The Year of the Dog

Loyal, honest, and just — the faithful heart that guards what matters.

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glyph 戌

pinyin Xū

fixed element Earth

polarity Yang

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the wheel turns every twelve years

Years of the Dog

1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018 2030 2042

The next Year of the Dog is 2030. Born in one of these years, after Lichun in early February? The Dog is your sign.

the nature of the Dog

Personality & Character

The Dog is loyalty itself — steadfast, honest, and guided by a strong inner compass of right and wrong. You are the friend who shows up, the one whose word is genuinely good, fiercely protective of the people and principles you love. Fairness matters to you almost to the bone; you have a nose for injustice and little patience for the cheat or the phony. There is warmth beneath your watchfulness — you give devotion freely once trust is earned — but you can be wary at first, quietly scanning for whether a thing is safe and true. The shadow is anxiety and a leaning toward pessimism: you can worry, brace for betrayal, and grow cynical when the world disappoints your high standards. But your integrity is bedrock. At your best, you are the loyal, principled presence others build their trust upon — the one who stands firm when it counts and never, ever abandons their own.

In Love

You love loyally and completely, offering a devotion that does not waver once it is given. You need to trust before you open, but the partner who earns it receives a faithful, protective, deeply sincere heart. You value honesty above romance and grow anxious when things feel uncertain. Your secret friend is the gentle Rabbit; Tiger and Horse share your fierce warmth. Let reassurance in — not every silence hides a betrayal, and trust freely given is love's own quiet reward.

In Work & Career

You bring integrity, dedication, and a strong sense of duty to everything you do — the colleague who can be relied upon absolutely. You thrive in work that serves a cause or protects others: law, medicine, advocacy, public service, security, teaching, any field where fairness and responsibility are the whole point. You are conscientious to a fault and loyal to good leadership. The caution is worry and burnout; the Dog who learns to trust that things will hold, and to rest, guards its own well as fiercely as everyone else's.

who the Dog runs with

Harmony & Compatibility

The San He Trine

The Dog’s two natural allies — the classical “three harmonies” that pull in the same direction.

Tiger

Horse

The Secret Friend

The Liu He bond — the quiet, protective partner who covers the Dog’s blind spots.

Rabbit

The Classical Clash — the Dragon

The Dragon sits directly across the wheel from the Dog. Read it as weather, not doom: a clash is contrast and friction, never a curse — two different tempos that can grate, or balance beautifully once each makes a little room for the other.

Born in January or early February? The Chinese year doesn’t begin on January 1st — it turns at Lichun, when the Sun reaches 315°, usually around February 4th. A birthday just before it may truly belong to the animal before the Dog. The calculator settles it from the real position of the Sun →

the Dog, in brief

Common Asks

What years are the Year of the Dog?

Recent Dog years include 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, and 2030. Because the BaZi year begins at Lichun (around February 4th), a birthday in late January or early February can belong to the previous Rooster year — the calculator settles it from the real solar moment.

Who is the Dog most compatible with?

The Dog runs loyally with the Tiger and the Horse — its San He trine of warm, principled spirits — and finds a gentling secret-friend bond with the Rabbit. Its classical clash is the Dragon, a difference between the modest guardian and the grand visionary to respect rather than dread.

Do Dogs worry too much?

The Dog's watchfulness is loyalty in another form — it guards because it cares. The worry eases when the Dog learns to trust that some things will hold without its vigilance, and to rest as devotedly as it protects.

your animal is only the first pillar

See Your Whole Chart

Your birth year names your animal — but a full BaZi chart holds four pillars: year, month, day, and hour, and the balance of all five elements woven through you. It’s free, and it settles your true animal to the exact moment of the Sun.

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the wheel keeps turning