HORIZON ASTROLOGY

Chinese Zodiac Compatibility
Dog and Rat

Compatibility overview

This is an intriguing, if occasionally inconsistent, combination. The energy between firsteast and secondeast is not classically recognized as either brilliant or dangerous, but there are some important synergies that in the right circumstances can lead to a supportive and successful bond.

Dog and Rat - Relationship Horoscope

Read more about the DOG and RAT zodiac signs...

In the Chinese zodiac, the 12 signs are divided into four Trine Families (much as the Western signs share four different elements). The respective families of the Dog (with the Horse and Tiger) and Rat (with the Monkey and Dragon) are not generally thought of as especially compatible—indeed, some matches across the two kinship groups can be potentially unstable (e.g. the Dog with the Dragon, or the Rat with the Horse). Relations between the Dog and Rat therefore need to rely on synergies between their individual characters, rather than a more mystical harmonious connection. Fortunately, these two can easily share some important ideals.

Homeliness and a desire for privacy are common for natives of both the Rat and Dog years. Perhaps more importantly, the Dog tends to pride themselves on their upright moral values, particularly the benefits of hard work, and ensuring that giftedness and effort is encouraged and rewarded. Given the Rat's usually prodigious cleverness and intuition, there is much for the Dog to admire and support. Natives of the Rat year tend to be more consistently cheerful and confident than the sometimes anxious Dog, so the Rat will have many opportunities to offer care and calming advice. The Dog's deeply-felt gratitude will make the Rat feel greatly appreciated.

There are some potential disturbances here as well, owing to the contrasting energies shared by the respective sign-families. The Dog can be extremely earnest, for example, in circumstances where the Rat's instincts are more pragmatic. Matters of shared resources or fidelity could be areas where the Rat is happy to take a more laissez-faire approach. While the Rat is sensitive to the Dog's worries up to a point, they may also find the Dog unnecessarily dour at times, which can make the Dog feel as if they are not being taken seriously.

Overall—especially if both parties have discrete areas of responsibility rather than trying to do everything together—there are real prospects for happiness and effective collaboration between these two signs.

Celebrity Dog/Rat Pairings^*

^*Click on the names to see both Western and Chinese zodiac matches for that pairing.

Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj (click for attribution/s)

Katy Perry (10/25/1984, Scorpio Rat), Nicki Minaj (12/8/1982, Sagittarius Dog) : The singer and rapper are friends who collaborated on the song, "Swish Swish" (2017), and performed together at the 2010 VH1 Divas Salute the Troops concert ("Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"), and the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. Minaj posted after the VMAs, "It was an honor to share the stage with my sister @katyperry last night. I love this little baby. She and I can go months w/o speaking or seeing each other but as soon as we link back up, it's nothing but genuine love & respect. I'm so proud of you Katy Kat."

Jean-Michel Basquiat (12/22/1960, Capricorn Rat), Madonna (8/16/1958, Leo Dog) : The pop music icon and celebrated artist shared a brief romantic relationship in the early 1980s. Madonna has described: "I remember getting up in the middle of the night and [Basquiat] wouldn’t be in bed lying next to me; he’d be standing, painting, at four in the morning, this close to the canvas, in a trance. I was blown away by that, that he worked when he felt moved." About their break-up, she has said: "He wouldn’t stop doing heroin. He was an amazing man and deeply talented, I loved him...When I broke up with him he made me give [the paintings he gave me] back to him. And then he painted over them black."

Angela Bassett and Courtney B Vance (click for attribution/s)

Courtney B Vance (3/12/1960, Pisces Rat), Angela Bassett (8/16/1958, Leo Dog) : The two actors first met in the 1980s when they were both studying at Yale University, then reconnected in the 1990s. They married in 1997 and have two children (twins). In 2020, Bassett described: "Staying together so long, whether in the industry or not, I think the important thing is that you gotta marry the right person. Make sure you're both looking in the same direction, basically. You're not clones of each other, but you have similar or closest similar belief systems and, you know, pleasant personalities. Because we all have strengths, strengths and weaknesses, and we want to support one another. But I think also recognizing that we are each individuals, we have our individual dreams and desires and hopes and ways of doing things."

David Fumero (12/29/1972, Capricorn Rat), Melissa Fumero (8/19/1982, Leo Dog) : The two actors met when they both appeared in the long-running soap opera, One Life to Live (1968-2012). They married in 2007, and have two children. Melissa Fumero described in 2020: "We've been married for a while, and it's not always rainbows and sunshine, but we really are best friends. [David] has endless energy and patience. I marvel at how long he can play with our 4-year-old. And he's a baby whisperer too. [8-month old] Axel will be crying, and David will swoop in, and the baby immediately starts laughing."

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (click for attribution/s)

Ben Affleck (8/15/1972, Leo Rat), Matt Damon (10/8/1970, Libra Dog) : The two actors have been friends since childhood, sharing one of the highest profile "bromances" in the world. They have collaborated multiple times, including co-writing and co-starring in the film, Good Will Hunting (1997), and acting together in the films, Field of Dreams (1989, both uncredited), School Ties (1992), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and The Last Duel (2021). In 2007, Affleck described: "Before Matt, I was by myself. Acting was a solo activity where I'd just go off and do something, act in a little TV show or something, and no one understood it. None of the other kids knew what it was I did, how it worked, or anything. All of a sudden, I had this friend, Matt, and he gets it and wants to do it and thinks it's interesting and wants to talk about it. Soon both of us are doing it."

Eminem (10/17/1972, Libra Rat), Lil Wayne (9/27/1982, Libra Dog) : The two rappers are friends who have collaborated multiple times, including on the songs, "Drop the World" (2009), "Forever" (2009, with Drake and Kanye West), "No Love" (2010), and "If I Die Young" (2012). Interviewed by Wayne in 2020, Eminem said, "I never got a chance to tell you but, yo, ‘Mona Lisa,’ your two verses on that s—...gotta be one of the top five verses of all time...I love when rappers are able to tell a story and don’t compromise any of the punchlines. It’s great to see you and me still doing it." Wayne responded, "[T]hat right there alone, it shows the beauty of what we do, period." Wayne described in 2022, "I did a bunch of joints with Em, that’s ma man. When you get on that joint with Em it’s like a championship game, and you win it, and they ask you how does it feel. I came in with my game plan and I expected my game plan to work. When you send a song to Em you attack it like that, like Nah, yo not going to do me like this. Either we going be right here (level) with it, and we’re going to make a beautiful, wonderful great song, but you ain’t going do me that (above me). And that’s what we did. Can nobody say anybody got bodied. I just made sure that he didn’t body me, cause that boy is a monster."

Heidi Cruz and Ted Cruz (click for attribution/s)

Heidi Cruz (8/7/1972, Leo Rat), Ted Cruz (12/22/1970, Capricorn Dog) : The US politician and businesswoman have been married since 2001, and have two children. Heidi Cruz described in 2013: "Ted is very much a visionary. He is very strategic, and he’s very practical, and he does what needs to be done, not what everybody wants him to do...I want to make sure that everybody is comfortable. I want to make sure that everybody is talking to each other."