Toy Size Dogs (10 lbs or under)

[Catira]

We have a male Maltese who is 6.5 pounds. It was easy to house train him. He lets us know when he needs to be let out my standing by the patio door. Wished I had trained him on pads, much easier when it's raining and he has to go outside. Comes back all messy and needs to be cleaned. The only problem with this breed is they need to be groomed frequently. Goes to the groomer's every 4 weeks. He dislikes being brushed daily, so I usually just keep him in a summer cut. He is my constant companion, always by my side. When we go out, he has the run of the house. Behaves himself perfectly. No chewed shoes, no furniture destroyed. We adore him!

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

We always had poodles and then I received a Shih Tzu and I was in love!!!!
She was with us for 13 years.
Three years after I lost her I decided another Shih tzu was the best me us.
They were both very easy to train, they both loved to go everywhere with us and have given more love that you can ever imagine.

Our first Shih Tzu was 11 lbs and our current girl is 10 lbs. Both our shih tzus are non-barkers.

Here she is!!!! (We always keep her in a puppy cut)

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

This is a picture of our 8 lb. fur baby, she will be 1 yr. next month. She is a mix of Maltese and Bichon. The tail you see in pic #2 is of our Chewy, he is a Bichon Frise and is 8 years old.

 

[disnic75]

This is Liberty Belle. She is a year old and weighs 7 lbs. She is a Maltipoo, Maltese/ Poodle mix.

Everything Catira said about her Maltese applies to Libby. She did not bark until she was about 6 months old when she started going to the groomers. She mostly whines or makes talking noises when she wants to go out or wants attention. The breeder we got her from has 2 new litters and I would love to get another.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

VERY cute fur babies on here!!!!!

 

[hsmamato2]

well,I can't post a photo...but I own a chihuahua pekingese mix. 'nuff said? the chi 1/2 is tiny,jumpy,nervous,shivery,yaps at everyone,acts like the world is out to get herthe peke 1/2 is imperious,growly,and somewhat foul tempered and impatient,fairly independent(stays in bed snoozing rather than a happy greeting at the door for us
she is quite a combination! I firmly believe those 2 breeds shouldn't be mixed....and I';d never ever get a chi again,way too nervous and high strung.
she's 9 pounds,and to get a feel for what she looks like,imagine a pug look,shrink it down to 9 pounds (skinny,tan color,black face)stick a lot of crazy whiskers on her face,add the peke underbite and crooked teeth...long tail,not enough fur to keep her warm......she is simply a clown! she is hilarious,and makes us all laugh with her wicked ways. We love her lots, but she took a LOT of serious training to make her even somewhat livable ,like when people visit,etc.
she's about 5 years old,and I think I'd like to try a nice toy poodle next time,no shedding,they seem cheerful and easy to get along with.......

 

[hsmamato2]

Oh,I forgot to add..my baby's name...Tinkerbell! fits her snooty little self perfectly..... while training her to be somewhat sociable I taught her to ring a bell hanging by the back door when she has to go potty..in my experience,all sizes of dogs train pretty much the same..... you just have to bring the littler ones out like every 20 minutes when they're puppies...tiny bladders! Tink never goes inside,ever! we just dig her a path thru our current 4 feet of snow.....I don't know if it's the chi or peke side, but she is one tough little cookie,loves hiking,walking,running.......

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

This is my yorkie, Miami.

That was her a few days after we got her. She was about 3 months old there.

That was her last week. She's 7 months old now and just hit the 3 pound mark.

She is very feisty. Having a dog this small is totally different for us. Our other two dogs are a 55 pound golden retriever/lab mix and a 65 pound shepherd/collie/doberman mix. Before that we had a husky/malamute mix. Miami holds her own against the two big dogs, though. Terriers are not bred to love other animals. They tend to love people, especially their owners, but if they aren't raised with other animals and/or properly socialized around them from the time they are very young, they will typically not get along with them.

Chihuahuas are dogs that LOVE their owners (and people that they are very familiar with), but aren't too fond of strangers. They REALLY are not dogs for kids. I work at a shelter and anytime we have a chihuahua (or shih tzu, lhasa apso, any of those tiny little foofy breeds, but especially the chihuahua) I am very leery with the dog until I get to know him/her. They are just not dogs that handle new people well. Having said that, I would love a chihuahua someday, but they most definitely are not good dogs for some people (loud homes with people coming and going, kids running around, etc.)

So cute! I have a little 5 lb yorkie also. She also doesn't like to play with other dogs that much, (thought it was just her, lol). But now she is becoming used to being around a Boston Terrier, a Bichon and a Schnauzer, but still it took quite awhile for her to be around them but still will not exactly play. She is extremely smart, tough for a little dog (chases everything in the yard) and does not shed. I always had larger dogs but really love her, travel with her all over, take her on planes, etc. etc.

PS: I have to say tho mine was not hard to potty train. She rarely has accidents even when we take her on vacations, in hotels, etc.

 

[tebi73]

This is our 10 year old Chihuahua, Puppy. I totally agree that they are definitely very "owner-loyal". She is just now getting to where she likes our 9 year old son. She has always "tolerated" him, but now she actually likes him pretty well. She was very hard to housebreak (it probably took us a couple of years). She is pretty tiny too (5 lbs.) and freezes all the time, but HATES sweaters!

and, as you can see, she doesn't really like our new Blue Heeler puppy. He has too much energy for her I guess. She liked our 100 lb. Great Pyrenees, but the pup is just too spastic for her taste.

 

[simba928]

PS: I have to say tho mine was not hard to potty train. She rarely has accidents even when we take her on vacations, in hotels, etc.

Funny you should say that. When we took Miami to Miami (haha, kinda weird saying that!) the only time she had an accident in the hotel was the one time we left her alone for an hour to go eat breakfast and when we got back she got excited and couldn't hold it anymore. At home is a different story. We were excited to have a balcony figuring she could go there and not have to take her all the way downstairs (get up, get dressed, put your shoes on, go down the elevator, outside, cross the street, walk around, go back across the street, back up the elevator to the room as opposed to roll out of bed and open the sliding door). She refused to go potty on the balcony. We had to take her downstairs everytime she had to go.

 

[disney_mommy]

I've always had large dogs but after a while with none, I wanted a tiny dog that I could spoil. Everyone was leery of her because she has chi in her (everyone knows someone who had a chi who was a terror), but she is an absolute lovebug. She loves to get on my lap and snuggle, and at night, she sleeps under the covers between my legs. She's like those toddlers that want "up" all the time. She always wants to be held. But she's not spoiled! She's loved.

 

[LindaG4458]

Above is our 7 month old Pomeranian, Roxie. She weights about 8 pounds and we have to be careful how much she gets to eat. She has yet to refuse any food, including lettuce! She is very smart and already knows things our other dogs didn't know after 10 or more years! She house trained very quickly.

This is our first Pom after a total of six cocker spaniels. We absolutely adore her.

 

[Keli]

My little dog Roxi is a mutt. Have no idea what her breed(s) might be but she is a great dog. She weighs about 3.5 lbs now and she isn't hyper, loves to sit in your lap, and loves to wrestle and snuggle with our cat (who outweighs her by nearly 10 lbs! LOL), and was fairly easy to housebreak.
She used to chew on stuff a lot and we had a real problem with that when we first got her (she was about six months old). She'll be a year next month and we're able to leave her out of the crate during the day while we're at work and come home and she hasn't damaged anything.

I was playing with her in the first pic and covered her ears with her little hoodie. My daughter says she looks like master splinter in this pic:

And here is a pic of her sleeping on my lap:

 

[samshane]

We have a chihuahua - I had never owned a small breed dog before we got Quino (the name his first owners gave him) from a Chihuahua rescue. He was given back 2 times and had been in 5 foster homes - they kept passing him off because he was destructive and had medical issues. To say he was a challenge when we got him was an understatement... He was diagnosed with dilute alopecia, and my daughter had alopecia so we thought this was just meant to be.

Besides the alopecia issue, he has had skin problems and has some leg issue in his front legs that the vet feels is just genetic. I don't know for sure - but I'd bet his first owners bought him from some bad breeder... he was bred to be "blue".

Three years later he is still here and a million times better... took tons of work. He is so bonded to my 11yr old... bonded with her the moment we got him. Funny thing about him is he seems to enjoy kids. On walks he loves the attention. He is loud - but not nippy. Quite a quirky dog... my Dh had a chi as a child and it took a lot to get him to adopt this one because his dog was so mean. Dh loves this little guy though - but it took awhile... Quino is quite a love bug.

Don't know if I'd own another chi... but this particular chi fits in nicely. Also, he really needed another dog - he is not a single-dog family type of dog. We have a 25lb mixed-breed dog that is 8 and he and Quino are the best of friends. They don't like to be apart.

Good luck!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

All of your dogs are adorable!

 

[michael61]

I have one and they shed very little and do anything you ask them to do. I here the mix dogs with pud are a great mix. Go for it they will love you and your family

 

[scooby9932]

we have all 4 of these in our family. I will say that I have had experiences with many small breed dogs & usually more than 1 from the same breed family and can honestly say that while there are some breed specific personality traits, there is also a whole lot of diversity!

This is a long post, but you asked, and I have a lot to share!

My parents have a Pom. This is their 6th one. She is by far the most difficult they've had. I actually believe she may be a bit "off" as she is SO different from the other Poms they've owned. I tell my folks she is not really a dog, but a goat in dog disguise. This dog eats anything & everything - including metal & glass. She has torn up so much of their stuff it's sad. They love her, though. She is a lovable dog. Just almost impossible to train to do anything! That said, their other Poms were very smart, easily trained, loving animals. One trait I've seen all Poms share - hyperactivity.

Shih-tzu - I have a 6 year old shih tzu, Rufus. He is standard size for a Shih Tzu - about 12 lbs. - most of which is fur! He is a funny, sweet, loving, fiercely loyal companion. He didn't get the memo that he was supposed to be a lap dog, though. He loves to exercise, run & chase the ball. He is somewhat shy of new people, but not at all aggressive. He doesn't like young children much, but that is because his exposure has only been to kids who like to lunge at him & pull his hair. Pros - sweet, loving, loyal, playful, adorable, gets along with other animals (even loves to play with cats), easily trained & super smart. Cons - grooming time. But I got him because he's hypoallergenic with hair, not fur, so I keep him in a puppy cut. I spend about 30 minutes a day combing his hair, cleaning his eyes (flat faced dogs need close attention to their eyes to avoid injury), and just bonding with him. Psst - he doesn't have a clue he's a dog. So, don't tell, 'k? Oh, yeah, and typical of his breed, he "talks." When he wants something, he will tell you. It's a riot.

Here's a pic from about a year ago:

My daughter has a miniature Yorkie. We had heard about the problems people experienced with Yorkies (or really any terrier breed), but did our research & found a really reputable breeder who took care to breed out certain personality traits & breed in desirable ones. We LOVE our little guy. He is super friendly, loves kids & other animals, super sweet & loving, a real cuddlebug, and a bit of a diva. He actually came into a house of 4 dogs & established dominance within 5 minutes. Tiny little guy requires regular (daily) brushing, regular (monthly) hair trims/grooming, and LOTS of attention. This dog is a constant companion & loves to snuggle. He is not yappy, does not chew anything other than his toys, and is potty trained. Pros: sweet, loving, steal your heart sweeties Cons: a bit harder to potty train than other breeds, but with effort & paying close attention to signals can be done!

Here are a few pics of my grandpuppy:
He likes to sit & watch while you get a bath. Quirky little guy:

And a pic of him getting in my DD's suitcase to say he wanted to go to Disney, too!:

As for Chi's, well I don't have alot of good to say about them. My husband does have one, Eechie (7 yrs old) that doesn't fit the usual mold of yappy, snippy, mean critter. He's actually pretty cool. But not trained well AT ALL. And obstinate. But he's friendly with people & other animals. All the other Chi's I've had contact with, however, have been awful, mean little dogs. But Eechie is an example of one that isn't, so I guess there are some out there. I don't have a picture, but he isn't typical there either - he's VERY overweight. He should weigh about 6 pounds, but comes in at 13! Yikes! He lives to eat. When he's not eating, he sleeps. lol

Good luck in your quest for a new doggie companion!