Breed Selection Help

Question
My family has decided to venture into the world of dog ownership.  We have no previous experience with dogs, and we want to make a good selection. We have two gentle kids (12 and 6) that will love the dog and play with it.  We are looking for a small to medium type dog that won't shed a lot, or bark too much.  We do have stairs in our house, and would like to go with a dog that is easy to housebreak.  Problem is, we don't have any idea what breeds would be good.  We plan on finding a dog at a shelter, so we would like to stick to breeds that are reasonably easy to find.  Can you offer any suggestions? Thanks!

Answer
The best choice for you would be a toy or mini poodle,they are in shelters as they are popular dogs,they are also intelligent and one of the easiest dogs to train they are also known for being great with kids as they are gentle with kids and even small animals,although they can have barking problems,they are easily trained out of this problem

Shi Tzus are also a good choice VERY popular and in shelters often,although some males can be hard to housebreak,females don't seem to have this problem

Also mixes of these breeds(and even crosses with each other)are also common in shelters,and would also be good pets-both breeds do not shed but do need to clipped every couple of months


Boston Terriers are also excellent dogs,they are low shedding and do not need to be clipped as well as being good with kids,and aren't too barky either-however in some areas are hard to find,but they can be found in shelters as well as breed rescues,so are another breed to look into