I also agree with the Shih Tzu, they are lovely mellow dogs from what I know. My neighbor has a Min Pin and he is a great dog but he sure is a barker (a lot, all the time maybe more than Sophie Kate).
I would be one of the ones not recommending a Yorkie, they are sweet and can be lap dogs but Sophie Kate also requires a lot of exercise (at minimum of 2 30 minutes walks a day). Also in my experience pad training was not so easy, it took a lot of time and restarts before we got it.
Good luck, I am glad to see you're researching the breeds.
__________________ Cheryl,Mom to  SophieKate |