. The Pig got in the same way.
Both are folktales. The rest of the race is on our page about Chinese New Year animals.
Behind the animals is an older series of counters, the 12 "earthly branches." The Dog's is the eleventh, written 戌 (xu); the everyday word for the animal is 狗 (gou). On the traditional clock the branch covers 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
What does a Dog year mean if you are a Dog?
Babies born from February 3, 2030 to January 22, 2031 will be Metal Dogs. For everyone born in an earlier Dog year, 2030 is their own sign's year again, at 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60. Those who turn 60 were born in the Metal Dog year of 1970, so the element returns along with the animal.
By a common folk belief, that is not a lucky year. A person's own zodiac year, the ben ming nian, is traditionally viewed as a hurdle, and the custom associated with it is wearing red. It is a belief and nothing more.
Which signs is the Dog said to get along with?
In the traditional scheme, the Dog forms a group of three with the Tiger and the Horse and is paired with the Rabbit. Its opposite, six places away in the cycle, is the Dragon. What these sets rest on, and why they are folklore, is covered in our guide to Chinese zodiac compatibility.
The Dog follows the Rooster, and the Pig follows the Dog. For the year about to begin, see Year of the Goat 2027.