Many different factors affect our politics. Where we grow up, the views of our parents and teachers, the books we read, etc, etc. Your dog is probably one aspect of your life you never thought would be an indicator of your political views.
Rover.com examined its massive database of doggy demographics to try and determine if the dogs we choose to bring into our homes could be a red (or blue) flag as to our party preferences. They offered the following explanation of their research methods:
“A quick note on methodology: In a nutshell, our analyst compiled 2012 election data, assigned a blue or red designation for metropolitan areas based on Obama/Romney/other votes, then cross-referenced that data with the Rover.com database of dog breeds and dog names to determine the reddest and bluest breeds and names.”
Here are a few of their findings:
Size Matters:
Those who lean towards the blue side tend to prefer smaller pups according to the data. Poodles, Maltese and Yorkies were the top three breeds owned by Democrats respectively. Republicans favored Border Collies, Boxers and Australian Shepherds.
As for the Independents in the study, their preferences were more difficult to pin down. Pitbulls topped the list, followed by Dachshunds and Huskies.
What’s In A Name?
The top ten dog names for Democrats and Republicans were whittled down, and again the results were interestingly skewed.
Democrats showed quite a bit more creative flair with names like Monty, Hugo and Mochi. The Republicans opted for more popular, main stream names for their pooches: like Coco, Gracie and Duchess. See the entire top ten for both parties here.
Follow The Leader:
When it came to naming their pups after presidents, there were clear winners for each party. Republicans chose Reagan as their number one, followed by Red and Ike. The Dems preferred Bernie, Franklin and Chelsea for their presidential pooches.
In Full Swing:
States that are not dominated by one political party over another were analyzed to see if they showed any particular preference for dog breeds. Ten out of eleven swing states had the Labrador Retriever as their breed of preference, which may or may not be significant seeing that they are the most popular breed in the country.
Only Nevada had a different favorite- the Chihuahua. Boxers were very strong runners up with Wisconsin and Colorado choosing the Border Collie instead.
The only thing that is entirely clear based on this data is that no matter what their political preferences may be, Americans love dogs! More than 43 Million American households now include dogs in their families. Whatever breed they chose or names they decided on, we think that number is pretty pawsome in and of itself!
H/T to Scribd.com
Featured Image via @MeganRenee1
