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Chinese Zodiac
Year of the Dog
Loyalty as the organising principle of a life.
Dog years
1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030
Chinese years begin at the lunar new year, which falls in late January or February rather than on 1 January. If you were born in the first weeks of one of these years, your animal is the one before — which is the single most common mistake people make reading their own sign. The free reading handles the cutoff for you.
The Dog temperament
The Dog is integrity. Fair-minded, protective and deeply uneasy with injustice, Dogs take sides and stay on them. The sign is honest without being showy about it, and carries a watchfulness — a Dog is often scanning for what might go wrong, for themselves and for the people they've decided to look after. Cynicism and idealism sit side by side, which is the sign's whole character.
Strengths
Loyalty
A Dog stays. Through difficulty, unpopularity, and long past the point of obligation.
Moral clarity
Dogs know what's fair and will say so at cost to themselves.
Protectiveness
A Dog defends their people reflexively, and the people usually don't have to ask.
The shadow side
The watchfulness becomes anxiety — Dogs worry constantly, often about things that never arrive, and the worry is rarely visible. Once a Dog has decided someone is untrustworthy, the judgement is close to permanent. And the sign is genuinely pessimistic in a way that can drag on everyone around it.
The five elements
Your animal repeats every twelve years, but the element only repeats every sixty — which is why two people sharing a sign can be so unalike. The element is the half of the reading most Western summaries leave out entirely.
Wood Dog
The most open-hearted Dog. Still principled, less suspicious, and the easiest version to be close to.
1934, 1994
Fire Dog
Passionate and openly protective. A Fire Dog will fight for the cause, loudly, and take it personally.
1946, 2006
Earth Dog
The most grounded and reliable. Steady loyalty without the anxiety running quite so hot.
1958, 2018
Metal Dog
The most principled and least flexible. Extremely high integrity, and no give at all once a line is drawn.
1910, 1970, 2030
Water Dog
The most empathic and the most anxious. Feels everything, including things nobody asked them to carry.
1922, 1982, 2042
The Dog across other systems
A Dog year with a Life Path 9 produces someone who takes the whole world's unfairness personally and cannot put it down. With a 6 the protectiveness becomes home-building. With an 8 the moral clarity gets actual power behind it, which is the most useful version of this sign.
See your whole chart, not one twelfth of it
Your Chinese sign is one of five systems. The free preview computes your element and animal from your real birth date — lunar cutoff included — alongside your Western placements, numerology and type, and writes them as one piece.
Get your free readingCommon questions
What is the personality of the Dog?
The Dog is integrity. Fair-minded, protective and deeply uneasy with injustice, Dogs take sides and stay on them. The sign is honest without being showy about it, and carries a watchfulness — a Dog is often scanning for what might go wrong, for themselves and for the people they've decided to look after. Cynicism and idealism sit side by side, which is the sign's whole character.
Which years are Dog years?
The most recent are 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030. Chinese years begin at the lunar new year in late January or February, so anyone born in the first weeks of a calendar year belongs to the previous animal.
What is the weakness of the Dog?
The watchfulness becomes anxiety — Dogs worry constantly, often about things that never arrive, and the worry is rarely visible. Once a Dog has decided someone is untrustworthy, the judgement is close to permanent. And the sign is genuinely pessimistic in a way that can drag on everyone around it.