Gold Coast City Council reveals most popular dog breed, names, suburbs

Council has revealed the city’s five most popular dog breeds, names and suburbs. Check out the ultimutt list.

Melanie Whiting

2 min read

January 10, 2023 - 9:00AM

Gold Coast Bulletin

Gold Coast

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Maltese pooches have been named the top dog on the Gold Coast, according to council’s latest data.

Gold Coast City Council has unleashed a list of the five most popular dog breeds, names and locations for our furry friends in 2022.

The data was fetched from the more than 67,000 dogs registered in the city last year.

Maltese, labrador retriever and staffordshire bull terrier were among the most common dog breeds.

Bella was the most popular name, followed by Charlie and Coco.

Kate Bennett with her maltese cross poodles Bond and Biscuit. Picture: Richard Gosling

The suburbs with the highest dog registrations were Upper Coomera, Helensvale and Robina. Isle of Capri resident Kate Bennett said her two maltese cross poodles – Bond, 9 and Biscuit, 2 – had changed her life.

“Maltese have the best personality. It’s more or less like they are human – they are smart and such a good companion,” Mrs Bennett said.

“I don’t know what I would do without a dog now.”

Bond came into her life as her first family pet.

“He was just my little sidekick – I would take him to business meetings, lunches and even to get my nails done,” the Isle of Capri resident said.

Biscuit joined their family two years ago and has since become like a sister to Bond.

“She has changed his life - she has made him quite young,” Mrs Bennett said.

“They are not my dogs, they are little humans and are spoilt as.”

Maltese has been named the top dog breed on the Gold Coast for 2022. Picture: Richard Gosling

While there were 67,005 dogs registered last year, it is estimated there are more than 100,000 dogs living on the Gold Coast.

Council is urging all residents to register and microchip their dog to make them easy to identify if they go missing.

The city’s investment in public dog facilities is also driven by registrations – the more dogs registered, the more facilities created.

There are 139 dog parks across the city, including five kilometres of beaches, as well as parks and dog agility equipment.

There were more than 67,000 dogs registered on the Gold Coast last year. Picture: Jerad Williams

Acting Mayor Donna Gates said pets should be treated like family, something she strived to do with her pooch named Yogi.

“When we first picked up Yogi, he was actually called Zorro as his eyes were jet black,” Cr Gates said.

“Earlier in our marriage, (my husband) Bill had a dog called Yogi and given this little fella was a cute fluff ball, he quickly became Yogi.

“Pet names are obviously personal, but we all have a shared responsibility to ensure our dogs are registered, microchipped, on a leash when out and about and that we clean up after them.”