I noticed that some breeds are over bred in my area and some breeds you can't find unless you're willing to travel 3 hours, and I was wondering what the popular breeds are in your area?

Here I think Chihuahuas are the most overbred small breed, and sadly they fill our local shelters. We also have a lot of:

Shih Tzu 

Poodles, (mini and toy) and designer poodle hybreds, such as goldendoodles and maltidoodles, yorkipoos,

Yorkies,

Dachshunds,

Pomeranians,

Miniture Pinchers  

and throughout the year Pugs,

Boston Terriers and

Cocker Spaniels can be found. 

The most overbred medium-large breed would be Pitbulls, again the shelters are FULL of them (or Pit mixes)

Boxers,

Labs,

Germansheperds,

Hunting/Hound breeds, (Pointers, Chesapeake Bay Retrivers, English Setters, Bluetick Hounds, etc,)

Heelers,

Boarder Collies,  

Great Danes.

Masstiffs

Great Pyrenees,

Dobermins,

and that's basically it, every now and then you see something like an English Bulldog litter, or Newfundland or St. Bernard, or Corgis, Jack Russell Terriers, but mostly it's just the same breeds over and over again.  

Retrievers and labs as far as the eye can see. There's someone in this neighborhood with 3 pugs and another with 3 shih-tzu. There's a decent number of the larger hounds, and huskies aren't terribly uncommon. I know shih-tzu and lahso-apso are very popular too. Come to think of it I know a few people with English Bulldogs...

Tons of pit bulls and pit crosses. My boyfriend's dad was fostering dogs for a local rescue and all but 1 was at least mostly pibby (4 suspected purebreds one mix, plus one German shepherd x husky). You get into Detroit itself and you'll be hard pressed to see a dog out that isn't pit.

You really don't see that much else out here honestly. I'm just outside of Detroit.

We have two Rottweiler. :3

Link Tree

What we see the most in the rescues in the area are pits/mixes, labs/mixes, hounds/mixes, chihuahuas, terrier mixes and some times shih tzu/mixes. 

What I see coming in to the clinic the most often would be labs (out the wazoo), german shepherds, dachshunds, boxers, poddles (mostly toy but quite a few standards), golden retrievers. poms and yorkies. We also work with a english bulldog breeder so we see a lot of their puppies.

Dogs that I would love to see or see more of: Bull Terrier (none seen), Dalmations (none seen),  Great Danes (very few), differant types of retrievers (we only have one non-lab/golden and he's a flat coated retriever). 

Dalmations would be cool to see around! There's a Great Dane who lives a few streets away from me, he's awesome! My husband would love to have aBull Terrier someday. I own a 6 y/o Blue Heeler/Boarder Collie and a 9 y/o Great Pyreness mix, (who live at my parent's house for now) and my parents have a Shih Tzu. Ausstralian Sheperds used to big really big here, and then Mini Aussies took over and were the 'hottest new trend' for a while, but they've mostly fizzled out now. 

I forgot to mention I'm about 2 hours South of Spokane WA, there's a big rural community, but a pretty decent sized town/cityish area to. When my husband and I move into a house we're going to rescue a pit mix, we'd love to get one now but our apartment only allows small dogs :/ We're also thinking of getting a French Bulldog to breed/show. My husband loves all the Bully breeds, as do I, I love almost every dog breed, haha.   

We have a decent amount of border collies, aust shepherd and heelers in the area too. I'm trying to think of who's been on the schedule lately haha

Here in Georgia I volunteer for a local shelter. We see lots of small chihuahua and dachund (the chiweenie is very popular) type breeds, pits and pit mixes, lab and lab mixes. And English Bulldogs are easy to find as well. 

I have been looking for a well bred AKC Golden Retriever and while BYB are a dime a dozen with this breed in this area, there are no quality breeders. 

I have not seen to many corgis... oh... and there is one Tibetan Mastiff breeder in Georgia and she is an hour and  a half from me. 

We have a ton of Labrador Retrievers in the area. Also see quite a few coonhounds and pit mixes in the shelter.

Huskies/malamutes.

German Shepherd.

Any pit cross. Mostly dog fighting.

Lab mixes.

Hunting dogs (Tennessee walker, blue ticked coonhound)

Chihuahuas.

east Texas/southwest louisiana

And a labradoodle breeder lives down the street from me, obviously a BYB. Let's just say I'm not too pleased xD

Its crazy to see all those breeds (so many hit dogs on the side of the road) but then going to a dog show to see large entries of Goldens and Aussies. I rarely see breeds at dog shows out loose running. You can tell the "black market" breeds from the responsible breeder dogs.

I'm in a semi-rural area in Kansas... I would say the most popular small breeds are definitely terriers and shih tzu mixes, and medium/large breeds are PIT mixes (EVERYWHERE!!), labs, golden retreivers, huskies, and german shepherds...

In the neighborhood I live in, there are a handful of german shepherds (and 2 that I suspect are belgian shepherds but I'm not sure), dobermans, border collies, and of course, tons of labs. lol.

Then there is my circus of a house with 2 french bulldogs and an alapaha blue blood bulldog. We didn't have enough bullies around here. :P

A lot of the dogs in shelters and on advertising sites are various mixed breed dogs. Not many pure bred dogs around.

We're in a rural area about an hour north of Detroit, and volunteer as fosters for a local rescue.  I'd say probably 90% of the dogs we take in are Pit mixes; most come from Detroit, since we worked with a group that is trying to get some of these dogs out of the city.

Just in our area... mostly I see retrievers (Labs, Goldens) and hounds (usually mixes) out in the country.  City, we see a lot of small breeds - Maltese, Chihuahua, Yorkie.  Very rarey do we see medium-sized dogs.  Everybody either has a large (or extra large... a few Wolfhounds and Newfies in our area) dog or small dog.

I wonder why there are so many pit/pit mixes in shelters, I know that a lot of areas ban pittbull type dogs, so that might be a reason, people get one then find out they can't have it. But it seems like there are more pits in shelters throughout the country then any other medium-large breed. Also, what do you guys consider to be a BYB? Most of the dogs in my area are purebred AKC reg. or hybreds from purebred AKC parents, and a lot come with health guarantees, but they aren't being used as show dogs. 

BYB (back yard breeders) are breeders that may have AKC/CKC/Whatever other kind of registration dogs, but the dogs are over bred and usually low quality. They are only slightly better than puppy mills in my opinion because they normally stick to one breed. 

I think you see so many pits because they're so easy to get. I remember reading somewhere they're in the top 5 of over-bred breeds in the US. There's a dumb-butt on every corner it seems that thinks pits are "tough, badass dogs" to have and think they can make a buck buy selling puppies to other dumb-butts. And they do half the time, the other half of the time they end up in the shelter. Then, no one wants to adopt a pit because they think they're evil because they see what all the dumb-butts have done with them on the tv. And political dumb-butts have come up with breed-specific legislation to turn people away even more.

The rescue we work with regularly has directly told me they cannot re-home a dog agreesive pit or pit mix, even if it's the sweetest dog a human ever met. Any other breed that's blantantly dog agreesive? No problem. Figure that one out.

BYB in my opinion can be grouped into two groups almost. You have your complete idiots ignorant owner that has a dog, purebred/designer aka mutt/whatever, and breed it intentionally just to have puppies and "watch the miracle of life" in their own home or just because they're greedy, you tell me. They have no knowledge or experience in breeding dogs, raising litters, training, competing, nothing. They own a dog and want it's babies for whatever reason. Case in point, a client brings her new Lab in for it's puppy vaccines, flips out because she's asked about any plans to spay said puppy when she's older. She paid $400 for that dog and she's gonna get some puppies out of her. Mind you, $400 for a lab in our area is nothing. The owner also blew off any suggestions to get the dog's hips and/or elbows OFA tested or Brucellosis testing before breeding. She also plans on breeding her Maine Coon mix too, because she's "just so sweet."

Second group is similar to what Con said above. Breeders who know about the dog industry (or at least think they do) and where you can make the most money the cheapest way. They may have registered dogs, but rarely have quality. They'll offer short-term health guarentees but most of the time they exclude any serious congenital issues. Some times they just have poorly written ads like this one, link where they can't get their vaccines right (it's bordetella. And DHLP means it's with lepto, they use DHP/DHPP). Other times they have cheesy websites like this one link. That place is basically a puppy mill though. 

/rant I just have no patience for anyone that breeds anything without the intent to better the breed. That's why you breed animals. Period.

BYB in my opinion is someone who doesn't breed to better the breed. 

Even if a dog is AKC/CKC/registered elsewhere, that doesn't mean a thing. A good breeder will breed for attitude, structure, drive, etc and will generally try and prove it in the ring. a serious breeder in my opinion will give the ring a try, wether it's conformation, obedience, luring, rally, hunting. They will just try to prove their dog. While I'm a dog snob (I admit it) and prefer to buy a dog whose parents have been in the ring and can prove it with titles, some dogs just don't like the ring but still have stellar structure but otherwise are perfectly fine. A good breeder will also want to bond with you and will drill you before handing off one of their pups to you. 

A BYB will make little attempt to get to know you. They just want their money and for you to leave before the dog gets sick or it's "warranty" runs out. Ask them what they bred the litter for, and youll hear some fluff or avoidance of the question altogether. Generally breed for cool colors, like their two blue merles and getting an all white sheltie or aussie (breeding two Merles can result in blindness/deafness) or a brindle chihuahua. Then of course charging extreme prices for those dogs, maybe an extra $200 for each blue eye. If it's different, it's worth more right?!?!

And I don't like health guarantees. Some good friends don't have health guarantees. They have trust that their dog will not have problems that are huge. A "health guarantee" us what a lot of BYB breeders use to make you feel safe and like you're getting something good. 

*I will be editing this, it's 10:39 here and my brain is fried :P

Okay, I feel like I understand things a lot better now, and am even more firm in my decision to not get a dog that's advertised somwehere like my local paper. Showing and breeding dogs (and horses, though I have shown horses I haven't found the 'right' mare to breed yet) has always been my dream but it's never been something I want to jump into just because 'I want to.' My husband and I have spent the last two years researching different breeds to find one we're both passionate about and that would fit into our family and life style, Pitbulls were his first choice until we found out how overbred they are, now we've decided to rescue/adopt one from our local shelter as soon as we move into a little house and have a yard, and I have plans to start volunteering at the shelter this Spring.

We've decided to show/breed French Bulldogs, which honestly I'm personally a little nervous about breeding because they need c-sections and such (my husband worked with a vet/breeder and has done artificial insemination and assisted in c-sections with Bosten Terriers and a couple other breeds, so he feels much more confident). I've been doing lots of research on French Bulldog breed standards and confirmation, and have found some breeders with high quaility show dogs in my state. It will probably still be 6-15 months before we're ready to buy a puppy, and I'll be continuing to research, contact breeders, find a vet experianced with Frenchies, etc. I'm very excited.

My biggest concern: Will I be able to show my dog, (which will include travel, even for small shows unfortunately,) while having a young family (my son is 11 months, and we're planning on having more, all 2-3 years apart) and if I can't dedicate time to showing would that make me less of a responsable breeder, and should I wait until my kids are older, and I can show before making the final decision to buy a dog? 

Most dogs in shelters listed as "pit bull" or "pit bull mixes" have absolutely no bulldog in their blood. Note: the apbt was originally called a bulldog and so thats what we call it out here still lol. 

It's harder to identify a pit bull than what people think, mainly because of mislabeling breeds and new breeds coming out being called pit bulls. To clarify, the dogs advertised as "blue nose pits" or "xxl pits" are 99% more than likely not a true bulldog. The "blue noses" (I hate that term) are really either American Staffordshires or the fairly new breed American Bullies, which was started by Dave Wilson who started the razors edge bloodline by breeding Amstaffs to larger APBTs. The blue coat is not a typical bulldog color, and I have only seen two true bulldogs that had a blue coat, these dogs were only proven to be bulldogs by their body build and their pedigree. If you want to see real bulldogs look up ADBA registered bulldogs. Chinamen, Jocko, Eli, Boudreaux, Jeep, Colby, etc are all real bulldog lines. Razors Edge, Gotti, Greyline, Watchdog, Hercules, Camelot, Remyline, etc are all Ambully lines. 

A lot of times dogs that are lab mixes are mislabeled as pit mixes. Unless you do a dna profile or your dog is papered or you know the ped or saw the parents papers and ped, there is no way of knowing if it is really a pit, pit mix or even any bull breed. 

Keep in mind if they say it is a pitbull listed in the shelter, it should be a medium size dog, typically not larger than 45lbs unless you're looking at UKC style APBTS which tend to be bigger and favor Amstaffs more than the original working bulldog.

To answer your question, the least bred dog around here and really anywhere is the real APBT. The most bred dog around here is the American Bully. 

ADBA standard, which remember is the original working bulldog standard: http://24.media.tumblr.com/951e96149c68f09b1a362da19fe82ee1/tumblr_mp5z5wQ4FP1rwv0qbo1_1280.jpg

UKC standard, which is mainly dogs used in the show ring, as they tend to be larger than working bulldogs: http://24.media.tumblr.com/3adc7e48114e2592cf6c636afdc6b628/tumblr_mp5z5wQ4FP1rwv0qbo3_1280.jpg

And the newer breed, American Bully, which was wrongfully listed under APBT in the UKC until the UKC opened the books to the Ambully, note the differences in this breed and an apbt of working caliber: http://american-bully-dogs.e-monsite.com/medias/images/abkc.20standards.20pic.jpg

Note that the smaller than pocket bullies being sold now off Dax and Miagi lines are  nothing more than mixes. They are proven unhealthy dogs with a lot of health problems due to breeding way out of standard for the american bully and mixing frenchies and oeb in there. 

We have a lot of cur dogs and hunting dogs as well,hound dogs, beagles given away for free. We really have no little dogs or designer breeds though.

We have a lot of labs and goldens. And I never see them anywhere but the dog park, but a ton of huskies. And chihuahuas.

Oh gosh.  Ooooooh gosh.

In my area there are very few small breeds.  The most common two are Shih Tzu's and Dachshunds.  There are also a lot of crossbreeds with those two and something else, but Shih Tzu's are by far the most common breed.  And they are actually very beautiful - there is a family who breeds them around here and they take care to do proper breeding.  They've been doing it for over 20 years, hence the influx of the pure pups in the area (not due to overbreeding).

In the larger dog category (I'm no good at defining mediums) it is much MUCH harder to define.  There's a lot of farm breeding going on - oh she's pregnant and where did that come form?  As a result there are a lot of Lab types, but not a single actual lab breeder in the area.  So they're mostly mixes or BYB unregistered ones.  Of late, too, I've noticed that the number of Boxers in the area has dramatically increased.  To clarify, there have always been an astonishing number of 'scary' breeds in the area - Rotties at the forefront.  This is due to the sheer amount of drug dealers and traffic in the area.  Boxers seem to be their new breed of choice.

And then, of course, the cattle farms tend to love the ACD and Border collies :)