What is a good small dog breed for a home with cats (and possibly children someday)?
Posted: February 16th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Common Questions | Tags: breed, Cats, Children, Good, home, possibly, small, someday | 14 Comments »I am looking to bring a puppy into our family. We live in an apartment and have cats (all laid back and used to dogs) and while we will not have children in the immediate future, we definitely will ten years from now. We are looking for a small breed dog that characteristically is not aggressive. We plan to take the puppy to puppy classes and obedience, so I know that with work any small dog has potential. We just want to minimize the risk by choosing a breed that is predisposed to get along with other animals and children.
We would really like a chihuahua, but we’ve researched and read that they aren’t good with kids. However, we of course would raise our future children to be gentle and respectful with animals, so I was wondering if that would make a difference. I absolutely do not want a “teacup” animal, so if we were to choose a chihuahua it would be a larger sized one. I was just wondering if anyone here would have any feedback.
Try these:
http://www.iams.com/iams/breed-information.jsp?gclid=COSa-o-NqKICFUJx5QodK1kqRA
http://animal.discovery.com/breedselector/dogselector.do
Call your local MinPin rescue and find a wonderful breed that is small, tolerable of cats and loves kids.
first off, there’s no such thing as a teacup anything.
to answer your quesiton however, the papillon breed is great with people and small children.
it requires very little excercise so is great for people with busy schedules (however 30-45 mins a day should be giving to make sure no bad habbits begin out of bordom)
they are a very playfull breed which would work well with the children.
http://pirun.ku.ac.th/~b4907123/papillon3.jpg
I have 4 chihuahuas and they are all sweet and loving. It depends on how they are raised. if they are raised with respect and love they are wonderful dogs. or if they are raised by the lowlifes that abuse and nver give them any love hten yes they are not very good dogs. it is true that they can often be one person dogs but that is not always the case. get a longhaird chihuahua for some reason they seem to be bigger then the short haired ones. i think its because all the extra fur. good luck and hope i helped
Maybe you should pick a yorkie! There cute and cuddly. Some are very energenic! Very playful!
I know you don’t want a big dog but a golden retriever is really good with people. He is best friends with my 2 cats and we own a winery so he is constantly around poeple and loves to be around everybody. He loves everybody!!
Chihuahuas can be absolutely wonderful dogs. Any dog can so keep that in mind. (The majority of chihuahuas are babied resulting in snappy dogs)
I would say Pugs. They’re cuddly, are similar to cats and like children.
Hey, i should know. My cat comes on walks with my two Pugs.
One Pug on my left side, One Pug on my right side and the cat following along beside us off-leash. Get a few odd looks. Even before crossing they all sit down and wait. ahaha…
You certainly sound like you’re going about this the right way. Good on you for doing your research and being realistic as to what kinds of dogs would suit your circumstances.
I’ve always found the website below to be very useful. It will help you by providing a short list of dogs suited to your circumstances. It’s very easy to follow and with a few clicks and answering a few questions it will provide you with some options.
http://www.petnet.com.au/selectapet/choose-a-pet
Good luck and I hope you find the above address helpful!
You can try this.
http://animal.discovery.com/pet-planet/pet-picker/
Well i have a maltese and she is great with kids they are small easy to train and care for so there’s not alot of grooming needed.You can also go to animalplanet.com and they have a section under pets 101 and they have a bunch of info on all kinds of dog breeds
i have a mini doxin that is a really good dog but the pet store didn’t tell us ur suppose to buy them in a pair and we got him way to young we picked him up at 3 weeks old so he now has seperation anxiety kinda because he was taken from his mother 2 soon and he was without another dog friend for 5 yrs we just now got a jack russel is def not a good breed for cats when i did have cats and a dog i had an old english sheep dog and we had 3 cats as the same time as her and that dog was my favorite dog outta all the dogs i’ve ever had loyal good with children and all and all probably the best dog ever i highly reccomend one but the doxin might get along with them as well idk because we don’t have cats anymore but my old english sheep dog was really the best and she loved to play with the cats treated them like puppys
I work at an animal hospital and have had many encounters with chihuahuas. That is not a good family breed for the most part. Every now and then there is one that is alright, but not many. It really all depends on what size you want. Do you want 10# and under or 10-20# or 20-30#. Those are all considered “small breeds”.
I have a Basenji mix. I have enjoyed being her owner thoroughly. She is 28# and very good with people of all ages. She was very easy to train and very eager to please. If I were to suggest any breed… the Besenji is at the top of my list.
You might also want to look into the corgi.
Good luck
You want to be careful with small dog breed with small children! There’s a lot of squeezing and sqiuishing going on! So your children need to be under constant supervision when they’re around the dog. Also small breed dogs seem to lean towards being a one person dog. I would choose from, a Japanese Chin, Bishon Frise, Shih-tzu, King Charles Cavelier Spaniel, Miniture Schnauzer, Pug, Jack Russel Terrier, Rat terrier… I would also look into Shelters! There are many small dogs in need of homes… Also don’t be afraid of a mixed breed either! They make just as good of pets!
good luck with finding your new puppy!!
I have 2 chihuahuas that we live with right now (my parents) and a 3 1/2 year old daughter. They are tricky dogs with kids! I’ve read many horror stories about them biting children, and yes, they are small, but I know from experience that their bites hurt! My 2 chihuahuas are okay with my daughter when she’s sitting, but when she’s moving and especially when she’s hyper, they are NOT! Especially the male! He is a miniture attack dog-literally! He learned to be that way because my sister’s ex-fiance thought it was funny to teach him that chasing people is fun, and when I tried to stop him from being such an idiot, my sister defended his childish behavior and my parents took his side, saying the dog wouldn’t learn that’s what he should do! He is now often very aggressive, but he’s learning to get along with my daughter better as she matures more. Now he usually just runs away instead of growling-he’s never bitten her! He’s 9 and big for a chihuahua-not overweight at all, just has a very fit, muscular build.
Our female on the other hand, she’s 7 and a tiny bit overweight, is often times sort of mothering to my daughter. When Piper (my daughter-I’m tired of writing my daughter over and over again,lol) cries, she comes running to her and cheers her up fast. She’s pretty tolerant for a chihuahua, but has arthrits now in her back legs, and if Piper gets too grabby in the wrong spot, first she growls, then shows her teeth, then nips if Piper doesn’t stop! She’s nipped her hand twice now-hasn’t left any marks, but it scares her and makes her cry. I learned how to prevent it, but still never leave them alone together!
I believe that most dogs of any species can be taught to be very tolerant of children, but some breeds need to be watched much more carefully, like chihuahuas! I’d never leave them alone together! If you get one now and have a child in 10 years, the dog will be 10 years old and not used to living with a small child. Of course you should try to get it around kids at a young age, but that’s still very different than living with one! I’m raising my daughter to be very considerate of animals, too, but there’s only so much a 3 1/2 year old will learn-she grabs much less than she used to, but still does it! I would not reccomend a chihuahua if you are goinng to have children! The only way I would is if you had the baby first and then got a puppy chihuahua at the same time, so they grow up together and the dog knows when to run if the kids in a ‘mood’, which they get in often! Also, train it well-take it to classes and learn how to get the dog to behave with your baby/child!
I’ve read a lot about different dog breeds lately! I actually want a big dog, so in the next year, I’ll be getting a boxer, which are seriously AMAZING with children of all ages-that surprised me but I’ve read sooo many stories, watched videos, gotten advice from experienced boxer owners, and they’ve never had a problem with kids that I’ve seen so far. Small dogs are harder with kids because they’re small, so they’re personality often makes up for their size! Jack Russells for one I assumed would be a great dog with kids because they’re so smart and playful, but they get very nippy, so thats crossed off my list now!
-West Highland Terriers have mixed reviews-most are great with children! But I’ve read a couple cases where they’ve gotten a little nippy!
-Beagles I’ve read are a fantastic dog with kids! But thhey are wanderers, following scent trails constantly, so they need to always be on a leash or in a fence when outside.
Boston Terriers and Pugs generally love to play with kids and are very tolerant as well! If I wasn’t so in love with boxers now, I was considering a Westie, Beagle, or Boston Terrier. Pugs scare me because I’ve met some tiny ones, and tiny dogs are much, much more likely to get hurt by children! I really do love big dogs more, though! A lab was probably my second choice in a dog! I say was because I have absolutely NO doubts I will be getting a boxer in the next year! They’re such amazing dogs, but I know you want small, so I’ll shut up about them:)
This is a great website for learning about different breeds and has a special section for dogs known to be good with kids and also dogs who have often had problems with kids in the past: http://www.doggies.com/Best-Dog-Breeds-for-Kids.html
I asked a similar question a few days ago on here. Here’s the link to my answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlI6wl6QNeZpm4tMR.hukrrsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20100613100308AAL6a9x
They also sell some great books on the subject of different breeds with kids and how to train a dog to be better around kids.
Good luck!
Add: And I know YouTube is often used for entertainment purposes, but I found it very educational! You can watch how different dog breeds interact with kids! Typer in for example “Chihuahua attacks child” and see what comes up! And you’ll actually see interactions between dogs, their owners, and kids. I did this for boxers and a lot came up for attacks, but everyone ended up being them just playing with kids, so I learned from that as well! I actually watched on there a kid just learning to walk hanging on a boxers neck, holding on tight to handfuls of its skin on its neck and pulling hard, and the dog just sat there, lol! Another one, a boxer was ‘nibbling’ a babies feet (maybe 6 months old) and the baby was laughing the whole time! Research attacks on children for each breed you are interested in-that will give you a great idea of the breed with kids!