What breed of dog should I get?

I have a Maltese, and he doesn't shed at all but you should read this about claims that any animals are hypoallergenic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoallergenic_dog_breeds

hello rkupper,

how long would the dog be alone during the day? Most dogs love company
and if they're alone 8 to 10 hours a day, you probably should reconsider
and look for a cat instead.

I'm with CJane. Dogs are pack animals and they aren't happy on their own for long periods of time, especially when they're young.

Poodles are supposed to be great dogs for people who have allergies becuase their hair is more like people hair than dog hair or something like that. I've known some very smart poodles.

I think training is always more about the owner than about the dog. All dogs are trainable but not all people are capable of training them.

Google "dog breed selector" and you will find several sites that will attempt to recommend a breed based on your preferences.

There are some breeds that do better than others with long periods apart from their masters, but obviously they will tend towards independence and away from affection. As a result, they are usually not easy to train.

I doubt you will find a breed that matches all of your exacting preferences. Dog, afterall are living creatures, not car models.

You need to prioritize your preferences.

Non-allergenic seems to be numero uno and so you're probably looking at a toy poodle which is more a rat than a dog.

Reading all of this carefully I would say you should not get a dog. You are looking for too much perfection in chance. I would suggest you consider getting a cat, or better yet, two cats so they can keep each other company. Dog and cat allergies are not the same. Cats do not have to be walked. Cats tend not to be aggressive. Cats usually like to sit in on laps. You don't have to train a cat, they are born knowing everything they need to know.

I didn't read Robert's link but I've read before that basically all dogs are allergenic. I was somewhat violently allergic to a friend's poodle, and those are often cited as hypoallergenic. Ha.
Veterinarians have weighed in on the Obamas expecting to find a non allergenic dog.

That said, I (with a 4+ test reaction to dog antigen) was not very allergic to my quite hairy corgi, in contrast to past dogs in my life. Perhaps different people are more allergic to different dogs.
Still, I would never have left him home alone all day. He needed me there to herd - I was his job. I was lucky, I could take him to work.

Every so often, when I was leaving town for a project for most of the day, I'd put him in doggy day care... but not very often, something like once a year. I'm not aware of all the pros and cons of doggy day care as a planned routine, but tend to agree that dogs need their humans, as a generalization. Aside from possible unhappy, even neurotic behavior in the lonely dog being a problem for the human, it's not really fair to the dog.

I'm sure plenty of people have a dog home alone all day and can make it work - but I agree with others that a cat seems more appropriate for that situation.

I have to back up, in that, as I said, I don't know so much about good routine doggy day care (let's forget the bad ones). Some places might be good and might be a social situation for the dog.

Dogs want company and they need to be walked - depending on their size - up to two hours a day. Dogs should never be left alone for eight hours a day when you are working and it might even be longer than that.
If you really love dogs - don´t get one. You are working and the dog will be a lonely dog.
Get two cats. They can be alone at home and play with one another. See to that they have a play area.
If you get two cats - it should be two that know one another and get along from the beginning.