Bichon Frise vs Jack Russell Terrier

Marketed as 'hypoallergenic' and easy, but that curly coat needs professional grooming roughly every four weeks for the dog's entire life or it mats painfully down to the skin, and the breed carries a real, well-documented risk of luxating kneecaps and lifelong dental crowding that small-dog buyers routinely underestimate.

Jack Russells are working hunting terriers bred to chase prey underground, and breed sources are blunt that this drive cannot be trained out — a JRT will typically see the family cat or a hamster as prey — and the breed's stamina, digging, and escape-artist tendencies routinely surprise owners who pictured a small, easy lapdog.