A professional companion
The Bichon has been earning his keep by charm for centuries — court favourite, sailor's mascot, circus performer — and the default setting remains set to friendly. Bichons typically greet other dogs with open delight, play without an agenda, and show very little interest in guarding, ranking or feuding. It is why the breed is so often chosen as the second dog: the temperament arrives pre-installed. A Bichon joining an established dog usually spends the first week auditioning for best friend and the rest of his life in the role.
Small body, real risks
The caveat is arithmetic. A Bichon weighs roughly twelve to eighteen pounds and is built lightly; a forty-kilo housemate who plays by body-slamming can injure him without a trace of ill intent. Pack excitement is the risky moment — the whole household erupting for a walk, dogs leaping off sofas, doorways full of charging bodies. Supervise mixed-size play, teach the big dog indoor manners as a genuine training goal, and give the Bichon refuge zones behind gates or under low furniture where he can watch the madness in safety.
The jealousy is theatrical
Bichons bond hard to their people and regard attention as a resource with their name on it. Expect the small white dog to insert himself, physically, between you and any housemate receiving a fuss — climbing over the other dog if necessary — and to file vocal objections when he is excluded. It is comedy rather than conflict in most homes, but it trains badly if rewarded: build small one-to-one rituals for each dog so affection is scheduled rather than contested, and the Bichon's campaign winds down to a hobby.
Coat diplomacy
A Bichon's non-shedding coat needs regular clipping, and life with other dogs is hard on it: wrestling with a drooly housemate produces a matted, grubby Bichon by evening, and white hair documents every muddy garden game the pack has played. When you are weighing a Bichon as an additional dog, count the grooming time honestly — he will need more of it, more often, than a short-coated housemate, and letting it slide shows on him faster than on any other dog in the house.
What travels with a little dog
Rescue and rehomed Bichons are common, and their comfort depends on accumulated detail — the clipping rhythm that keeps the coat right, the skin quirks a previous home had already mapped. KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles keep that health and grooming history attached to the dog as his profile moves to you, so nothing his last home learned is lost in the move.