Methodology
How we recommend
Pet Compass is not a black box pretending to know your soulmate in dog form. It is a practical matching tool that weighs your actual life against breed-level traits and then shows the caveats.
What the quiz asks and why
- Home and space: because flats, stairs, gardens and neighbours shape daily life.
- Budget: because food, insurance, grooming and emergencies are welfare issues.
- Energy and exercise: because mismatch here creates destruction, stress and rehoming.
- Allergies: because no dog is fully hypoallergenic and coat type is only part of the answer.
- Children: because child age changes supervision, risk and breed suitability.
- Training tolerance: because clever is not the same as easy.
- Rescue openness: because some breeds are more realistically found through rescue than others.
Data sources
The breed database is informed by Kennel Club breed standards and breed information, breed-health material where available, rescue realities from organisations such as Dogs Trust, and practical ownership factors: size, coat, energy, health-cost risk, trainability and child-friendliness.
How scores are calculated
The quiz compares your answers with each breed’s stored traits. Better alignment on home, energy, shedding/allergy, cost, child suitability and training tolerance raises the score. Serious mismatch creates cautions or avoid signals. Results are guidance, not fate.
What it does not do
It does not replace meeting the dog, speaking to a rescue, checking a breeder, reading health-test evidence, asking your vet, or doing legal checks. A breed score cannot tell you whether one individual dog is calm, anxious, sore, under-socialised or perfect for you.