[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by opaldragon
I would recommend a Lhasa Apso. I've had 3 since I was little, and each one was great. The only reason they still aren't with me is due to so many moves that I've made. They're the type of dogs that will bark if they hear strangers outside the house, to give you a heads-up, but once you open the door and they realize that the stranger is someone you know and like, they'll be all friendly. They're like, "Oh hey, cool, it's a new person" for a bit, then they'll take off to do whatever it was they were doing earlier. They're not big on barking, unless necessary, and they're not uber-excited to the point that they pee when they see someone new. They're mellow little dogs - definitely a happy medium. If you want to keep their hair long, it takes a lot of grooming. However, you can have them groomed in a puppy cut and they look great. Further information can be found here --> http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/lhasaaps.cfm. and here -- http://www.lhasaapso.org/ -- is a rescue group for Lhasa Apsos.

I love Lhasas...our first dog was a purebred who lived to be 15, and now we have a 3 year old Lhasa Poo mix. The one good word of advice is that Lhasas are not very good around small children.