Breed a shih tzu and a bulldog instead. You could call it a bullshiht.
I don’t type LOL very often, but here goes: LOL!! I should say in defense of my comment that I was going for an “anti-joke” rather than the traditional HAHA.
Lagotto Romagnolo. They’re the Italian equivalent of miniature Portuguese Water Dogs. They meet all of the criteria except mouthiness (most dogs explore the world through their mouths) and “hanging out” (they’re active and need exercise, but not as much as the PWD). They’re VERY rare in the US, though; I’ve only seen one outside of a show. You’ll get some serious indie cred too, now that PWDs have gone mainstream.
Too late to edit, my last post, but as the owner of two awesome but aging Portuguese Water Dogs, if I cant get another one when the time comes thanks to their newfound popularity, I’ll be seriously considering the Lagotto or Barbet. IMHO, it’s better to find a rare breed with the traits one wants in a dog, than cross two established breeds and hope for the best.
My dog is a Shiloh Shepherd. The breed was developed in the 1970’s but not really established till the 80’s-90’s. Still a fairly rare breed and expensive. The woman who developed the breed want to get back to the “ideal” German Shepherd as the GSD in the United States has suffered badly from unscrupulous breeding and is a shadow of its former self (indeed GSDs the military uses are imported from overseas).
Simply a stupendous dog! But be careful, the breed founder was/is fanatical about protecting the bloodline to protect it from unscrupulous breeding. Splinter groups have peeled off to offer Shiloh-like dogs without all the hassle imposed on breeders of the real thing. ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!
If you want one be prepared to wait months and pay an arm-and-a-leg for it. Well worth it IMO though. Just cannot say enough of how spectacular these dogs are.
I read up on the struggle the woman who developed the Shiloh had. It is NOT easy creating a new breed that breeds true with the features you want and avoids health problems. IIRC it wasn’t until she got her hands on some fancy computer program to track genetic lines and such that it really came together for her. Took her well over a decade.
Wiki says they tend to be yappy, even saying
Maybe you just got lucky with the ones you knew.
Brussels Griffon. Small dog that isn’t a terrier. Look them up.
You’re thinking of teacups. Toy breeds don’t fit into purses.
I have a Shihtzu. Yes, they’re the “asian royalty” breed but they literally were bred for companionship. His face isn’t susceptible to disease, you just have to pick the boogers out of his eyes and feed them back to him.
I’ve known several, and only one of them was inclined to be yappy. This was my father’s dog, and my father taught him to speak on command, and praised the dog for yapping. So I don’t think it was the dog’s fault, really. This dog, Sinbad, was quite intelligent…or at least, good at learning tricks. He’d learn a trick because he knew he’d be praised and/or given a treat if he did it properly. He would have been a fine performance dog.
Maltese are very good companion dogs, as long as they aren’t spoiled too much. The biggest drawback they have, as far as I’m concerned, is their coat maintenance. The owner has to either clip it at home, get it clipped, or let it grow out and keep it wrapped in paper (sort of like the old stereotype of a housewife with her hair perpetually in rollers) unless the dog is actually being shown.
Whippet. Well, almost–they do have a prey drive, but that can be conditioned out (for the most part) if you get one as a puppy. And, their favorite activity is sleeping, but hanging out and kicking back are high up there. These are great little dogs, I would not pass up an opportunity to recommend them.
Do you have any evidence that this is happening in reality? From what I have seen on the web, mini-huskies appear to be about as real as bonsai kittens. I have a feeling that we will see domesticated Siberian Foxes hit the market before toy-sized Soviet sled dogs.