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Rat Terriers, also known as “Ratties,” can barely contain their huge hearts in their tiny bodies. Unlike the name suggests, these dogs are social, affectionate pups who love being around people. They crave your companionship and will be happy in any situation as long as you’re together. Full-grown, they typically weigh 8-25 pounds and stand 10-18 inches tall.

Rat Terriers are generally excellent with children of all ages. In fact, Rat Terriers love sleeping with people, especially kids. This breed is pack-oriented, so they enjoy the companionship of kids, adults, and other pets as long as they’re raised together. They're moderate barkers — they'll alert you when something's up but aren't excessive.

Rat Terriers thrive on activity and will be destructive if they get bored. Keep your Rattie busy with walks, runs, playtime, training, food puzzles, or sports. These dogs are particularly good at agility, rally, flyball, and tracking. Overall, their exercise needs are high.

Rat Terriers have short coats with a “pied” pattern (large patches of one or more colors with white). You may find Ratties with black, brown, tan, red, apricot, fawn, blue, white, or lemon coloring. Their coats tend to be low maintenance. Grooming-wise, this breed is low-maintenance.

Rat Terriers are best suited for apartments and smaller homes. Ratties need to live indoors and be surrounded by people. They are highly trainable and eager to learn.

Beagles are small dogs with incredibly powerful noses. They love hunting and will follow any interesting scent they come across. Beagles are friendly and playful, but they do like to do things their own way. If you’re okay with a strong-minded dog, a Beagle’s spunky, fun and friendly personality will steal your heart. Full-grown, they typically weigh 20-30 pounds and stand 13-15 inches tall.

Beagles are generally excellent with children of all ages. They are friendly playmates with children and most other dogs. Beagles can learn to get along with cats if raised with them, but remember, they’re hunting dogs, so keep an eye on them when they’re together just to be sure. They're fairly vocal dogs that bark regularly.

Beagles love hunting, but their favorite part about this activity is being allowed to follow their nose to their heart's content. If you’re a hunter, take them with you in the field and you’ll have a faithful ally always. They’ll also enjoy long walks or hikes, especially if you let them stick their nose around to investigate what else has been in the area. Overall, their exercise needs are high.

A Beagle’s short hair is relatively low-maintenance. Brushing their hair or going through it with a hound mitt once or twice a week will get rid of anything they’ve brought back into the house with them and help remove dead hair. Beagles do shed, but these weekly brushings will help cut back on the amount of hair you find in your house. Grooming-wise, this breed is low-maintenance.

Beagles are best suited for a home with a yard, though they can adapt to apartment life with enough exercise. The happiest Beagles have access to a large, safe, outdoors play area but can come back inside to live with their families. They are moderately trainable with consistent effort.