Retriever Fever: America's Most Popular Dogs, in Photos

The Labrador retriever is America's best best friend, according to the American Kennel Club. This gallery features "aw"-inducing photos of the top 10 most popular dog breeds in America, as judged by the AKC.

10 photos
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Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
The Labrador retriever has topped the American Kennel Club's most popular dog breed rankings for the twenty-sixth year in a row, the AKC announced on Mar. 21, 2017. Labs are popular across the world as pets and as service dogs. In this file photo, labs march with their handlers during the induction of 30 Labrador retriever dogs in the dog squad of the Delhi Police on April 4, 2016, in New Delhi, India.
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Bennett Raglin/WireImage
German shepherds are America's second most popular dog, according to the AKC. In this photo, 2017 Westminster Kennel Club's Best in Show winner, German Shepard Rumor, enjoys a steak at Sardi's on Feb. 15, 2017, in New York City.
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Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
In third place is the ever-loyal golden retriever. "Mecks," a 5-year-old golden retriever, prefers the sea wall along Quincy Shore Drive in Quincy, Mass., on Dec. 1, 2016 during his daily 3-mile walk with owner Steve Head, of Quincy.
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Corey Perrine/Getty Images
The stout stature, wrinkled face and friendly disposition of the English bulldog brings the breed to number four on the list. Handsome Dan, a 5-month-old bulldog who serves as the Yale mascot, waits on the court before the Princeton Tigers take on his Yale Bulldogs at the Ivy League tournament final at The Palestra on Mar. 12, 2017, in Philadelphia. When not acting as the mascot, the dog goes by Walter.
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Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Beagles, known for their energy and hunting abilities, are America's fifth most popular dog, per the AKC. This playful beagle is pictured during the 9th India International Pet Trade Fair on Feb. 17, 2017, in Noida, India.
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Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
EMPTY_CAPTION"Ollie," a French bulldog — America's sixth most popular dog — is dressed as the superhero The Arrow outside the San Diego Convention Center at Comic Con International 2015 in San Diego on July 10, 2015.
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Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Poodles, the preferred dog for aristocratic women of 19th century France, are also popular among Americans — the seventh most popular dog, in fact — for their trainability and fuzzy curls. Mary, a poodle from Charlottetown, Canada, prepares for a ride with her owners Elsa Xiong, 15, in helmet, and her mother Margaret Wang, on the East Front plaza of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 25, 2015.
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Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Rottweilers have climbed in popularity over the past two decades, coming in at number eight on this year's AKC list. In this photo, 2-year-old Rottweiler Brutus rests outside his home in Loveland, Colorado, on April 2, 2015. Brutus, a full breed Rottweiller, had frost bite as a puppy. His then-owners chopped off his feet by hand and never gave him care afterwards. Laura Aquilina, of Loveland, adopted Brutus and outfitted the dog with four prosthetic legs to enable him to walk more freely outside.
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Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Energetic and talkative Yorkshire terriers, known familiarly as "Yorkies," are America's ninth most popular dog. Dolled-up Yorkies are seen here in a remote-controlled mini pink convertible at the 14th Annual New York Pet Fashion Show at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York, New York, on Feb. 9, 2017.
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Getty Images
Rounding out the list at number 10 is the muscular and patient boxer. In this photo, a boxer mix rests after playing in the West Hills Dog Park on July 21, 2014 in Huntington, New York.
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