Thanks everyone for all the great input and advice.
I'm trying to move my fiance away from his poor choice (you know, the puppy mill website). Since he didn't really say if part of his decision is based off the price tag that goes with a puppy from a show breeder I went to search for dogs we could adopt so it would be cheaper than buying a puppy (and added bonus: some homeless dog gets a home where I'll spoil him/her rotten). I found
this little guy and think maybe I'll start there. How adorable is he?!
(Maybe he'll stay that cute forever??)
I have no idea where this puppy came from so it could very well be a puppy mill rescue that will have tons of medical problems down the road but I'd rather rescue a puppy mill pup than buy one. ~10 months would be young enough to not have any permanent behavioral problems right? And I'm assuming the dog wouldn't grow too much more. Size doesn't really matter that much I just want a dog small enough that as an adult it can still comfortable sit on my lap for lots of cuddles, and I'm kinda small myself so my lap isn't that big. I would love the dog either way but that is my ideal.
My sister-in-law has a Maltipoo that is about 13 pounds and he is just the sweetest, most well-behaved dog ever and I love my little fur-nephew. I always feel so bad for him though when he wants to hop up in my lap because it sits there for a couple of minutes looking horribly uncomfortable and then jumps down with a look of resignation that he is just too big to be a lap dog. I always joke with my SIL that Tanker is a whole body dog instead of a lap dog. I love him to pieces and if she ever needed to rehome him I'd take him in a heartbeat so I feel confident I would be okay with a dog that got bigger than I expected and still love it and spoil it.
I'm also looking into breeders within traveling distance that are listed on the YTCA website to see if any of them have puppies.
I've never actually owned a dog before so this is all a little overwhelming. Even after all the work I've put into trying to educate myself, I still feel pretty clueless about a lot of stuff.