Chinese zodiac
Dog — Chinese zodiac sign
The dog is eleventh in the cycle, in 戌时 (19:00 to 21:00), the hour the house closes for the night. Dog years are read as loyal, fair-minded and watchful — and privately worried.
Where it sits in the twelve
- Position in the cycle: 11 / 12
- Branch, and its two hours: 戌 (Xu) · 19:00–21:00
- Fixed element: Earth
- What 2026 asks of this sign: a combination year (合太岁)
In the river race the dog was among the strongest swimmers and still came in eleventh, having gone for a swim and lost the lead; 戌 went to the hours the house is shut and a dog is on watch. Its branch is 戌 (xu), its fixed element earth.
Years of the Dog
| Years | Animal | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 戊戌 | Earth |
| 2006 | 丙戌 | Fire |
| 1994 | 甲戌 | Wood |
| 1982 | 壬戌 | Water |
| 1970 | 庚戌 | Metal |
| 1958 | 戊戌 | Earth |
The animal returns every twelve years; the stem in front of it changes, so the element moves with it. The next one is 2038.
Character
Loyal in the structural sense: the dog takes on the people around it as an obligation, and does not quietly renegotiate that.
A strong sense of what is fair — and not as a preference. Unfairness reads to the dog as something physically wrong, and it will say so at a cost.
Watchful. The dog notices who arrived, who left and what changed in the room, and works from that read rather than from what was announced.
Strengths
- Trustworthy to a degree other signs are not
- Fair, and even-handed under pressure
- Protective of its people
- A good judge of character
Weak points
- Suspicious — reads a threat into neutrality
- Pessimistic about the future
- Righteous when it would be wiser to stay quiet
- Anxious, and slow to admit it
Six harmony, three harmony, and the ones it stands off with
Six harmony (六合) is the closest pairing; three harmony (三合) is the working alliance. The rest are the classical frictions: clash (冲), punishment (刑), harm (害), break (破).
- Six harmony: Rabbit
- Three harmony: Tiger · Horse
- Clash: Dragon
- Punishment: Ox · Goat
- Harm: Rooster
- Break: Goat
Six harmony (六合): the rabbit (卯戌). Three harmony (三合): the tiger and the horse (寅午戌, the fire frame). Standing off: the dragon clashes (辰戌冲), the rooster harms (酉戌害), the dog is part of the three-way punishment with the ox and the goat (丑戌未三刑), and the goat also breaks (未戌破).
What 2026 asks of this sign
a combination year (合太岁)
2026 is 丙午 (fire horse) and the horse is the dog's own three-harmony partner (寅午戌): 合太岁. A combination year reads as a year with company in it — the fire frame pulls, introductions come through people already known, and work that needs more than one person goes better than work done alone. The dog's own caution applies: help offered in a combination year is genuine, but the instinct to take on everyone's problem needs a limit set at the start.
Questions
Which years are dog years?
Twelve years apart: 2018, 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, and 2030 next.
Are dog and rabbit compatible?
Yes — 卯戌 is six harmony: the dog's directness with the rabbit's care, and neither has to pretend.
What does the dog stand off with?
The dragon clashes (辰戌冲); the rooster harms (酉戌害); the ox and the goat form the three-way punishment with the dog (丑戌未).