Hurunui is the dog capital of New Zealand it seems, with the small South Island district boasting the most registered dogs per 1000 people in the whole country.

Figures provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs show Hurunui has a whopping 421 dogs per capita, far in front of the nearest district, Southland, with 380.

More densely populated areas have fewer dogs per capita, with Wellington City recording the lowest number of a mere 58 dogs per 1000 people.

The figures also show Labrador Retriever is by far the most popular registered dog breed in New Zealand.

Huntaway and Border Collie are the second and third most popular breeds, which can likely be attributed to the sheer size of our rural community.

Hurunui is a local government district within the Canterbury region and stretches from the east coast to the Main Divide.

The ministry's figures show they had 5451 total dogs in 2020 to a population of about 12,950 people.

And while Wellington City had 12,220 dogs, compared to their population of 211,200, the number per capita is far less than Hurunui.

As an overall number, Auckland (Group) has the most dogs with 106,332 but its population of over 1.6 million people dwarfs the number of dogs.

It comes after Bella and Charlie were the voted the top two dog names for 2020.

An informal survey conducted by Wellington City Council asked respondents to vote on their favourites on everything from best audiobooks to favourite dog names.

Labradors were voted as the "top dog", followed by Cavalier King Charles spaniels and border collies.

Wellington Labrador and Retriever club secretary Trudy Warmerdam said Labradors had long been a popular pet choice.

"Labradors are great family dogs but they're also easy to train ... they're great for anything really, guide dogs, hunting, duck shooting, guard dogs," she said.

"They're the most popular family dog because they're so good with kids."

Although Wellington was a dense city, Warmerdam said the access to beaches and hiking trails made it an ideal home for labradors.

Registered dogs per capita:

Hurunui District: 12950 population, 5451 dogs, 421 dogs per capita;

Southland District: 31900, 12118, 380;

Clutha District: 18050, 6673, 370;

Central Hawke's Bay District: 14650, 5271, 360;

Wairoa District: 8720, 3123, 358;

Tararua District: 18450, 6586, 357;

Waimate District: 8120, 2854, 351;

Ruapehu District: 12750, 4464, 350;,

Waitomo District: 9630, 3303, 343;

Mackenzie District: 5100, 1654, 324;

Rangitikei District: 15450, 5007, 324;

South Wairarapa District: 10900, 3240, 297;

Carterton District: 9510, 2759, 290;

Kaikoura District: 4060, 1073, 264;

Gore District: 12800, 3188, 249;

Central Otago District: 22200, 5459, 246;

Waitaki District: 22900, 5358, 234;

Selwyn District: 63300, 14491, 229;

Hauraki District: 20700, 4503, 218;

Masterton District: 26400, 5754, 218;

Westland District: 8830, 1920, 217;

Manawatu District: 31100, 6732, 216;

Buller District: 9850, 2106, 214;

Marlborough District: 48700, 1043, 214;

Gisborne District: 49500, 10460, 211;

Stratford District: 9710, 2037, 210;

Waimakariri District: 61300, 12614, 206;

Otorohanga District: 10500, 2131, 203;

Tasman District: 54000, 10397, 193;

Grey District: 13750, 2610, 190;

Timaru District: 47600, 8958, 188;

Kaipara District: 23700, 4390, 185;

Ashburton District: 34600, 6371, 184;

Horowhenua District: 34500, 6179, 179;

Taupo District: 38600, 6860, 178;

Kawerau District: 7460, 1313, 176;

Waikato District: 78200, 13677, 175;

Western Bay of Plenty District: 53400, 9063, 170;

Whanganui District: 46800, 7763, 166;

Invercargill City: 55900, 9186, 164;

Thames‐Coromandel District: 30700, 4963, 162;

South Waikato District: 24800, 3864, 156;

Whakatane District: 37100, 5802, 156;

South Taranaki District: 28300, 4388, 155;

Opotiki District: 9670, 1487, 154;

Matamata‐Piako District: 35300, 5389, 153;

Rotorua District: 74800, 10662, 143;

Kapiti Coast District: 55200, 7805, 141;

Dunedin City: 131200, 18245, 139;

New Plymouth District: 83300, 11281, 135;

Upper Hutt City: 45400, 6138, 135;

Hastings District: 84700, 11081, 131;

Whangarei District: 94100, 11283, 120;

Waipa District: 55000, 6559, 119;

Queenstown‐Lakes District: 42500, 5028, 118;

Nelson City: 52700, 5854, 111;

Christchurch City: 383800, 39529, 103;

Palmerston North City: 88300, 8555, 97;

Tauranga City: 142000, 13435, 95;

Napier City: 64200, 6055, 94;

Porirua City: 58900, 5189, 88;

Far North District: 67900, 5412, 80;

Hamilton City: 168600, 11427, 68;

Auckland (Group): 1654620, 106332, 64;

Wellington City: 211200, 12220, 58;

Most popular dog per district:

Ashburton District: Retriever, Labrador

Auckland (Group): Retriever, Labrador

Buller District: Collie, Border

Carterton District: Huntaway

Central Hawke's Bay District: Huntaway

Central Otago District: Collie, Border

Chatham Islands: Huntaway

Christchurch City: Retriever, Labrador

Clutha District: Collie, Smooth

Dunedin City: Retriever, Labrador

Far North District: Huntaway

Gisborne District: Huntaway

Gore District: Huntaway

Grey District: Retriever, Labrador

Hamilton City: Retriever, Labrador

Hastings District: Retriever, Labrador

Hauraki District: Retriever, Labrador

Horowhenua District: Retriever, Labrador

Hurunui District: Collie, Smooth

Hutt City: Retriever, Labrador

Invercargill City: Retriever, Labrador

Kaikoura District: Huntaway

Kaipara District: Huntaway

Kapiti Coast District: Retriever, Labrador

Kawerau District: Retriever, Labrador

Mackenzie District: Collie, Border

Manawatu District: Huntaway

Marlborough District: Huntaway

Masterton District: Huntaway

Matamata‐Piako District: Retriever, Labrador

Napier City: Retriever, Labrador

Nelson City: Retriever, Labrador

New Plymouth District: Retriever, Labrador

Opotiki District: Retriever, Labrador

Otorohanga District: Huntaway

Palmerston North City: Retriever, Labrador

Porirua City: Retriever, Labrador

Queenstown‐Lakes District: Retriever, Labrador

Rangitikei District: Huntaway

Rotorua District: Retriever, Labrador

Ruapehu District: Huntaway

Selwyn District: Retriever, Labrador

South Taranaki District: Retriever, Labrador

South Waikato District: Retriever, Labrador

South Wairarapa District: Huntaway

Southland District: Huntaway

Stratford District: Huntaway

Tararua District: Huntaway

Tasman District: Collie, Border

Taupo District: Retriever, Labrador

Tauranga City: Retriever, Labrador

Thames‐Coromandel District: Retriever, Labrador

Timaru District: Retriever, Labrador

Upper Hutt City: Retriever, Labrador

Waikato District: Retriever, Labrador

Waimakariri District: Retriever, Labrador

Waimate District: Huntaway

Waipa District: Retriever, Labrador

Wairoa District Huntaway

Waitaki District: Collie, Border

Waitomo District: Huntaway

Wellington City: Retriever, Labrador

Western Bay of Plenty District: Retriever, Labrador

Westland District: Retriever, Labrador

Whakatane District: Retriever, Labrador

Whanganui District: Huntaway

Whangarei District: Retriever, Labrador