Which Years Are Dog Years?
People born in 1994, 2006, 2018 and 2030 are Dogs. Earlier Dog years are 1946, 1958, 1970 and 1982. The Dog comes around every 12 years.
A Dog year begins at the Start of Spring (Lichun), around February 4. It is usually a different day from Chinese New Year.
BaZi writes your birth year, month, day and hour as two characters each. The two for the year are your year pillar.
Enter your birth date and hour in the free BaZi calculator. If the second character of your year pillar is 戌 (Xu), you are a Dog. Born before the Start of Spring, your pillar still ends in the previous year's Yǒu, so you are a Rooster.
| Year | Stem-branch | Na Yin | Born between |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2030 | Geng Xu | Ornamental Hairpin Gold | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 2018 | Wu Xu | Flatland Wood | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 2006 | Bing Xu | Earth on the Roof | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1994 | Jia Xu | Fire on the Mountaintop | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1982 | Ren Xu | Great Sea Water | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1970 | Geng Xu | Ornamental Hairpin Gold | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1958 | Wu Xu | Flatland Wood | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1946 | Bing Xu | Earth on the Roof | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
Calculate your BaZi chart
Enter your birth details to discover your Day Master, elemental balance, and how these concepts apply to your Four Pillars.
What Does the Dog Face This Year? Why Goat Years Punish and Break
What a Dog faces depends on the year's animal. Tradition weighs two years the most: a Dog year, your own year (Ben Ming Nian), and a Dragon year, which clashes. A Goat year both punishes and breaks Tai Sui, because the Goat and the Dog share both relations.
Ox years punish and Rooster years harm, and both count as lighter. Tiger, Rabbit and Horse years are in harmony, which is seen as a help.
Tai Sui is the animal of the current year. That year is your annual fortune (Liu Nian). Folk custom compares its animal with yours to see whether you "offend" Tai Sui.
Some sources list only punishment for a Goat year. By Sanming Tonghui, the Goat and the Dog also break each other, so a Goat year adds a break for the Dog.
Offending Tai Sui compares two animals only. It is not a full forecast for your year. For each animal's Tai Sui outlook and tips for the year, see the CNY BaZi Fortune Guide.
Who Are the Dog's Best Matches?
The Dog's best matches are the Tiger, Horse and Rabbit. The Horse and Rabbit are the closest.
- TrineThree earthly branches form a group. For the Dog, the other two are the Tiger and the Horse.
- Six HarmonyTwo branches form a pair. The Dog pairs with the Rabbit.
The Horse sits in the middle of the group. Even when only two of the three meet, the Horse and the Dog still bond. That makes the Horse closer than the Tiger. Without a Horse between them, a Tiger and a Dog do not bond tightly.
Which Animals Clash with the Dog?
The Dragon is the Dog's worst match. Friction with the Ox, Goat and Rooster is lighter. Clash, punishment, harm and break all make a poor match, but some weigh more than others.
- ClashSet the twelve animals in a circle, and the two directly opposite collide. This is the heavier kind.
- PunishmentFriction, each holding the other back. The Ox, Goat and Dog punish one another, so the Ox and the Goat both punish the Dog.
- HarmThe Rooster clashes with the Rabbit, the Dog's six harmony partner. So the Rooster harms the Dog.
- BreakA minor loss.
| Animal | Branch | Relation | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon | Chen | Clash | Heavier |
| Goat | Wei | Punishment and break | Lighter |
| Ox | Chou | Punishment | Lighter |
| Rooster | Yǒu | Harm | Lighter |
Five Dogs: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth
The five kinds of Dog are sorted by the heavenly stem of the birth year. Every Dog year's pillar ends in Xu. What differs is the first character, the stem. Each stem belongs to one element.
For example, 1994 is Jia Xu. Jia is Wood, so 1994 is a Wood Dog.
| Type | Year pillar | Birth years |
|---|---|---|
| Metal Dog | Geng Xu | 1970, 2030 |
| Wood Dog | Jia Xu | 1994 |
| Water Dog | Ren Xu | 1982 |
| Fire Dog | Bing Xu | 1946, 2006 |
| Earth Dog | Wu Xu | 1958, 2018 |
Some sites sort Dogs by Na Yin instead. Na Yin is a second set of element names, one for each stem and branch pair.
For 2018, the Na Yin is Flatland Wood, so those sites call it a Wood Dog. By its stem, it is an Earth Dog.
Dog Personality: Loyal and Principled, Prone to Worry
Dogs tend to be loyal, honest and principled. These traits come from Xu's hidden stems. Each branch hides one to three stems, called hidden stems (Cang Gan).
Xu hides three: one earth, one metal and one fire. The earth stem, Wu Earth, weighs the most.
This earth is thick and solid, so you tend to keep your word and stand by the people and causes you choose. The metal is sharp. It gives a clear sense of right and wrong, and little patience for unfairness. The fire is a contained warmth: you care about people but rarely say so.
The other side is a guarded streak. You may plan for the worst more easily, and thinking ahead means worrying ahead. Under heavy pressure, caution can turn into suspicion.
Beyond Your Animal: Day Master and Annual Fortune
To read you as a person, look at your Day Master. To read how a year goes, look at how that year meets your whole chart. The Day Master is the stem of the day you were born. Your animal is just the branch of your year pillar, one of eight characters.
Everyone born in the same year shares an animal, but the month, day and hour pillars differ. So your temperament and way of working are read from the Day Master, together with the strength of the Five Elements. A year whose element fills what your chart lacks tends to help. One that adds to what you already have too much of is more likely to strain you.
