Small, well behaved dog

[LyricRequiem]

My husband and I have a two year old son- also a cat and rabbit that live in the house and a beagle that spends most his time outside. We're looking for a small, well behaved dog to add to our household, and wondered if anyone has any suggestions as to a particular breed we should look at? We're just worried that any new addition may have some problems with a very energetic two year old boy and a very vocal cat. Any thoughts?

 

[nonameo]

Not a toy poodle.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Yorkie Terrier. Although they are a bit hard to housetrain.

 

[LyricRequiem]

Not yippie is a must

 

[iroast]

Have you considered the negs of owning a dog?

1. Small dogs require to go out 3-4x a day
2. Need doggysitter or some other service to watch the dog while you're away on vacation
3. Dogs need attention (walking, play, petting, etc). If they don't get the chance to release their energy, heh heh...

I have a silkie terrier. Mostly well behaved, but occasional mess (vomiting/peeing/pooping). If you have hardwood flooring, it'll be easier to clean up.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: nonameo
Not a toy poodle.

Why not? Poodles of all sizes are highly intelligent dogs. Most poodles are a cakewalk to train. They make fine, fine pets.

Folks, don't let your impression of poodles -- toy, standard, whatever -- be dictated by a stereotype.

Poodles are not inherently neurotic at all, though the toy ones are often made that way by their unbelievably neurotic owners.

If you don't much cotton to the sterotypical poodle cut, guess what? You don't have to inflict it on yours.

Poodles in their natural state are the chia pets of dogs!

They are fine dogs.

 

[Tooncesthedrivingcat]

papillon

 

[skulkingghost]

Corgi

 

[mb]

Parents have a Japanese Chin. Very well behaved dog.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: iroast
Have you considered the negs of owning a dog?

1. Small dogs require to go out 3-4x a day
2. Need doggysitter or some other service to watch the dog while you're away on vacation
3. Dogs need attention (walking, play, petting, etc). If they don't get the chance to release their energy, heh heh...

I have a silkie terrier. Mostly well behaved, but occasional mess (vomiting/peeing/pooping). If you have hardwood flooring, it'll be easier to clean up.

only during puppy training.
even toys can be trained to piss on a piss mat
larger dogs can get it down to going in the morning and the evening when they grow up.
2yr old is energy/attention enough.
get a medium to small size dog. not some dinky toy that can break a limb if your 2year old plays with it too rough. its mostly about consistent training. read books on training and you'll be fine.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: iroast
Have you considered the negs of owning a dog?

1. Small dogs require to go out 3-4x a day
2. Need doggysitter or some other service to watch the dog while you're away on vacation
3. Dogs need attention (walking, play, petting, etc). If they don't get the chance to release their energy, heh heh...

I have a silkie terrier. Mostly well behaved, but occasional mess (vomiting/peeing/pooping). If you have hardwood flooring, it'll be easier to clean up.

4. Begs and whines for food when you're eating
5. Digs through every trashcan it could find in the house.

And more on 3. I had a terrier, when you don't feel like playing with it, it'll whine and cry all day long. I felt shitty.

Just be expecting a lot more work than your cat.

 

[tigris649]

My family recently adopted two Cairn Terriers. They are very loving dogs, very gentle towards my mom's great niece(who is a one year old)that she babysits, and they do not shed.

 

[Bignate603]

Yorkies are bossy little dogs. We had one that would attack the bulldog next door every chance he got. Nice dog, but he needed lots of love.

 

[skywhr]

Jack Russell FTW

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: astroidea
4. Begs and whines for food when you're eating
5. Digs through every trashcan it could find in the house.

And more on 3. I had a terrier, when you don't feel like playing with it, it'll whine and cry all day long and make you feel shitty.

4. Only if you don't train yourself and everyone in your family not to ever give the dog scraps from the table.

5. Only if you don't take the time to a) Consistently train your dog not to from the get-go and not be a slob and leave open garbage containers at floor level.

Remember, YOU are the alpha dog. You set the tone.

You can tell one whole hell of a lot about a person from the behavior of their dog.

As for 3. Yeah, terriers can be high strung and insistent.

Apparently, you chose your terrier w/o being aware of the time you would have to put in with him/her in order to have a sane and happy dog. Many people don't.

Meh. We ALL make mistakes, especially when we're young.

Unfortunately, our mistakes are amplified, often many times over, when they involve a pet or a child.

OP, poodles don't shed! Although, I'm partial to Yorkies as well. Bogie, my Great Dane was best friends with a Yorkie. It was hilarious to see him slowly, majestically bend way down so they could greet each other nose to nose.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: skywhr
Jack Russell FTW

Only if you have the time and energy . . . and the IRON WILL . . . to train them perfectly!

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: nonameo
Not a toy poodle.

Why not? Poodles of all sizes are highly intelligent dogs. Most poodles are a cakewalk to train. They make fine, fine pets.

Folks, don't let your impression of poodles -- toy, standard, whatever -- be dictated by a stereotype.

Poodles are not inherently neurotic at all, though the toy ones are often made that way by their unbelievably neurotic owners.

If you don't much cotton to the sterotypical poodle cut, guess what? You don't have to inflict it on yours.

Poodles in their natural state are the chia pets of dogs!

They are fine dogs.

agreed.

my toy is well behaved all the time save a bit of barking when someone comes to the door, but then she calms right back down and goes about her business.
she also a trooper, and lets my nieces and nephews put their grubby little hands all over her.

 

[imported_Baloo]

Just my opinion, but since you have a two-year-old, I wouldn't be thinking about getting any new dogs any time soon. Dogs and little kids generally don't go well together. If you must, a Cairn Terrier, or West Highland Terrier (Westie) are both small, and normally do very well with children. Toto from the Wizard of Oz was a cairn terrier, and a Westie is essentially a white Cairn Terrier. They are usually friendly easily trainable. They are still a terrier though, and do what terriers do when strangers approach - make lots of noise. Some consider them to be especially smart due to their trainability, but actually it's the dumb dogs that are easier to train. Smart ones are more apt to refuse commands than dumbs one. Get a girl dog. Girl dogs are generally less aggresive than males, and may even treat your child like it's own.

Edit: I've a Westie and Cairn mix, she and my cat get along very well. The cat is actually larger than the dog.

Edit 2: When she was a pup, she had to go out several times a day. Now, at 3 years, unless there's something outside that's got her attention, like the sounds of children nearby, or other animals, she only needs to go out twice, once in the morning, once in the evening.

 

[BoomerD]

No dog is going to come to you with "good manners" and well behaved. YOU have to teach them both. Terriers will tend to be more difficult to bend to your will, as they all seem to be fucking hard headed, strong willed dogs. Our Yorkie/chihuahua mix is stubborn, hard-headed, and the word terrier is a misnomer...it should be terrierist...but as loving as can be. Little bastard (about 6 lbs) thinks he's tough as nails, and doesn't take any shit from the 90 lb rottweiler next door. (of course, there IS a 6 foot privacy fence between them...and it's a good thing. the little yorkie would probably kill that rottie...when he got stuck in her throat!)

Dogs are what you make them, so to speak. If you have the time and attention to devote to training and teaching them, MOST dogs will be great family dogs, but if you don't pay them any attention, they turn out just like teenagers...

 

[Squisher]

I've heard it suggested here on ATOT that a Pug is one of the few small dogs without the small dog personality.

 

[sjwaste]

If you have the space, I'd probably say consider a larger dog, as they need to go out less and are generally easier to train. Many large breeds are especially good with children. I grew up with a german shepherd and two huskies myself, and I only remember them biting me when I deserved it

 

[TheEarthWillShake]

A pug!

 

[Capt Caveman]

Bring the Beagle inside.

/thread

 

[ICRS]

TeaCup Chihuahua

I know someone who has one and it is adorable.

 

[Lurknomore]

Shih Tzu.
/thread