Ellie,

you have beautiful dogs
.
And you did a great job with the photoshop because I can't tell which eye has been photoshopped.


Mrsd -

We had a Maltese once when I was a kid, and Ellie is right about how high maintainance they are. Our Maltese had to be brushed daily, cleaned daily arounf the eyes and rear-end, we had to put a sweater on her anytime it was below 60 degrees and we live in New England so that was quite often.

The dog would pee anytime she got nervous - and she got nervous anytime the wind was blowing and made a noise on the window. Overall, she was a cute dog and she loved to cuddle, but she was a LOT of work.

The best dog I ever had in my life was a Keeshond. So easy to train, so lovable, very friendly, great with kids and cats and other dogs, a great indoor dog who also loves being outside (and has the coat/fur to be able to be outside in the cold without needing a sweater).

I had never heard of the breed until I rescued my dog from an abuser, but if I ever get another dog again I will get a Keeshond.

Here is the AKC info about the breed-

.


Mine was a female, she was shorter than the normal standards, and she weighed about 30 pounds... I used to bring her to the groomer at the beginning of the summer to have her shaved, and she looked so adorable
.


Here are some pictures of Chelsea (my Keeshond) when she was shaved during the summer of 2003

.


She loved being at the lake house and going in the water to get fish (or watching me as I caught a sunfish in a net for her). As you can see if you look at the pictures, the only time I have her on a leash is when she came hiking with my husband and I... she was so easy to train and she listened so well - so the only time she needed a leash was when the law in the area required it.