| Pic: | Dog (Chinese characters).svg |
| Piccap: | "Dog" in regular Chinese characters |
| Picupright: | 0.3 |
| C: | 狗 |
| P: | gǒu |
| W: | kou3 |
| J: | gau2 |
| Y: | gáu |
| Poj: | káu |
| Oc-Bs: | *pronounced as /Cə.kˤroʔ/ |
The Dog (狗) is eleventh of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Dog is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 戌. The character 狗, also refers to the actual animal while 戌, also refers to the zodiac animal.
People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "Year of the Dog", while also bearing the following elemental sign:[1]
| Start date | End date | Heavenly branch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 February 1910 | 29 January 1911 | Metal Dog | |
| 28 January 1922 | 15 February 1923 | Water Dog | |
| 14 February 1934 | 3 February 1935 | Wood Dog | |
| 2 February 1946 | 21 January 1947 | Fire Dog | |
| 18 February 1958 | 7 February 1959 | Earth Dog | |
| 6 February 1970 | 26 January 1971 | Metal Dog | |
| 25 January 1982 | 12 February 1983 | Water Dog | |
| 10 February 1994 | 30 January 1995 | Wood Dog | |
| 29 January 2006 | 17 February 2007 | Fire Dog | |
| 16 February 2018 | 4 February 2019 | Earth Dog | |
| 3 February 2030 | 22 January 2031 | Metal Dog | |
| 22 January 2042 | 9 February 2043 | Water Dog | |
| 8 February 2054 | 27 January 2055 | Wood Dog | |
| 26 January 2066 | 13 February 2067 | Fire Dog | |
| 12 February 2078 | 1 February 2079 | Earth Dog | |
| 30 January 2090 | 17 February 2091 | Metal Dog | |
| 17 February 2102 | 6 February 2103 | Water Dog |
| Earthly Branches of Birth Year: | 戌 Xu | |
| The Five Elements | Earth | |
| Cardinal Point | West-Northwest (WNW) | |
| Yin/ Yang | Yang | |
| Lunar Month: | Ninth | |
| Season: | Autumn | |
| Closest Western Zodiac: | Libra | |
| Earthly Branch Ruling Hours: | 19:00 to 20:59 | |
| Twelve Heavenly Generals | Sanskrit | |
| Lucky Flowers: | rose, oncidium, cymbidium, orchid | |
| Lucky Numbers: | 3, 4, 9; Avoid: 1, 6, 7 | |
| Lucky Colors: | black,green, red, purple; Avoid: blue, white, gold |
In the sexagenary cycle, 2018 (16 February 2018–4 February 2019, and every 60-year multiple before and after), is the Celestial stem/Earthly Branch year indicated by the characters 戊戌. For the 2018 Year of the Dog, many countries and regions issued lunar new year stamps. These included countries where the holiday is traditionally observed as well as countries in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.[2]