Maps: Who are the dogs in your Toronto neighbourhood?

Move over, Beaches – you’re not Toronto’s top dog neighbourhood. That honor goes to Lawrence Park which beat out the popular east-end canine haunt by just a hair.  The third most desirable postal codes for our four legged friends are in Swansea and Bloor West Village. And where dogs lives varies greatly by breed – pit bulls congregate in Downsview while miniature poodles are more likely to be found along the condo-dense lake shore. All this comes from an exclusive analysis of Toronto’s dog registration database performed by globalnews.ca.

There are now almost 72,000 registered dogs in Toronto. That’s one dog for every 34 people. The map below shows registered dogs as a percentage of the human population. Darker areas have a higher percentage of pooches.

 Map 1: Toronto’s Top Dog Neighborhoods. Enter your address below. Story continues under map 

But not all neighborhoods are created equal.

All three of the most dog-friendly areas have access to major parks. The Beaches have long been known as a doggy Mecca, home to dog owners attracted to the water’s edge and the businesses that sprang up to serve them.

Jackie Krovblit of Queen Street’s Big Dog Bakery, explains:

“I always knew in my research from having this business that the Beaches was the most highly populated area for dogs in the city. You see the dogs and the strollers – that’s the big joke. The dog is a part of the family.  There are a lot of people here are into the outdoors. Of course the beach is beautiful, and you have an off-leash area.”

Toronto’s dog map looks very different broken down by breed:

Miniature poodles, manageable dogs in an apartment or condo, cluster intensely downtown, around Yonge and King and in the lakeshore condos. There is a second cluster in western North York, stretching from Lawrence Heights north to York University.

Rottweilers and pit bulls both concentrate in Downsview. Pit bulls concentrate in a stretch of the west end going north from Parkdale through Mount Dennis and the Junction into Rexdale. This is similar to the pattern seen in past years.

Many shi tzus call northeast Scarborough home, with hundreds in Agincourt and Malvern.

Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers show a similar pattern to dogs overall, most heavily in High Park/the Kingsway, the Beaches and Lawrence Park.

 Map2: Common breeds by postal code. Use the scrolldown menu at upper right to switch between breeds. 

The full report on Toronto’s top dog neighborhoods will appear on Global Toronto tonight at 5:30 pm ET.

What’s next?

Tomorrow: Which dog breed is the most popular and Toronto’s favorite dog names.

Globalnews.ca obtained a copy of Toronto’s dog registration database under access-to-information laws which shows the name and breed of the dog and the first three characters of the owner’s postal code.