There are people breeding mini-huskies, with the aim of keeping the personality of a working dog rather than making them into yappy little toys.
There are breeds being bred for today’s potential dog-owners - someone above mentioned the oodles of -oodle crossbreeders; give it ten or twenty years and there will be breeders specialising in puppies with a labradoodle mother and father.
But your needs would probably be met by going to a rescue home. If US rescue homes are like the ones here, they’ll try to match a dog to an owner that will cope with it. That’s even better than going for a breed that’s supposed to act in a particular way, because genetics isn’t perfectly predictive, whereas rescue homes will present you with real dogs where you can see how they really behave. They’ll know which dogs need extra time, which dogs are fine with other dogs or with cats, and so on.
Mongrels are also somewhat less likely to succumb to heritable diseases, for obvious reasons.
If it weren’t for the prey drive, I’d say a rescued greyhound almost meets those criteria, by the way - I just couldn’t ever trust one with my cats, otherwise I’d have gotten one. (The last time we had a thread on them, somebody said theirs was totally trustworthy with the cats, didn’t even pay any attention to them, etc, all its life except the one day when they came home to a dead cat. But it never happened before or since. I stopped looking at greyhound websites that day.)
One smaller retriever breed is the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, which are between 37 and 51 pounds, according to the breed standard. Mind you, they are a high-energy, high-maintenance dog, which needs its mind exercised and challenged rigorously to keep it out of trouble.
(or so I’ve read)
S^G
Well, all of the toy-breed dogs I’ve known have been neurotic wrecks, but I’ll admit that I don’t know all of the breeds. And as for greyhounds, another problem with them is that they’re relatively short-lived: If I’m going to be getting a dog for companionship, I don’t want it dying after only eight years.
Oh, and about those -oodles and other “designer breeds”: It’s important to realize that Labradoodle is not a breed, and I don’t just mean that in the sense that it’s not recognized by the kennel clubs. The defining characteristic of a breed is that they breed true: If you take a poodle mother and a poodle father, the puppies you get will all be poodles. If, on the other hand, you breed two Labradoodles together, you can get something that’s almost exactly like a lab, something that’s almost exactly like a poodle, or anything in between. It would be possible to, over the course of many generations, select those pups that match most closely to the “Labradoodle ideal” and breed them for the next generation, and so eventually get a true breed of Labradoodles, and I’m sure that there are some breeders out there who are doing just that. But most “Labradoodle breeders” don’t have the knowledge of genetics (theoretical or applied) necessary for that, so I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for them.
Thirding the Maltese. Mine was the perfect companion.
Also the Bichon Frise - a slightly larger, curlier Maltese.
It sounds like the OP wants a Shiba Inu to me. Clean, quite, medium energy dogs that actually look like a dog, and are usually excellent in temper.
It’s not so much breed specific as OWNER specific. It’s all in how you raise them. I have nad Papillons for over 10 years now, and have many friends with Papillons. Some, the ones that are treated like fragile little nick-nacks, are the nervous, yappy little things you describe. Then, I have a friend with 8 Paps that she shows in every dicipline you can name-conformation, obedience, agility, tracking, flyball… and these are happy, rugged little dogs that are a delight to be around. My Paps are somewhere in between… I no longer show, but they are treated like DOGS, they play tug o’ war and fetch and we wrestle. My little male that just died recently played frisbee even. Wonderful little devoted companions that love to take long walks with me.
When I was younger, I had a tiny little Yorkie that loved to go to the barn with me, and even more, loved to go camping and hiking in the woods.
So please don’t blame the breed for the actions of their owners. (Pit Bull lovers know exactly what I mean.)
Standard Dachshund.
I think the type you’re looking for is “stuffed”. 
ETA: I just looked up the Maltese and the “puppy cut” ones are ridiculously cute.
We have a Chihuahua/Papillon cross. I am not sure about Chihuahuas, but weren’t Papillons bred simply to be companions?
Ours is a wonderful little dog who loves to be with her people, hanging out, but also loves to play (and lets us know when it’s time to play!) 7.5 pounds, small poops, and very snuggly. And quite happy to go walking in the woods with me, too.
Our cockapoo pretty much fits all these criteria except that she doesn’t like strangers (is scared of them – outside her territory, she cringes; inside, she barks, but doesn’t bite). But other cockapoos have different temperaments.
Can I barrow this? I’d like to cross out dog, and write in human female then post it to a singles ad and see who answers.
Won’t eat your cat? Guess you won’t be a good match for Jenifer…
You think 7.5 pounds is a small poop?
I guess this makes me a yuppie, but I have a field Lab, and she is a tiny bit under 60 pounds. Field labs are definitely smaller, and thinner, than their show counterparts. The major downside to field Labs, however, is their energy level: I’d say maybe 1.5-2 times as energetic as a show Lab. Great for agility and if you have the time to exercise it (we go hiking, snowshoeing, dog park, swimming, etc. all the freaking time). Not so good if you are looking for a dog that will lay around on the couch all the time.
I had a pointer-doberman cross. About 45 lbs. Minimal coat care. Sleek, stylish dog with the doberman’s intelligence and the hunting dog’s desire to be a companion. Protective, but not agressive. Good with children, cats and other dogs. Not a barker. Happy just to be in the same room as me. When I wasn’t home, she’d curl up on the bed and sleep. She lived to the age of 14, which isn’t bad. Even people who were afraid of dogs loved Kate.
StG
I got my lab from a breeder who specializes in smaller labs. Our female is on the bigger side for their kennel at 65lbs. Several friends of ours have dogs from them that are more in the 50-55 lb range.
The problem with toy breeds is either that their hair takes too much care or they are prone to health problems. Maltese sound interesting, but I do not like the way they look. So many breeds have just one or two obvious problems that creating new breeds just seems so obvious. Labradors are great but too energetic, Papillons are great but too yappy, etc.
The project Shirley U mentions is very interesting. If you could create a dog that looked like a golden retriever, had the personality of a shit tzu, the energy of a basset, and the size of a cocker spaniel, wouldn’t that be great? It is suprising to me that this is being done more.
I was thinking of breeding a beagle with a shih tzu to develop something I want to call a ‘shit beagle.’