Giddy Pets research
Britain’s most dog-obsessed cities
Which UK city loves — and worries about — its dogs the most? We measured how often residents of 34 cities Google dog topics (grooming, training, daycare, puppies, and health worries), adjusted per 100,000 people so big cities don’t just win on size. The runaway leader: Plymouth.
Plymouth
Britain’s most dog-obsessed city
Norwich
most anxious dog owners (health searches per head)
34
UK cities analysed
The UK’s most dog-obsessed cities, ranked
Dog-search index = monthly Google searches for dog services + dog health, per 100,000 residents.
| # | City | Dog-obsession index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth | 397 |
| 2 | Bristol | 382 |
| 3 | Norwich | 375 |
| 4 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 374 |
| 5 | Manchester | 345 |
| 6 | Glasgow | 331 |
| 7 | Birmingham | 297 |
| 8 | Stoke-on-Trent | 291 |
| 9 | Portsmouth | 288 |
| 10 | Ipswich | 288 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 264 |
| 12 | Preston | 262 |
| 13 | Reading | 253 |
| 14 | Coventry | 243 |
| 15 | Swansea | 227 |
| 16 | Dundee | 223 |
| 17 | Leeds | 218 |
| 18 | London | 216 |
| 19 | Edinburgh | 212 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 211 |
| 21 | Exeter | 208 |
| 22 | Oxford | 204 |
| 23 | Derby | 172 |
| 24 | Aberdeen | 163 |
| 25 | Brighton | 155 |
| 26 | Cardiff | 148 |
| 27 | Southampton | 134 |
| 28 | York | 134 |
| 29 | Sheffield | 128 |
| 30 | Cambridge | 97 |
| 31 | Sunderland | 91 |
| 32 | Leicester | 86 |
| 33 | Milton Keynes | 73 |
| 34 | Nottingham | 65 |
Where dog owners worry the most
Splitting out just the health-worry searches (“can dogs eat…”, “why is my dog…”, “emergency vet” and the like) per head, the cities whose owners fret most about their dogs’ health are led by Norwich, Preston and Manchester.
1. Norwich2. Preston3. Manchester4. Glasgow5. Exeter6. Plymouth7. Newcastle upon Tyne8. Ipswich9. Oxford10. Portsmouth
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Notes & methodology
- Figures are average monthly UK Google searches (Google Ads keyword data via DataForSEO), by city, July 2026.
- The “dog-obsession index” sums a basket of dog-service searches (groomer, trainer, walker, dog-friendly pub, puppies, boarding, daycare) and dog-health searches (can dogs eat, vomiting, diarrhoea, why is my dog, limping, not eating, emergency vet), then divides by the city’s population per 100,000 (ONS mid-2022) so larger cities don’t win on size alone.
- 34 of the UK’s largest cities are included. Journalists: the full data and a spokesperson are available — matt@giddypets.co.uk. Free to cite with a link to this page.