The 12 animals
Year of the Dog: years, dates and elements
The Dog is the eleventh animal and the sign of the Xu branch. Its years with exact dates, the Metal Dog of 2030, and its lore.
Were you born in a year of the Dog?
Born July 1, 2006
Fire Dog
| Stem-branch | Bing-Xu 丙戌, yang |
| Lunar birth date | day 6 of the 6th month, 2006 |
| That lunar year: January 29, 2006 to February 17, 2007 | |
The Dog is the eleventh animal of the Chinese zodiac and the sign of Xu, the eleventh earthly branch, an Earth branch on the yang side. The last Dog year, an Earth Dog, ran from February 16, 2018 to February 4, 2019; the next, a Metal Dog, begins on February 3, 2030. Earlier Dog years started on January 29, 2006 and February 10, 1994. These dates come from the conversion tables of the Hong Kong Observatory, read for every year from 1901 to 2100. In Chinese folklore the Dog is the faithful guardian of the house, and in the legend of the great race it arrived eleventh because it stopped to play in the river. Portraits of Dog people as loyal, honest and protective are part of that tradition, and this page presents them as such.
How does tradition pair these two signs?
Dog and Tiger
Triad (san he)
| Dog triad | Tiger, Horse |
| Dog opposite | Dragon |
Folk tradition, not a prediction.
Dates read in the HKO tables by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Xu: the evening watch and the ninth month
The Xu branch names the double hour from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., when the house is shut for the night and the dog keeps watch, and the ninth lunar month, which brings the Double Ninth festival on its ninth day, when families climb hills and visit graves.
In the sixty-year cycle, the Dog pairs with the five yang stems: Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng and Ren. The 2018 Earth Dog was Wu-Xu, and the Metal Dog of 2030 will be Geng-Xu. A person born in the Fire Dog year of 1946 sees the Fire Dog again in 2006 and in 2066.
When is your next zodiac year?
Fire Dog, next Dog year
2030
| It starts | February 3, 2030 |
| Age today | 20 |
| Traditional age (xusui) today | 21 |
Traditional age counts 1 at birth and adds a year at each lunar new year.
The zodiac year of a Dog
When one's own animal comes back, every twelve years, Chinese custom calls it the benming year, and many people wear red that year for protection, a custom described on the elements page for every sign. For Dogs born in 1994 or 2006, the next one starts on February 3, 2030.
Dog pairings in tradition
Folk tradition groups the Dog with the Tiger and the Horse, pairs it in harmony with the Rabbit, and sets the Dragon opposite. These rules are customs, not predictions about anyone.
The Dog at a glance
| Earthly branch | Xu 戌, number 11 of 12 |
| Fixed element of the branch | Earth, yang |
| Double hour (shichen) | 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Lunar month named by the branch | 9th month |
| Triad (san he) | Tiger, Horse |
| Harmony pair (liu he) | Rabbit |
| Opposite sign (liu chong) | Dragon |
| Harm pair (liu hai) | Rooster |
| Next year of the Dog | 2030, from February 3, 2030 |
Every year of the Dog, with exact dates
Each line is one lunar year, from its new year to the eve of the next. Over sixty years the Dog comes back five times, once with each element: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. A birth before the start date in that Gregorian year belongs to the Rooster.
| Year | Sign | Stem-branch | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Wood Dog | Jia-Xu 甲戌 | Feb 14, 1934 | Feb 3, 1935 |
| 1946 | Fire Dog | Bing-Xu 丙戌 | Feb 2, 1946 | Jan 21, 1947 |
| 1958 | Earth Dog | Wu-Xu 戊戌 | Feb 18, 1958 | Feb 7, 1959 |
| 1970 | Metal Dog | Geng-Xu 庚戌 | Feb 6, 1970 | Jan 26, 1971 |
| 1982 | Water Dog | Ren-Xu 壬戌 | Jan 25, 1982 | Feb 12, 1983 |
| 1994 | Wood Dog | Jia-Xu 甲戌 | Feb 10, 1994 | Jan 30, 1995 |
| 2006 | Fire Dog | Bing-Xu 丙戌 | Jan 29, 2006 | Feb 17, 2007 |
| 2018 | Earth Dog | Wu-Xu 戊戌 | Feb 16, 2018 | Feb 4, 2019 |
| 2030 | Metal Dog | Geng-Xu 庚戌 | Feb 3, 2030 | Jan 22, 2031 |
| 2042 | Water Dog | Ren-Xu 壬戌 | Jan 22, 2042 | Feb 9, 2043 |