Dog Chinese Zodiac Sign
The Dog is the eleventh sign of the Chinese zodiac, fixed to the Earth element and classed as Yang. It corresponds to the double-hour of 7 pm to 9 pm, and recent Dog years include 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 and 2030.
| Earthly Branch | Xu (戌) |
|---|---|
| Recent and upcoming years | 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030 |
Household door-guardian folklore has long cast the dog as the animal standing watch at the threshold, and that image of steady vigilance carries directly into how oral tradition and almanac writing describe people born in Dog years: loyal, honest, and protective of the people they consider theirs. Old sayings treat the Dog less as a showy sign and more as the one you'd want keeping an eye on things while everyone else is asleep.
Earth and Yang: The Dog's Fixed Element
Alongside the door-guardian imagery sits a fixed cosmological reading that has nothing to do with folklore roles: Earth for element, Yang for polarity, permanently assigned to the Dog. The Four Pillars system works differently, deriving a stem-based element from each specific year's heavenly stem, so a Dog year like 1994 and another like 2006 can carry different stem elements despite sharing the same fixed sign element.
The Dog's Place on the Zodiac Wheel
The Dog completes the Fire frame alongside the Tiger and the Horse, a three-sign harmony grouping almanacs have carried for generations. Its Six Harmonies (liu he) partner is the Rabbit, and standing opposite it on the wheel is its clash sign, the Dragon. These are pairings traditionally treated as cultural pattern, not as a basis for judging anyone's relationships.
The Dog Sign in Modern Conversation
Guarding the threshold is a role, not a personality test, and the same goes for how Dog years are discussed — household folklore worth enjoying, not a fixed read on any one person born under the sign.
What years are Dog years?
Recent Dog years are 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 and 2030. A zodiac year starts on Chinese New Year, not 1 January, so people born in January or early February may belong to the previous sign, the Rooster.
What element is the Dog in the Chinese zodiac?
In the traditional five-elements framework, the Dog is fixed to the Earth element and classed as Yang; the sign is ranked number 11 in the traditional zodiac order and covers the hours of roughly 7–9 pm in the old double-hour system.
Which signs traditionally get along well with the Dog?
Folk tradition groups the Dog with the Tiger and Horse into what almanacs call the 'Fire frame,' a Three Harmonies (san he) triad, and pairs it specifically with the Rabbit in a Six Harmonies (liu he) match; these are traditional groupings, not guarantees.
Which sign does the Dog traditionally clash with?
The Dog is traditionally said to clash with the Dragon, its opposite on the zodiac wheel; folklore treats this as a point worth being mindful of rather than a fixed outcome.
Zodiac, year pillar (Gānzhī) and na yin element are computed from the lunar calendar with lunar-typescript · Last updated 2026-09-11