Chinese astrology · portrait
The Dog, loyal and honest.
The Dog is the eleventh of the twelve signs of Chinese astrology. You are born a Dog in the years 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, provided you were born after the lunar new year switch (between late January and mid-February). Tradition pairs it with the Tiger and the Horse, and sets it in tension with the Dragon. Five elements shade it, from the Wood Dog to the Water Dog, and that combination only comes back around every sixty years.
The Dog at a glance
- Sign
- Dog
- Rank
- eleventh of 12
- Character
- Loyal and Honest
- Allies
- Tiger, Horse
- Opposite
- Dragon
- Recent years
- 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030
The Dog: what kind of temperament?
The Dog is loyalty made heart. You’re faithful, honest, deeply fair, and you watch over the people you love with a tenderness that never lets them down. People feel safe near you, because your word is gold and you always stand up for what’s right. Your nuance is to ease the worry that lives in you, to learn to trust life as much as you trust the people around you. What carries you is that need to protect and to stay loyal to your values.
The five faces of the Dog
Each animal comes back around every twelve years, but its meeting with one of the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) only replays every sixty years. That is why two Dogs born twelve years apart are not quite alike: the year’s element colors the animal.
Dog of Wood
The Wood Dog widens its loyalty to the world: your sense of justice goes to work for the group, you protect and you help things grow with a gentle generosity. Keep your fine faithfulness, and ease that worry a little so you can trust life more.
Dog of Fire
The Fire Dog warms its loyalty with a real fervor: you defend what’s right with passion, you watch over your people with a rallying warmth. The care to take is not to let that flame feed your anxieties.
Dog of Earth
The Earth Dog grounds its faithfulness in the long run: you’re the rock people lean on, present, reliable, protective. That stability reassures, your lesson being to learn to loosen control a little to quiet your worry.
Dog of Metal
The Metal Dog tempers its justice in steel: loyal, upright, determined, you defend your values without ever compromising. Keep that strength, without letting rigor or anxiety harden your lovely tenderness.
Dog of Water
The Water Dog softens its loyalty with a sensitive intuition: you feel others, you protect with delicacy, you adapt to the bonds that matter. That gentleness soothes you, just take care not to absorb everyone’s sorrows.
Who the Dog gets along with
Chinese tradition reads affinities by triads. The Dog forms a triad of natural understanding (San He) with the Tiger and the Horse: bonds that come easily and grow stronger over time.
Its opposite on the wheel is the Dragon: different rhythms, sometimes a sharp attraction. Nothing forbidden, just an invitation to flexibility and to respect the other’s way of being. An “opposite” sign is not a bad sign, it is a contrasting mirror.
For a reading of two people, cross your two signs and your two elements: compatibility on the Western zodiac side follows the same mirror logic.
Are you a Dog? The birth years
You are born a Dog in the years 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030. But the sign switches at the lunar new year, not on January 1: born in January or early February, you may belong to the previous year’s animal. It’s the most common mistake the quick converters make.
Frequently asked questions
Which years correspond to the sign of the Dog?
You are born a Dog in the years 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, provided you were born after the lunar new year, which falls between late January and mid-February. If you were born in January or early February, check your year’s switch date: before it, you belong to the previous sign.
Which signs is the Dog most compatible with?
Tradition gathers the Dog, the Tiger and the Horse into the same affinity triad (San He): a natural understanding. Its opposite on the wheel is the Dragon, which forbids no bond: it is an invitation to flexibility, never a verdict.
How do I find the element of my Dog?
Your element comes from the last digit of your birth year, among Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth. The Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water Dog are not quite alike: that is the nuance you will read below.