Year of the Dog: Dog Zodiac Years, Dates, Traits and Compatibility

The Dog (狗) is sign number 11 of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals, and people born in a Year of the Dog are traditionally described as loyal, fair-minded and sincere. The dog is a classic symbol of loyalty and protection in Chinese tradition, a friend who keeps watch over the home. This guide covers the exact start and end dates of each Dog year, how the sign is worked out at the turn of the year, the traits and compatibility associated with the Dog, and what the Dog means in the 2026 and 2027 Tai Sui context.

Dog matches the branch Xu (戌), the hours of 7–9 pm. The twelve animals are known in Chinese as the twelve earthly branches (dizhi), and they work together with the ten heavenly stems to name days, months and years, as described by the Smith College Museum of Art.

Year of the Dog: exact dates

A Dog year begins on Chinese New Year, not on January 1. Chinese New Year falls on the new moon between January 21 and February 20, so the start date moves from year to year. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the festival as a 15-day celebration that opens at this new moon, and the zodiac year changes with it. If your birthday falls in January or early February, check the start date before you decide on your sign. Our zodiac finder will do this check for you.

Zodiac year	Starts	Ends
1934	Feb 14, 1934	Feb 3, 1935
1946	Feb 2, 1946	Jan 21, 1947
1958	Feb 18, 1958	Feb 7, 1959
1970	Feb 6, 1970	Jan 26, 1971
1982	Jan 25, 1982	Feb 12, 1983
1994	Feb 10, 1994	Jan 30, 1995
2006	Jan 29, 2006	Feb 17, 2007
2018	Feb 16, 2018	Feb 4, 2019
2030	Feb 3, 2030	Jan 22, 2031

These dates come from the Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table, which is the reference this site uses for year boundaries.

Why the calendar is lunisolar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. Its months follow the moon and run 29 or 30 days each, and extra intercalary months are added from time to time so the year stays in step with the seasons, as Britannica's overview of the Chinese calendar explains. This is why the Dog year does not line up with the Gregorian calendar year.

How the sign is worked out at the turn of the year

The sign is set by the Chinese New Year boundary, so anyone born just before it belongs to the previous animal. The table below shows how this plays out with real boundary dates.

Birth date	Zodiac sign	Reason
Feb 15, 2018	Rooster	Before the 2018 Dog year started on Feb 16
Feb 16, 2018	Dog	Day the 2018 Dog year starts
Jan 28, 2006	Rooster	Before the 2006 Dog year started on Jan 29
Jan 29, 2006	Dog	Day the 2006 Dog year starts
Feb 9, 1994	Rooster	Before the 1994 Dog year started on Feb 10

These three pairs show the rule clearly. A birth one day before the Dog year begins is a Rooster, and a birth on the first day is a Dog. Hong Kong Observatory's text version of the conversion table lists the same boundaries if you want to check other years.

Year of the Dog traits in Chinese tradition

Traditional descriptions of the Dog focus on loyalty, fairness and sincerity. These are cultural associations shared by everyone born in the same year sign. They are not a scientific measure of character, and they are not a personal reading. A full Four Pillars (Bazi) chart uses far more than the year animal.

Where the traits come from

Personality descriptions by sign are a fairly recent development. The Victoria and Albert Museum notes that the animal-by-animal personality profiles do not appear in older Chinese texts. The Dog's reputation as a loyal guardian is therefore best read as a folk tradition that has grown over time.

Year of the Dog compatibility

In the tradition, compatibility describes patterns between signs rather than scores:

Six Harmonies (secret friend): Rabbit
Three Harmonies (allies): Tiger and Horse
Clash (opposite sign): Dragon

For the full list of pairings, including harm, break and punishment tags, see the compatibility tool.

Dog and Tai Sui in 2026 and 2027

In the folk system, Tai Sui is the god associated with each year. The Kew Ong Yah Temple describes how sixty Tai Sui gods take turns by year in the sixty-year Jiazi cycle, and that the birth-year natal god is a point of focus for many people. For the Dog, the relevant years are:

2026 (Horse year): no traditional Tai Sui relationship
2027 (Goat year): Break (po), Punishment (xing)

These follow the folk year-sign rule set used by our Tai Sui checker. Meeting Tai Sui is a traditional reminder to be steady and considerate, not a forecast.

What research says about Dog-year births

Some researchers have tested whether zodiac years affect birth patterns. The results are mixed and worth reading carefully. A 2002 study by Yip, Lee and Cheung found that births in Dragon years 1988 and 2000 rose 7.8% and 4.2% over the preceding year, but they concluded the effect was mainly one of timing and had little effect on cumulative fertility. Goodkind's 1993 study found that notable Dragon-year increases did not occur before 1976 in Taiwan, and linked the 1976 boom mostly to marriage timing. Work by Ma Yan (2010) found no national-level zodiac birth preference in mainland China from 1949 to 2008. A paper by Mocan and Yu reports that births jump in Dragon years and that Dragon-born children show higher school outcomes, but the effect disappears once parents' expectations are accounted for. None of this research is about Dog years specifically, and none of it changes the traditional description of the sign.

How to check your sign

To confirm your sign, first find your birth date in the table above, or use the year boundaries from the Hong Kong Observatory. If your birthday is close to Chinese New Year, make sure you use the start date of the Dog year, not January 1. You can also use the zodiac finder to check any date quickly.

More Dog resources

Frequently asked questions

When does the Year of the Dog start?

The Year of the Dog begins on Chinese New Year, which falls on the new moon between January 21 and February 20. It does not begin on January 1. For example, the 2018 Dog year started on February 16, 2018, and the 2006 Dog year started on January 29, 2006. Check the start date for your birth year before deciding your sign.

What if I was born in January or early February?

Look up your birth year's start date. If you were born before the Year of the Dog began that year, your sign is the previous animal, the Rooster. If you were born on or after the start date, you are a Dog. Our zodiac finder and the Hong Kong Observatory conversion table can confirm the exact boundary.

What traits are associated with the Year of the Dog?

Traditional descriptions of the Dog describe people as loyal, fair-minded and sincere, and the dog is seen as a symbol of protection. These are cultural associations, not scientific findings or personal readings. A full Four Pillars chart uses much more than the year animal, so the Year of the Dog description is only one part of a fuller picture.

Which signs are the best matches for a Dog?

In the traditional system, the Dog's Six Harmonies partner is the Rabbit, and the Three Harmonies allies are the Tiger and the Horse. The Dragon is the opposite sign and is described as a clash. These pairings describe patterns in the tradition rather than scores, and the compatibility tool on this site lists the full set of tags.

Is 2026 a Year of the Dog?

No. 2026 is the Year of the Horse, as Encyclopaedia Britannica notes. The next Dog years in this guide's table are 2030 and 2018. For Dog-born people, the 2026 Horse year has no traditional Tai Sui relationship under the folk year-sign rules used here, while the 2027 Goat year is listed with Break and Punishment tags.

Do zodiac years affect birth rates?

Some studies have looked at this, with mixed results. Yip, Lee and Cheung (2002) found Dragon-year births rose in some years but mainly as a timing effect. Ma Yan (2010) found no national-level zodiac birth preference in mainland China from 1949 to 2008. These studies are about Dragon years and general patterns, not about Dog years specifically.