The use of the term toy to refer to dogs is based on tradition, and is not a precise classification. Dogs traditionally referred to as toy dogs are usually the very smallest dogs. Toy dogs can be one of several dog types. Some are of ancient lap dog types, and some are small versions of hunting dog, spitz, or terrier types, bred down in size for a particular kind of work or to create a pet of convenient size. The very smallest dogs are sometimes called Teacup, although no major dog registry recognizes that term.
Read more about this topic: Toy Group
Famous quotes containing the words toy and/or dogs:
“Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I am struck by the way people behave on the Tube. They look at each other beadily and inquisitively, and something goes on in their thoughts which must be equivalent to the way dogs and other animals, when they meet, sniff each other’s arses and nuzzle each other’s fur.”
—Graham Swift (b. 1949)