Source: City of Madison
There’s no such thing as an “average” dog. Each one is unique and beautiful and perfect in every way. They are incarnations of goodness in a horrible world. They are gifts, and we do not deserve them! But statistically speaking, the typical canine resident of Madison is a mutt — most likely a labrador mix — who lives on the east side. And her name is Lucy.
For the dog issue, Isthmus dug into dog registration data provided by the city treasurer’s office with help from the city’s information technology department. What we found was not surprising — Madison is a big dog town, with 12,503 registered dogs in the city — that’s nearly 5 percent of the city’s population. If the dogs all decided to secede and form their own municipality, it would be almost the size of Stoughton.
The most dog-dense areas are on the city’s east side, with the corridor from Williamson Street to Atwood Avenue boasting 841 registered pups — the highest concentration of any district in the city. Dogs are also well-represented on the west side, particularly the neighborhoods around the UW-Madison Arboretum, Midvale Heights and University Hill Farm. Predictably, the UW-Madison campus is the least dog-dense part of the city, with just 27 living in the area.
Source: City of Madison
There are dozens of different breeds represented in Madison, but by far the most common pedigree listed on registrations is mixed — mutts make up about 20 percent of the city’s total dog population. The second most popular is the Labrador retriever (and many of the mutts are lab mixes). That’s in line with national preferences — according to the American Kennel Club, labs have been the No. 1 breed in the U.S. for many years.
German shepherds and golden retrievers rank third and fourth in nationwide popularity, according to the AKC, but in Madison those positions are flipped, with goldens outnumbering German shepherds nearly two to one. Border collies, Australian shepherds, shih tzus, chihuahuas and terrier mixes round out Madison’s top 10, but all of those are far less popular nationally.
Designer dog breeds also make a strong showing in Madison. Some you’ve likely heard of, like goldendoodles, cockapoos, teddy bears and schnoodles. But others are more unusual. There are a couple of chiweenies (chihuahua + dachshund), a few Frenchtons (French bulldog + Boston terrier), a cock-a-chon (cocker spaniel + bichon frise) and a bullmation (bulldog + dalmatian). There’s also a lone pomsky, which is a cross between a pomeranian and a Siberian husky. Can you even imagine how cute? Her name is Keira and she lives in District 13.
Speaking of names, some Madisonians are not very creative. The top 10 consists of stalwarts like Charlie, Bella, Daisy, Buddy, Cooper and Max. Dog owners also love naming their pets after food — Schnitzel, Flapjack, Kimchi, Herring, Cheese Curd and Eggs all live somewhere in Madison. Booze is another popular naming category — we’ve got party pups like Sazerac, Martini, Cuervo, Cutty, Macallan and Mimosa.
Fictional characters, historical figures and celebrities also provide plenty of inspiration. Madison is home to canine versions of Winston Churchill, Dolly Madison, Noam Chomsky, Pablo Escobar, Duchamp and Snoop Lion. Particularly impressive is the labradoodle named Mutthuswami, which is a great pun and a highbrow reference to the South Indian poet Muthuswami.
In August 2017, WisContext also looked at dog licensing patterns in Madison using city data from 2016. See their pieces here and here.
