Maybe it's just the breeds that I have, but yeah, I *DO* recommend collies to people. I think they're a fantastic choice for someone who wants a moderately active herding breed. For a family that has fallen in love with the looks of the Aussie but doesn't have the knowlege or ability to deal with their training and energy needs? A collie can be a GREAT choice.
In the case of the spitz, I *DO* promote them heavily, but generally to other dog people. I think they are going to be a VERY competitive breed in performance as they get more popular. I also promote them somewhat to pet people (but tend to send folks to Pom rescue more often, as there just aren't tahat many spitz breeders out there.) They're big enough to be a bit more durable than Poms and some of the toys with kids, but small enough to be a reasonable pet in almost any living situation. They're energetic but not horribly so- they really DO have the ability to settle.
I'm much more cautious about the Cardis. They can just be so darn hard-headed, and a badly-trained spitz (or collie) is just bratty- a badly trained Cardi can be a menace.
Corgipower, I know we've differed on this before, but I really don't believe there are any 'working' lines of Pems left. That's generally a fallacy promoted by people who live on a farm and have Pems, not people who actually work them on stock or critter with them.
All three of the breeds I'm involved in ahve their drawbacks. That's true for any breed. But I think that collies are possibly one of the MOST underrated family dogs out there- yeah, they need some grooming, but nothing horrible, certainly not any more than a show-bred Aussie!- and the smooths are readily available. The Spitz can be bratty, but frankly, not any more so than your average spoiled toy dog, and the limited number of breeders means that pet owners WILL get screened and educated prior to purchase. The Cardis are in a similar situation (although it's sort of scary how many BYBs there are compared to when I got my first Cardi in 2001.)