I have two rules when it comes to the barking four-legged furballs that end up living in my house.
1. Thou shalt not have poop that is bigger than that of a human.
2. Thou shalt not shed.
So. Smaller dogs that don't shed. There are plenty of breeds that fit that description. Technically, we have two very different ones right now. Cody the Havanese is PERFECT as far as my two rules are concerned. He's neurotic, but technically perfect.
And then there's Penny.
Penny is most definitely 100% Tibetan Terrier. She mostly fits my two rules.
The poop is not the problem. The shedding is.
So, the thing is that there's a catch in the whole "Tibetan Terriers don't shed" thing. The catch is that at some point during their puppyhood, they grow an undercoat. Mind you, Penny needed more fur about as much as I need to keep taste-testing the Halloween candy. Which is to say, it's not needed. At all. It's still happening, though. When their undercoat comes in, Tibetan Terriers go through a shedding phase. Fortunately, it's short and it's only this once, but OH EM GEE.
I may not survive the Shedding Muppet Phase.
You guys, I combed her from head to toe the other day and wound up with ... this horror.
SO. MUCH. FUR.
And now I think we can all be certain that it's best that I don't have dogs that shed. I'm clearly not built to tolerate it.