I've owned both mixes and purebreds and I would definitely say it is a safer bet to go with a purebred. I've loved every one of my dogs but when I was looking for a companion dog who would be fiercely loyal and protective of me I went with a purebred German Shepherd Dog because of the predictability of his temperament. With my shelter dogs I wasn't looking for anything specific at the time I got them so it was okay, but definitely if you're looking for a dog to be able to do specific services it is better to have a predictable temperament and level of intelligence. The thing with shelter dogs is that you don't always know what they're going to grow to be. Sometimes though you get the luck of the draw and get a great dog.

Just a point I'd link to make Mist, it's been proven that mix breed dogs are actually more resistant to breed spicific medical issues. Say one dog is prone to hip dysphasia(like a husky), but your mixed dogs other half or parts are say lab and german shepherd, your mixed dog will be less pron to getting it because the other two breeds are less likely to develope it. But on occasion there are cases like you said that the mix is really sickly.

But that's besides the point, some people prefer mixed breed dogs others like pure bred dogs. I have a harder time with pure bred dogs because my area pure breds are hard to come by and additionally the pure breds are excessively expensive.

Yeah, I know. However also on the note of personality predictability and intelegance there are mixed breeds that are very good. Like poodle mixes they tend to be bright(smart), and if mixed with a lab or retriver tend to have great personalities. Though I'd like to note that the personality of the mother dog as well as the people that the dog/puppy is around can play a huge role too in the puppy/dog's over all temperament/personality.

Though purebreds do have a higher rate of predictability in regards to certian traits.

The shelter here is very limited during the time of year is be hoping to get my little girl anyway. The shelters I know that do get purebred puppies are all out of town...

Hm, well there are a multitude of dog breeds that are sweet and small, I'd say the first few that come to mind are ******zu, Havanese, West Highland Terrier, and Dachshund. However, I would recommend you get a mixed breed dog, since they are generally healthier and if you get them tested to see what breeds they are, you can have a good idea of how big they'll become.

Also, I'd say, be very careful with purebred dogs, if you decide to go that way, since the vast majority of them are extremely in-bred and susceptible to lots of problems. Specifically, with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, about 50% will die by the time they hit 5 years old due to heart and brain problems. (not to mention the only one I ever met was a nasty little thing, very snappy) source: http://www.cavalierhealth.org/

Personally, I have a mutt that is primarily Havanese, (we think) she's a wonderful dog, (a little bratty, but that's just because she was raised like a child, not a dog, so she's spoiled to no end) and only 15 pounds.

I think something like her would be great for you.

Here's a picture of her:

There are some breeds that were developed by breeding two specific breeds together, so as you said, sometimes they can come out good.

Others were mixed to get specific traits. The longhair chihuahua was produced by breeding chihuahuas to Papillons.

Personally, I've never had a mutt.
My mom always got purebreds. But she knew what she was looking for.

It's wise to look into any dog you might get.
The enviornment it came from, it's parents personalities.
Everything plays a part in their temperment.

We have a chihuahua that someone threw out, and even after months, he's still somewhat timid.
His manner tells that he was beaten or abused, but also that he was once vary loved.

Sometimes the parents' personalities affect their pups.
Pups whose parents had bad temperments may also be prone to bad temperments also.

Oh, I'm well aware of the health troubles of Cavaliers, thankfully the local breeder as had no issues with that in her dogs as she gets them checked up frequently. I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experance with the Cavalier though, normally they are sweet little dogs...maybe the owner spoiled it to much...gave it an inflaed ego. I'm a big spaniel lover, ever sense I was little. One of my doggy brothers was a Cocker Spaniel, however those are a bit big for what I'm looking for.

Though honestly chances are that I'm going to end up getting a mix puppy. Maybe a Cavapoo(Cavalier Poodle mix), or possibly some other Cavalier or poodle mix. I'm looking into several mixes currently and trying to speak with the people that breed mixes with those breeds involved. I may go with a Cockapoo if the baby is small enough or is the runt of the litter. I did recently learn of a cool mix breed dog that I may be looking into more. It's called a Petite Goldendoodle, it's a mix of Golden Retriever, toy or miniature poodle, and cocker spaniel. It looks to be a promising mix, low shed, smart, small, active, and loving...the best features of all three breeds!


Havaneese dogs are pretty cool, your dog looks to be mixed with poodle and a terrier of some kind. Still super cute none the less.

I'll ads your suggestions to the list. :)

All the dogs I've had have been mixed breeds...I have great luck finding the very loving and loyal ones. :)

Knowing exactly what you're looking for helps a lot.

And any dog, purebred or mixed can have a nesty personaliy, or an excellent one.
All of ours have had good personalities.
But I have heard of purebreds that had bad personalities, too.
Animals that are highly inbred tend to be sickly, ill-mannered and bad-tempered.

I've had only vary limeted interaction with mixes, So I can really only go off of what I have heard.
I'm glad your luck with them has been good.

We have 3 poodles currently, but owned 5 in all (not at the same time). I can tell you that they have all been great dogs. They are one of the more intelligent dog breeds, so training them is quite easy.We have had 4 standards and one miniature and they all have different personalities but are all sweet tempered dogs. It can depend on the dog though. If you treat a dog nice and love it it will reward you by being a great dog. However,their is an occasionally bad tempered poodle. They do exist and that's how it is. But if your poodle isn't like that then it will be an amazingly friendly dog. They also don't shed. So you need to shear them,or clip them. Whatever wording you prefer. You can bring them to the groomer if you would like. And one last thing, they can be nice and sweet but still be exact opposites. Our creamy white poodle is shy, speedy (he has a greyhound heart and lungs) and the black one is energetic playful, cute and loves to be pet (still moving out of the puppy stage)

-This is all based on my living with dogs all my life, literally they were their when I was born,we have pictures of them sniffing me for the first time. Sorry if this explanation is weirdly shaped. I'm tired. Really tired.

Hey, thanks so much for vouching for Poodles. I guess the 5 pure breed poodles I've met where the rare ill tempured, and horribly trained products of poor ownership.

Knowing that its a rarity for them to actually be rude, mean, nastly, ill manored, ill tempered, and bity/violent really makes me feel much better about the breed...I guess it also bears saying that the 5 poodles I had met where very spoiled, and wheren't really trained at all...and they where just such nasty little dogs...I'll blame the owners for the individuals ill behaivor. I also would like to say they where toy poodles, not miniatures if that makes any difference on temperment or training(lack of).

Do you have any suggestions as to poodle breeders, or of poodle mixes that may fit my needs?