Understanding the demography of domestic dogs is essential to plan the dog population management
and rabies control program. In this study, we estimated the owned and stray dog population and the
proportion of owned dogs that are free-roaming in Bhutan. For this, a cross-sectional household surveys
were conducted in six districts (both urban and rural areas) and two border towns in southern Bhutan. The
population estimation was done by extrapolation of the mean number of dogs per household and dogs
per person, whilst mark-resight survey was conducted to estimate the proportion of owned dogs that
were free-roaming. A total of 1,301 (rural:585; urban:716) respondents (one per household) were interviewed
of which 173 households (24.4%) in urban areas owned 237 dogs whilst 238 households (40.8%)
in rural areas owned 353 dogs. The mean number of dogs per dog owning household was estimated to be
1.44 (urban:1.37 dogs; rural:1.48 dogs) and dogs per household was estimated to be 0.45 (urban:0.33;
rural:0.60). The dog: human ratio was 1:16.30 (0.06 dogs per person) in urban areas and 1:8.43 (0.12
dogs per person) in rural areas. The total owned dog population based on the mean number of dogs per
household and dogs per person were estimated to be 65,312 and 71,245 in the country, respectively.
The male: female ratio of the owned dog was 1.31:1 in urban areas and 2.05:1 in rural areas. Majority
of the dogs were local non-descript breeds in both urban (60.8%) and rural (78%) areas, and the most
common source was acquisition from friends or family (44.7%). The stray dog population in Bhutan was
estimated to be 48,379 (urban:22,772; rural:25,607). Of the total estimated owned dog population in the
two border towns, the proportion that were found free-roaming was estimated to be 31%. The different
dog population estimation methods were compared and discussed in this paper. This study generated
baseline data on the demographic patterns of the owned and stray dogs in Bhutan which will be useful
for planning and monitoring dog population management and rabies control program in the country.