Small Dog Brainstorm

[SisMorphine]

Okay, so my friend is going to get a dog. A small dog, of course. I am trying my hardest to help her but she is stuck on certain breeds, which I know are not good for her, and it's getting tiresome. Since I'm not up on small breed dogs, I figured I'd ask you all.

She lives in an apartment. She got the okay from the landlord but he is a SUPER anal picky man. The dog can not be a barker/yapper and also cannot use piddle pads (ie: can't be one of the dogs that is hard to housebreak). She wants it small enough to fit in her purse (ugh). She will be hiring a dog walker and a groomer. And of course, I'll be on call for behavioral and normal training issues. I require that the dog isn't a weenie because you'd best believe I'll feed it to my bulldogs if I think it sucks.

Alright, folks, throw some suggestions out there please!!!

[Dekka]

If she can find a fairly healthy one what about a Cav.. I love them. NOT weenies lol.

[SisMorphine]

I have more rules now. LOL! She really wants a dog with hair, and she wants one around 5 pounds. UGH! Is this really one of my best friends we're talking about here? LOL!

[Dekka]

I don't think you get under 5 pounds that is reliable known for being easy to house train. Other than the weight I still like a Cav, or maybe a Bichon.

[Laurelin]

Housetraining, I think really depends on the individual and the owner. Summer, Beau, and Nard were easily house trained, but Rose still has problems. I'm sure if we'd had Rose as a pup she would be too, but they're not a breed known for being easily house broken.

I can't think of a breed under 5 lbs other than a chihuahua! lol Everything else is going to be bigger. A Cav would be nice but you're not going to be toting one in a purse long.

[Dekka]

LOL not unless you are into body building

[CaliTerp07]

5 lbs sounds REALLY small...you may want to show her a bunch of little breeds and show her how they all get bigger than that so she can revise her estimates.

[SisMorphine]

The thing that kills me is that she absolutely LOVES my dogs, and was Wally's second mom. I'm trying to get her to go see a Pap breeder to meet the dogs, but she seems dead set on one specific breed (which I won't mention yet because I want people to give me more ideas). I also told her that we may be able to find a dog under 10 pounds, but 5 was really pushing it.

I'm also going to bring her to the local shelters to look at small mixed breed dogs, see if there is one that fits.

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by SisMorphine

The thing that kills me is that she absolutely LOVES my dogs, and was Wally's second mom. I'm trying to get her to go see a Pap breeder to meet the dogs, but she seems dead set on one specific breed (which I won't mention yet because I want people to give me more ideas). I also told her that we may be able to find a dog under 10 pounds, but 5 was really pushing it.

I'm also going to bring her to the local shelters to look at small mixed breed dogs, see if there is one that fits.

The right pap *could* work. Rose would be pretty good in a situation like you described (except the previously mentioned house training issue). She rarely barks, she's pretty low energy and would do fine with just a 30 minute walk a day, she's perfectly content just hanging with you and playing every now and then, but I'm not sure how she'd do in a purse. Now a pap like Summer or even Beau could be a bit too much for the situation. My main worry would be their mouths. Those two are pretty vocal. You CAN also find undersized paps pretty frequently. Nard is barely over 5 lbs and looks to be staying that small (sadly). But I think if you expanded her weight limit to just 10 lbs, you'd have a lot more options.

What breed does she have in mind? Other thoughts would be shih tzus, pugs, bichons, cavs, etc. Those tend to be lower key than a pap.

[SisMorphine]

Originally she wanted a pug, but ended up shooting it down because of health issues. Now she's looking at Yorkies . . . and except for size and looks I REALLY think it is the wrong breed for her situation.

This is getting frustrating. I wish she would just expand the size a tiny bit. Heck, she was Wally's second mom why the heck wouldn't she want at least a medium sized dog?!