The Dog is the animal of loyalty: a sense of justice, devotion, and a protective spirit.
The animal of the word kept: its fidelity reassures, and its worry asks for the same in return.
A fidelity without calculation: the Dog keeps its word, defends its own, and cannot stand injustice, even from afar.
Its worry can make it suspicious or pessimistic, and make it see threats in situations without danger.
By Thomas Guilhot · updated
| Year | Starts | Element | Polarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970庚戌 | February 6, 1970 | Metal | Yang |
| 1982壬戌 | January 25, 1982 | Water | Yang |
| 1994甲戌 | February 10, 1994 | Wood | Yang |
| 2006丙戌 | January 29, 2006 | Fire | Yang |
| 2018戊戌 | February 16, 2018 | Earth | Yang |
| 2030庚戌 | February 3, 2030 | Metal | Yang |
| 2042壬戌 | January 22, 2042 | Water | Yang |
The Dog is recognized by its uprightness.
It commits to causes, protects those close to it, hates hypocrisy, and prefers deeds to speeches. Discreet about its merits, it can seem reserved before giving itself fully. Its downside: a propensity to take alarm, to criticize what is wrong, and to feel alone in carrying the responsibility. Remembering that others are also capable of acting helps it let go of a vigilance that has grown too heavy. It has the soul of a guardian. People call on it when there is a problem or an injustice to put right, and it shows up without asking for anything in return. It values old friendships, understated gestures, frank discussions about what matters. In a group, it quickly senses who is being left out and cares about it. But its worry follows it everywhere: it imagines what could go wrong, rereads its decisions, doubts it did well. It sometimes grows irritated at the hypocrisy around it. Giving itself rest, laughing at its own alarms, and allowing itself not to be always on duty are considerable progress for it.
The Dog loves faithfully and frankly.
It offers its presence, protects, remembers. It needs proofs of trust and tolerates vagueness poorly. If it doubts, it worries in silence or turns biting. Expressing its fears without disguising them as reproaches helps the other reassure it and steadies the relationship. It offers a concrete loyalty, made of presence when needed and promises kept.
Reliable, conscientious, and fair, it proves valuable in roles of service, advice, advocacy, or collective responsibility.
It is a loyal colleague. It may overload itself out of duty. Saying no when the threshold is reached, and sharing tasks, protects its commitment over time. It defends its colleagues, demands clarity, and quickly spots decisions that lack fairness.
The Dog likes reassuring rituals: walks, meals taken together, regular visits to those close to it.
It readily watches over the safety of the home. An activity that takes it out of its worries, volunteering, sports, nature, gives it back a more confident view of what surrounds it. Walking, helping a neighbor, cooking for its own: its pleasures are those of a useful presence.
The element changes from one twelve-year cycle to the next: the same animal year comes back with a different element, and the same pairing returns every sixty years.
1934, 1994, 2054
Wood is said to open the Dog to others: its loyalty comes with a real curiosity about their ideas, and it cooperates readily.
The Wood element →1946, 2006, 2066
The Fire Dog is said to be more passionate and more direct: it defends its convictions with ardor and reacts sharply to injustice.
The Fire element →1958, 2018, 2078
The Earth Dog is said to double its element: cautious, steady, and devoted, it can become stubborn when its principles are touched.
The Earth element →1922, 1982, 2042
The Water Dog is said to be more empathetic and more nuanced: it listens, understands viewpoints, and softens its candor.
The Water element →Triangle, opposition, secret friend, harm: relationships handed down by tradition, described without a score.
Four years apart: the same affinities, according to tradition.
Six years apart: face to face on the circle.
A pair known as “secret friends” (liuhe).
A pair known as “harm” (liuhai), one that needs adjusting.
The dog is associated in China with guarding the home and with fidelity.
In the legendary race, one version says it arrived eleventh, because it lingered to bathe in the river. Some popular traditions also make it a protector against harmful influences. These associations vary and rest on no verifiable testimony. The dog is a very old domestic animal in China, associated with guarding houses and villages. Some popular beliefs hold that it drives off bad influences and watches over the entrance to homes. These customs have had regional variants and rest on no established fact.
Each year of the Dog begins at Chinese New Year, between January 21 and February 20: a birth in January or early February often belongs to the previous animal.
Before the year’s Chinese New Year, the animal is still that of the previous year: the Rooster. Example: February 2, 2030, the eve of the 2030 New Year, still belongs to the Rooster.
Check with my date →All the years in the table: 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042, 2054, 2066, 2078, 2090.
Eleventh in the cycle, the Dog comes around every twelve years. Each year comes with its Chinese New Year, because that date, more than the calendar year, determines the animal of a birth.
Only one criterion matters: the opening date of the Chinese year in question. A birth before that day belongs to the previous animal, whatever the calendar year. The tool settles it for you and warns you about close dates.
It is associated with loyalty, uprightness, a sense of justice, and vigilance; it is faulted for worry and mistrust. These are archetypes, which offer one mirror among others without claiming to exhaust a personality.
The Dog belongs to the trine of affinity of the Tiger and the Horse, and to a secret harmony with the Rabbit. Opposition sets it against the Dragon, harm against the Rooster. These traditional words describe climates of encounter, with no verdict: the compatibility page explains their meaning.