So I've narrowed down my choices.. need advice

+++ I HAVE ALREADY DONE SOME RESEARCH ON THESE BREEDS , IM LOOKING FOR YOUR OPINION/PERSONAL EXPERIENCE ++

So as you guys may know I'll be adding a little baby to my family soon. I'll be living in an apartment. Im looking for a loving ,affectionate dog who will get really attached to me ( not to say that ANY dog wouldnt, but some are more independent, you know, a good lap dog who also loves to play.) So here are the breeds i'm looking at currently ;

1. Butterfly dog ( Papillon )


Friendly, intelligent is tougher than it looks, gentle affectionate, lively, vivacious and charming. Playful and amusing but can also be calm, patient, gentle and dignified. Steady and silent. Loves to be cuddled but also likes to romp outdoors. NOT A YAPPER

although they can be good city dogs, they are sometimes not good apartment dogs, because the dog has a strong instinct to protect their property, and many will bark excessively at nearby noises ( is this true? Should i be concerned )

I have had people tell me that the Pap accually is a good Apartment dog and really good for beginners ...

2. Chihuahua MIX

good companion dog. Courageous, extremely lively, proud and enterprising, gives and demands affection . become very attached to their owners

Sounds great, but they are way too small for me, I saw an INCREDIBLE Mix at the shelter, it was about the size of a Beagle.

3. Yorkshire terrier

highly energetic, brave, loyal and clever. Affectionate with its master
The Yorkie likes to bark, but it can easily be taught not to do so

my neighbor has one, and its so playful and loving, im in love =P

4. Chancy

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/chacyranior.htm


soo yeah these are the breeds im focusing on currently... if anyone has any more that might fit what im looking for dont be afriad to speak up =D

Well since there's no Tibetan Spaniel on the list... I like Paps the best of those three.

ETA: You don't mind grooming, right? I'm pretty sure Yorkies and Papillons require some of that.

Yeah grooming is no problem at all.

Tibetan Spaniel huh? Mind telling me a bit about them?

Well, I'm a tad bit partial, but...

I like papillons the best. If you have any specific questions about life with the little devils, feel free to ask. I've known quite a few of them.

Tibetan spaniels are another of my favorite breeds, but papillons are by far my #1 choice.

As for barking, none of my paps have been excessive barkers. They do bark at noises such as the doorbell or something like that, but they don't carry on the way some breeds (shelties) seem to. Actually, Rose doesn't bark at all. I've heard her bark three times since we got her. It's very strange. They do tend to get really attached to their people- more so than other breeds it seems to me. If given their way, they'd be with their people every second of the day- including the bathroom. It's ajoke among the papillon people here that once you get a pap, you'll never go to the bathroom alone again.

I find they're a good choice for someone who wants a little dog with a lot of character and a high activity level. They are cuddlers and lap dogs, but they're very intelligent and can be very active.

I vote for the Chihuahua mix, or going to the pound and finding a small dog that fits your specifications. These pound puppies can be so endearing.

As an adult I've had a pug and a mixed pound dog. Both would work, but Pug wasn't on your list. You can find a very dear friend at the shelter!!!

I say Papillon BY FAR from the list provided. They even tempt me and I really am not a small dog fan.

But a Tibetan Spaniel is also a **** cool little dog.

im partial to chihuahuas but agree there not a breed for everybody, a larger chihuahua mix however might be absolutly perfect for you.
Chis are low grooming (even the longhaired) and they love to play but arnt an extreemly hihg energy dog.
this breed bonds tightly, so tightly in fact that there prone to seperation anxiety and possessive tendencies towards their owners if not properly socilized as puppies, they are EXCELENT guard dogs despite their size. but again if not properly trained can bark exsessivly. (all mine were taught the command enough from day one)
Chihuahuas are one of those breeds that, if you like em you LOVE them, and they tend to be addictive.

A chihuahua mix could display tendencies of any of the breeds mixed in so it would have to be a one on one basis, but it would be perfect in terms of adopting a small dog from a shelter!

Paps are wonderfull too, from what im told they display alot of the same tendencies as chis, except a little more on the grooming and higher energy.

How exactly would i go about teaching my puppy to not bark excessively ??

If you get an adult from the shelter, you might be able to assess if the dog you're looking at is quiet or vocal. Then you can narrow down your choices to the less barky ones.

I've only got experience with my dad's Tibetan. He's a cool little guy. Very smart, very funny, very much aware of how cute he is. Kind of a snot at times, but he hasn't had extensive training either. Basically a love sponge that follows my dad around the house 99% of the time. Can be vocal at times, but not really excessive. Just an all around neat dog, and I don't really like little dogs, so that's saying something. Here's a few pics of Cimba:

(Ignore the feet in the first one.)



This pic of him pestering my husband makes him look huge. He's about 15 pounds.





He gets the Loki seal of approval. LOL

Just wanted to add that the downside would be that they're a bit hard-to-come-by, so if you'd be looking to get a dog soon, you might not be able to. Here's a website about them: http://tibbies.net/index.shtml

I'd vote for Papillon out of those. However if I might chime in with another suggestion, what you're looking for sounds to me like a perfect match for cavalier king charles spaniel. They're also good in apartments. My CKCS loves to cuddle in my lap, he's very attached to me, friendly with everyone and very playful.

I'd vote Pap at this point ... but that's because I don't see me with a Terrior or a Chi .

I vote shelter dog, be it Papillion or Chihuahua..

I'll post part of the pm here in case anyone else is interested:

Papillons are really a pretty easy breed as long as you have the time to care for them. Coat maintenance compared to most longhaired breeds is pretty simple. I find small dogs need baths more often than larger dogs. They shed some, but not too much. They have no undercoat so unlike poms and shelties, they don't shed excessively. We just brush them every day or so and trim the feet every coupld of weeks. Some people clip the belly and around the butt to keep urine out of the hair, but we don't much. We show the male, so a clipped belly wouldn't look too nice. We don't have any problem with urine stains in the female and the male is fine as long as you scrub them when you give him a bath. So grooming isn't too big a deal, imo.

The most problems people have with papillons is that they are one of the most intelligent breeds and are very active. People who see one and want a pretty little lap dog that just sits there shouldn't get a papillon. They are more active than many toy breeds. That doesn't mean they are hyperactive and never stop. They just have to have mental stimulation every day. Mine love a game of fetch and will retrieve for hours. They also benefit from obedience training or agility training if you can do that with them. They learn very easily, but do not respond to harsh training methods. They can get overly sensative, so you have to be positive with them. Many small dogs are harder to housetrain simply because they have small bladders and need to be taken out frequently as pups, but we've been fine with this with our dogs. It just takes a bit of patience. It's an issue any small breed will have. As for barking, I swear that Rose never barks. I don't know why, but most papillons I know are barkers, though I would not consider them excessive. As long as you train them when to stop, it should be fine. I train all my dogs a speak and enough command when they're young. Seems to work well. I really don't think papillons are quite as yappy as some other smaller breeds, but they are more vocal than many larger breeds. They are pretty active dogs, but they do love to be lap dogs and be cuddled too. If you're in the same room with them, they'll be right on top of you. They love to be held and they tend to think all people want to pet them all the time and that the world revolves around them. They also have an interesting sense of humor. They're very silly dogs and can come up with a lot of creative ways to amuse you. Rose thinks it's so funny to trick her brother when they're playing with toys together.

This is a very informative site with pages about whether or not a papillon is a good breed choice for you, grooming, an entire breed history site, breeder lists, link to the PCA genetic research site, how to find a good breeder, and a link to the PCA rescue.

http://www.papillonclub.org/

I also know someone that fosters for here- http://www.paphaven.org/

in teaching not to bark exsessivly, the method i used was:

whith the help of my mother, she whent out and rang the doorbell, puppy barked at doorbell, i said "enough" and as soo as it stopped i treat and praise.
Repeat a few times every day, do door bell, knock on doro and people comming up and down stairs so they dont ONLY associate it with the bell.

i continued to practice this in the house, if the barking started i said "enough" and as soon as there was a stop treat and praise.

Vixie had it within a week, dodger took a little longer, he likes to hear his own voice.

thank you so much =)

that method if your consistent shoudl work with any breed

How would Black Labradors do in an apartment?

What kind of exercise are you willing to provide? I really doubt walks a couple of times a day would be enough. As young dogs, they're really hyper. I remember one day when my aunt left her 1yr old lab in her house alone for a couple of hours, he knocked down the tv, chewed through the tv cable and couch and anything else he could get his teeth on, including the wallpaper. It looked like someone had broken into the house. That's what bored labs do. They can also bark a fair bit if not properly trained. But if you are able to provide all the exercise and training needed, I don't see why they wouldn't work in an apartment. Most dogs are quite apartment-friendly IMO.