Sorry, dog owners: Insisting your pet is the cutest creature on Earth doesn’t necessarily make it true. Some dog breeds are objectively more adorable than others—at least according to a mathematical ratio that appears frequently in art and nature.
To quantify cuteness in dog breeds, MoneyBeach judged their face shapes against the Golden Ratio. This number (1.618 when rounded) shows up when the ratio of two quantities is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. Put more simply, it’s when the smaller is to the larger as the larger is to the whole.
Even if you can’t grasp the math behind it, you likely respond to the Golden Ratio when you see it. It appears in such aesthetic marvels as nautilus shells, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man,” and Jennifer Aniston’s face. The facial configurations of many dog breeds also approach this magic number.
Here is the list calculated by Moneybeach using face measurements and adherence to the golden rule.
| # | Breed | % Adherence to the Golden Ratio |
| 1 | Dalmatian | 67.03% |
| 2 | Irish Water Spaniel | 66.26% |
| 3 | Wire Fox Terrier | 65.53% |
| 4 | Labrador | 64.67% |
| 5 | Basset Hound | 64.43% |
| 6 | Samoyed | 64.33% |
| 7 | Jack Russell | 63.86% |
| 8 | Rottweiler | 63.65% |
| 9 | St. Bernard | 62.94% |
| 10 | Golden Retriever | 62.52% |
| 11 | Newfoundland | 62.07% |
| 12 | Pug | 61.44% |
| 13 | Schnauzer | 59.01% |
| 14 | Leonberger | 58.99% |
| 15 | Cavapoo | 58.79% |
| 16 | Springador | 58.69% |
| 17 | Siberian Husky | 58.48% |
| 18 | Bernese Mountain Dog | 56.76% |
| 19 | Old English Bulldog | 56.30% |
| 20 | Bloodhound | 56.05% |