About r/dogs
In its own words:
/r/dogs is a place for dog owners of all levels of knowledge, skill, and experience to discuss various topics related to responsible dog ownership. This subreddit is a great starting point for a lot of information, but you should always verify and expand upon what you've read from reputable sources before putting it to use in your daily life. Advice on this forum is not a substitute for advice from a trained and credentialed professional.
The community was created on Mar 14, 2008, which makes it 18 years old. Since Oct 19, 2026, it has gained 2,323 subscribers (+0.08%). Among the 12 communities on our dogs list it is the largest.
What sets r/dogs apart
Compared with other large communities, r/dogs leans heavily on text posts (100% of recent posts; the typical Top 100 subreddit sits at 17%). For its size it is unusually busy: about 25.3 new posts a day per million members, more than 94% of the Top 100. It is also one of the faster-growing big communities: its 0.34% gain since Sep 19, 2026 beats 88% of the Top 100. Its rhythm is strongly tied to time zones: the busiest hour (15:00 UTC) sees about 3.9× as many posts as the quietest (03:00 UTC).
Subscriber growth
Between Sep 19, 2026 and Oct 29, 2026, r/dogs grew from 2,923,264 to 2,933,191 subscribers (+9.9K, +0.34%). That is about 248 new members per day. The chart uses our weekly snapshots (8 so far), so it gets longer every week.
What r/dogs talks about
We read the titles of 489 recent posts (Oct 21–Oct 28), the words that come up most are “dog”, “help”, “advice”, “puppy” and “megathread”. Other frequent themes are breed, stop, training, owner, aging and support. Recurring phrases include “megathread aging”, “aging illness”, “euthanasia support” and “support group”. By format, 100% are text posts and 0% are links.
Popular post flairs: [Misc Help] (116), [Behavior Problems] (99), [Health] (58), [Vent] (41), [Breeds] 📝Recommendation (25), [Training Foundations] (24).
Activity and best time to post
r/dogs gets about 74 new posts a day. The public archive holds 764,507 posts and 6,314,167 comments in total, about 8.3 comments per post. Last week the busiest day was Wednesday (89 posts) and the quietest was Saturday (52). Posting peaks around 15:00 UTC and is lowest around 03:00 UTC.
Rules of r/dogs
The moderators of r/dogs list 12 rules. In short:
- Minimize Antagonism
- Prohibited Content
- Posts must be made in Good Faith
- Minimize Antagonism outside of r/dogs
- Training Advice must follow Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive methods (LIMA)
- Dangerous, Unethical or Illegal Advice is not tolerated
- ESA/SD Fraud or Misrepresentation is Prohibited
- Asking or Providing Medical Advice is Prohibited
- Avoid Low Effort Posts
- Breed or Breed Group Misinformation or Hate is Not Welcome
How to join
Open reddit.com/r/dogs and press “Join”. Read the community rules in the sidebar before you post: every subreddit is run by its own volunteer moderators.
Frequently asked questions
How many members does r/dogs have?
r/dogs has 2,933,191 subscribers, which makes it the #377 safe-for-work subreddit in the SubMouse ranking. It added 9,927 members between Sep 19, 2026 and Oct 29, 2026.
How old is r/dogs?
r/dogs was created on Mar 14, 2008, so it has been around for 18 years. The oldest post in the public archive is from Mar 24, 2008.
How active is r/dogs?
Very active: r/dogs gets about 74 new posts a day (average of the last four weeks). Over its lifetime the archive counts 764,507 posts and 6,314,167 comments. In a sample of 489 recent posts we counted 454 different authors.
When is r/dogs most active?
Based on post counts from Oct 22, 2026 to Oct 28, 2026, the busiest day was Wednesday and the quietest Saturday, and most posts arrive around 15:00 UTC, with the fewest around 03:00 UTC. More posts also means more competition, so a quieter hour can help a post get noticed.
What is r/dogs about?
The community describes itself as: “/r/dogs is a place for dog owners of all levels of knowledge, skill, and experience to discuss various topics related to responsible dog ownership. This subreddit is a great starting point for a lot of information, but …” Recent post titles often mention dog, help, advice, puppy and megathread. Most posts are text posts (100%).
Is r/dogs safe for work?
Yes. Reddit does not mark r/dogs as an 18+ (NSFW) community. SubMouse lists safe-for-work subreddits only.
How do I post on r/dogs?
Join the community on Reddit first, then use “Create post”. r/dogs accepts text posts only, with galleries enabled. It has 12 posted rules, starting with: “Minimize Antagonism”; “Prohibited Content”; “Posts must be made in Good Faith”. Moderators remove posts that break the rules, so read them in the sidebar before posting.
Which communities are like r/dogs?
Communities with similar topics include r/WhatsWrongWithYourDog (2.3M), r/nextfuckinglevel (10.5M), r/TwoXChromosomes (13.7M), r/mildlyinfuriating (12.7M) and r/Parenting (8.3M).
Stats from public data (data updated Oct 29, 2026; activity, rules and archive totals via the Arctic Shift archive, Oct 30, 2026). Point and comment counts are archive snapshots and can be lower than on Reddit today. SubMouse is an independent directory and is not affiliated with Reddit or the moderators of r/dogs.