Which (small) dog breed would you recommend?

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It will be our first dog. We want a friendly little dog: the kind of dog which we could easily take to local pubs or cafes without it being fazed by other dogs or people. Ideally no bigger than 10-15kg. We both work from home full time, and can do around an hours walking a day with the dog, with other activities through the day. Longer walks at weekends. I'd rather a dog which is biddable and eager to please, than a more independently minded dog. I'm happy to groom the dog regularly or take it to the groomers as required. I have tolerance for barking, but as little slobber as possible.

Cavaliers are the best ever as long as you minimise health risks and chose carefully health tested parents . Ours is a dream and such a character and kindest dog ever.
i didn't take to them until looked after them for friends and we were then totally won over as they were undemanding and so friendly and fun .

(I wouldn't chose cavaliers if we weren't working from home though as they do seem quite a clingy breed and so happy when when us - ours follows me literally from room to room !)

If you are willing to really do your research on the breed, recommend health testing etc, cavaliers are perfect dogs

Cavachon. Loving, good natured and a lot of fun.

Agree with this. We’ve had many over the years and always been amazing pets

Corgi

If it's a first dog and you've got a family, you can't go wrong with a King Charles Spaniel.

I have a chihuahua and they get a bad rep but she's an absolute angel. Never growled in her life, super sweet, loves people, can take her anywhere, doesn't cost a lot to feed. They have good long lifespans.

Just don't treat them like a toy, treat them like a dog. Train, socialise and nip any bad behaviour in the bud (ie don't think it's funny and cute because they're small and let them carry on with it)

She is a complete lap dog, funny, smart. Loves walks and can walk a fair bit for her size.

Pug

In our case a Frug - Pug/Frenchie cross

Never in my life have I come across such a "I want to be friends"breed in my life, when hes not sleeping that is :)

As long as hes glued to the hip hes happy to settle anywhere.

Downsides - he needs constant grooming and you need a good vacuum. Also pretty much quite bolshy but really very biddable. And he snores, its a lovely wee snore though

Upsides, hot water bottle anyone? A breed that loves contact, a lap dog in as far as he wants snuggles. However he gets 4 miles of walking every day and when hes on doggy holiday at my friend, he can hold his own with 3 border collies

Shih Tzu. He is literally the best, easiest dog in the world. Not the brightest, but it just makes him even more adorable

I second a cavachon, my daughter's is as described above, plus very good and patient with my toddler granddaughter. No moulting or slobber either!

A Staffie. Loyal, big hearted, good natured. Like all dogs you'll need to put in the time for training, but it's so worth it.

I would also say cavachon as well.

And my Shih Tzu is non-moulting. I personally couldn't stand dog hair all over the home.

They're amazing! Having grown up with them, I'm not sure I'd class them as a small breed. And they take more work than the average to socialise. But man, what a wonderful breed! 🩷

We have a whippet/staff cross. Quite small about 12 kg I think. She is perfect. Just wants to be friends with everyone and very non reactive in all situations. Doesn’t need an awful lot of exercise or anything.

We have a Cavapoo (Cavalier King Charles x Miniature Poodle). Shes 6 and roughly 10.6kg so a good size but extremely portable. She's been the perfect fit for our family, gentle when the kids were young, extremely sociable, loving & fun, very low moulting and enjoys long walks & full days pitch side or snuggling on the sofa.
Only negatives I can think of is that she is needy, a real Velcro dog and so we can only home board her with a few trusted people when we want to go on holiday, she's a fussy eater with dog food and she needs a full groom every 6 weeks which is costly.

A miniature daschund 😍. Having owned Labrador’s and spaniels for many years we now have a sausage dog and she is the most loving sweet loyal caring little friend that we have ever owned

Are they barky? Genuinely interested as I am considering this breed but worried as I live on a busy pedestrian road and I don't want a dog which sits in the window barking at passersby all day. My current dog has been trained not to bark but I am worried a daschund might be harder to train out the barking/guarding.

We've got a mini schnauzer crossed with a mini poodle. She's a gobby little wotsit (that's the schnauzer) but utterly gorgeous and very devoted to us. Really easy to train too (apart from the barking apparently )

Cairn or yorkie. Both underestimated, currently unpopular breeds. I am suprised at the amount of people who don’t recognise my yorkies breed, they’re about as distinctive as you get! It’s all about the morkie chorkies now.

bear in mind with the “designer crosses” it can be very easy to be sucked into a puppy farm or unethical breeder. especially as a first time owner you need to be very aware of the red flags, and also be aware how easily those flags can be hidden. That is why I’d never get a portmanteau breed of any sort.

We have a toy poodle, she is a lovely friendly dog. Spends most of the day snoozing at my feet - happy with a 30-60 min walk each day. Does not moult or drool or smell - does need brushing and grooming though. She is a complete velcro dog though, I think that is quite common with poodles. We can leave her alone but she is VERY pleased to see us when we get back. Loves children, very gentle with them. Playful, intelligent, easy to train. Doesn't really bark at anything apart from the hoover. Everyone thinks she is a cockapoo. Can be fussy with food and not keen on the rain.

@CormorantStrikesBack

good question re barking.. Our dog barks when the post man or Amazon guy comes. She never sits in the window / by the door barking. When we are wfh- a few days per week she will either sit in our lap or in a blanket by us - they are very needy in a loving way - love human contact and snuggling.
The negatives - they require more effort with house training than bigger breeds but we have cracked it - you need to be a bit more vigilant as they are small so can’t seem to hold on as long as bigger breeds; mine chews…everything… she is getting much better now (18 months) - we have dog chews and bones everywhere, we don’t buy fluffy dog toys as she shredded them all (but is so cute that it’s hard to tell her off); they don’t like the rain so if the weather is bad we do have to sometimes carry her outside and stand with her until she’s been for a wee (but the plus side is that she doesn’t want walking through muddy fields or puddles).

I have several friends with both the miniature and full size daschunds and tbh we are all in love with our little friends despite their foibles.

Hope this helps

I have a sprocker (half Springer half Cocker).
He is beautiful temperament, very biddable especially with food, excellent recall so far, doesn't moult much, sleeps very well, bit clingy but if you're WFH that would be ok, he's also likely to be around 12kg so not very big.
He's a little timid but I've taken him on school run, to cafes and pubs and we're building it more, he's such a lovely thing.

I don't know if we have a genetic freak, however, because I had heard Spaniels were nutters with too much energy. If I'm sitting down, he lies down and sleeps. When we're out yes he will run for hours. (He is currently happy with one long walk a day and some mental stimulation, or two shorter walks in the day)
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If barking isn't an issue for you look at the smaller spitz breeds- poms, German spitz klein & mittel, Japanese spitz, volpino Italiano.

Lovely small/medium sized dogs, not excessive in grooming needs, intelligent & endearing, friendly, sociable, long lived & healthy.

I would avoid cavaliers (& all their crosses) due to the health of the breed & the difficulty sourcing a breeder who is testing for all the breed's known issues.

And these issues don't just magically disappear when they're crossed with bichons, poodles etc.