Are you Looking for a Small Dog?

Posted by Jeanne on March 18, 2009

You must have heard at one time or another that good things come in small packages. Of all living things, one of the most appealing is a kitten. But, for people who would rather have a dog than a kitten and who have neither the room nor the energy for a large dog, one of the toy dogs is the perfect answer.

Some of these small dogs look so much like their bigger brothers that it is hard to tell them apart in a photograph where there is no indication of relative size. The Toy Poodle looks exactly like the Standard Poodle. The Italian Greyhound and the big, sleek, racing Greyhound are exact duplicates except for size. And, the Miniature Pinscher looks enough like the Doberman to make people confuse the two.

There is a toy dog for every taste. It you have the time to groom your pet, there are a number of long hairs you can choose from. The Yorkshire Terrier will require the most attention – you’ll even have to put his hair up in curlers. The Pekinese, the Pomeranian, and the Papillon all enjoy a daily brushing.

The name Papillon, incidentally, comes from the French word that is spelled the same way and means butterfly. This dog is so named because of its ears. When held erect, the ears and the fringes along the side of the face of the Papillon look a lot like a butterfly.

lf you want a small dog that requires a minimum of care, you can pick one of the short hairs like the Toy Manchester, the Pug, or the Chihuahua, named after a state in Mexico, and pronounced chez-wa-wa. And, if you want a dog with no hair at all, you can get a Mexican hairless.