Washington’s top dogs                                                Baltimore's top dogs

1. Labrador Retriever                                                   1. Labrador Retriever

2. Yorkshire Terrier                                                      2. Golden Retriever

3. Poodle                                                                    3. Boxer 

4. Shih Tzu                                                                 4. Yorkshire Terrier

5. Golden Retriever                                                      5. German Shepherd

6. Boxer                                                                     6. Pug

7. German Shepherd                                                    7. Poodle

8. Boston Terrier                                                          8. Dachshund

9. Pug                                                                         9. Rottweiler

10. Rottweiler                                                               10. Bulldog

What do a city’s dogs say about a city?

Generally speaking, at most, woof.

But we won’t let that stop us from having some fun with the statistics released yesterday by the American Kennel Club.

By studying the lists above, we can see, for instance, that Washington is full of Shih-Tzu. Whereas Baltimore is more of a no Shih-Tzu kind of place – at least that breed has no presence on the top ten list here.

Labrador Retrievers rule in both cities, but in Washington, the number 2, 3, and 4 spots are all taken by foofie dogs, and we mean no disdain by the use of that term – just dogs that are, or at least can be, lap dogs, and are often overly yappy, and can’t always be trusted, and are more likely to wear color coordinated outfits.

In Baltimore, only one foofie dog is in the top 5 – the Yorkshire Terrier. Baltimore prefers Pugs over Poodles, unlike Washington; and big dogs like Boxers, German Shepherds and Rottweilers all rank higher here.

“Baltimore is considered a working-class port town whose roots run deep,” says AKC spokesperson Lisa Peterson. “So it’s no surprise that the Rottweiler — a member of the Working Group — would continue to move up Baltimore’s top 10 list.”

Washington’s top ten, meanwhile, show little variation from the nation’s top 10; in fact the first seven are -– yaaaaawn -- exactly the same.

Keep in mind, this data is compiled by the American Kennel Club, an organization whose primary focus is on purebreds. In truth,  the most popular kind of dog in Baltimore and most cities is the mutt.

To see the AKC's top 10 breeds in each of the country's 50 largest cities, click here.