I've had the good fortune to meet a wide range of service dog breeds. Sounds like you would have dug "Bear," a Newfoundland who weighed twice his handler (but she was almost 6 foot tall). The one with the Boxer had a great canned line, "I have to ask you to ignore the animal entirely or he will become useless to me." Plus Boxers just aren't cuddly. I know a great big woman with a wiggly little Pit Bull, who can climb up on counters to fetch things through sheer hip dancing and tail rotation. If only they lived longer, greyhounds might be a good match -- they are mellow as caramel, as well as soft and kind and cuddly.
I think you're right on the mellow vs hyper tendencies for big vs small dogs. Between dogs it's all about territory and rank: the little ones are readily pushed around so develop a manic personality to counteract. I don't know what happens for service animals, whether they go to the dog park and have dog-dog interactions much, or whether it's pretty confined to their human family. (But dogs do love their human families--that's why they threw in with us so long ago. Last week they found a 30,000 year old dog skull hanging with humans -- this links to the WBUR story.
I have met some fairly non-yappy little dogs, though. Jack Russell Terriers are painfully smart; if they're not adequately challenged and herded than they're super annoying, but they can also be total honey pies. I know an English Setter who's around 12 pounds, and is very attentive to her people. In fact, she's saved one of their lives multiple times when she's awoken the simply sleeping one to the fact her partner's blood sugar is almost uncountable. They didn't train the dog for this; I like to think the dog feels like it's "rent due."
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I think you're right on the mellow vs hyper tendencies for big vs small dogs. Between dogs it's all about territory and rank: the little ones are readily pushed around so develop a manic personality to counteract. I don't know what happens for service animals, whether they go to the dog park and have dog-dog interactions much, or whether it's pretty confined to their human family. (But dogs do love their human families--that's why they threw in with us so long ago. Last week they found a 30,000 year old dog skull hanging with humans -- this links to the WBUR story.
I have met some fairly non-yappy little dogs, though. Jack Russell Terriers are painfully smart; if they're not adequately challenged and herded than they're super annoying, but they can also be total honey pies. I know an English Setter who's around 12 pounds, and is very attentive to her people. In fact, she's saved one of their lives multiple times when she's awoken the simply sleeping one to the fact her partner's blood sugar is almost uncountable. They didn't train the dog for this; I like to think the dog feels like it's "rent due."