Rise of the miniature as dogs shrink to fit smaller homes

Kennel Club records a boom in less demanding breeds in age of the celebrity handbag pet

PET dogs are becoming smaller because owners are living in more compact homes, research suggests.

The average puppy weighs 12 per cent less than it did 10 years ago, figures provided by the Kennel Club show. Experts believe that a combination of stagnating wages and small houses, often without gardens, has led owners increasingly to select miniature breeds.

A pug needs about a quarter of the daily calories of a German shepherd, so is far cheaper to own. Vets’ bills also tend to be more modest for smaller animals.

The Kennel Club registers the details of around 250,000 dogs in Britain each year. As house prices have risen by half since 2001, the rate of overcrowding in private rented households has increased by a third. Smaller houses, with cramped rooms and gardens, need smaller pets, its experts argue.

Nikki Cummins of the Kennel Club said: “We have noticed an increase in popularity for certain small breeds, eg the dachshund. This is down partly to people’s lifestyles as more people now tend to live in flats and apartments.

“Some small breeds (but not all) require less exercise which is also a factor as people work longer hours, have more commitments and so on. The chihuahua only needs on average half an hour of exercise whilst a Border collie would need much more.”

In the past decade the number of pugs registered each year has jumped nearly threefold, while bull terriers have fallen by more than half. The number of standard-sized dachshunds, or “sausage dogs”, registered with the Kennel Club has fallen by 2.5 per cent, according to the analysis by The Economist magazine, while the number of cocktail sausage-sized miniature dachshunds has risen by a quarter.

Registrations of giant and miniature schnauzers have similarly diverged.

But Ms Cummins added: “The most popular dog breed in the UK is the Labrador and has been for many years, which demonstrates that large dogs are still very much present.”

A recent study by the Royal Institution of British Architects found that homes are barely half the size that they were in the 1920s. Britain now has the smallest homes on average in Europe, a fact it blames on the abolition of minimum space standards in 1980.

The trend for smaller dogs raises health concerns with small breeds prone to a range of problems including complicated pregnancies and breathing difficulties. A study last week showed that the English bulldog is now so inbred that only an injection of genes from another breed can reverse its health problems.

The celebrity trend for handbag dogs is also driving the popularity of little breeds. The Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, said it had seen a 244 per cent increase in the number of small, designer breeds, including pugs, dachshunds and Pomeranians, at its 20 rehoming centres over the past six years. A spokesman said: “It’s important not to view a dog as an impulse purchase which can be cast aside.”