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This is a decent article on the pros and cons of big dogs.
I currently have 2 teeny dogs (Chihuahuas, both under 5 pounds), and am caring long term for an Irish Wolfhound and a Cairn Terrier, so I have dogs from both ends of the size spectrum.
It's true that Irish Wolfhounds have never met a person they don't like. They are the most indiscriminating of all dogs and a poor choice for a watchdog because of this. They love everybody. I did have some trouble introducing the Little Pack (Itzl, Xoco, Rhapsody) to him because rabbits, rats, mice, opossums, squirrels, voles, gophers, and other small critters are their natural prey and Dogmatyx has an extremely well developed hunting instinct. Even now, as old and frail as he's become, I can't leave him alone with any of the Little Pack because if they at any point exhibit prey behavior (run like maniacs - something they love to do when they get outside) he will start to hunt them. He knows he shouldn't so he hesitates, and that's long enough for me to command him to stand down. He's learned that he shouldn't chase down the Little Pack, but until his mind catches up to his chase instinct, there's always that chance that he'll catch one before he remembers.
This summer, he's finally showing his age (he's 12 years old, almost twice the average lifespan of most Irish Wolfhounds, but then, I seem to have a way of extending the lifespans of critters that come live with us - the 8 year old mice, the 12 and 15 year old ferrets - so his age should come as no surprise) so he doesn't even try to chase them anymore. I still don't leave the Little Pack out alone with him in case he has a good day and is feeling frisky and decides to give chase.
Of all the giant breeds of dogs, Irish Wolfhounds are the only ones that don't slobber, are the quickest and easiest to train, and are generally the best with children (despite their propensity to chase teeny dogs...)
I've had medium sized dogs, too - German Shepherds and mixed breed farm mutts. Next to Itzl, my German Shepherd, Val, was the best dog I ever had.
Not that any of the other dogs were bad dogs, just that these two stand out in particular as if they were meant to be my dog and no one else's.
One thing that dog owners must do is train their dogs well and consistently. Xoco is a miniscule dog, weighing 3 pounds, and she has serious brain damage from hydrocephaly as a puppy, yet I insisted on teaching her manners and good behavior. It took a very long time because of her particular challenges, and we're still working on some of them; like barking - she's a very vocal dog, but she's not yappy, just - assertive. Unfortunately, I can't hear her barking very well so it's doubly challenging to teach her not to bark. Most of the time, the only way I can tell she's barking is if I'm looking at her when she barks. That leads to inconsistent training and so she continues to bark. That's a failing on my part, not hers.
She has learned to be potty trained, and she's finally learning to trust some people (me in particular, and my daughter to some degree). I think she was abused, badly abused, when she was a microscopic puppy, and I may never get her to trust others very easily. She tolerates being held by others if they are still and slow, but she's terrified of fast movements which is why I think she was abused.
It's hard to think of anyone abusing a dog as tiny as she was when she was a puppy. She weighed about 9 ounces when I got her - 3 ounces more than Itzl did when I got him because she was 5 weeks older.
She worships Itzl and she's happy with me, so I won't be finding another home for her as I have other rescue puppies in the past.
This is all kind of rambly. The point I'm slowly reaching for is that breed and size of a dog doesn't matter near as much as personality and compatibility.
I just happen to click better with small dogs than with large ones and I have the patience and the skill to train little dogs. I can't abide a badly behaved dog of any size and they seem to instinctively understand this. Stray dogs that wander up to my house invariably behave well.
Neighbors down the street have a pack of small dogs - a mix of Chihuahuas, Yorkies, and Maltese, all unfixed. They let the males roam the neighborhood, especially one male Chihuahua because he's "vicious", but he comes to my house when he's out and he'll sit and wait his turn for treats with the rest of my dogs, sitting in a row at my feet. He plays nicely with them, and when I tell him to stop digging or that it's time for him to go home, he stops digging or trots off toward his house. They are always surprised when I talk about what a nice dog he is.
There's a basset that wanders the neighborhood, too, and he used to poop in my yard - big piles - until I caught him doing it and told him he wasn't allowed to poop all over the yard, only along the curb. It took me several sessions with him, but he doesn't poop randomly in my yard anymore, just along the curb where it's out of the way.
If only I could teach the people as well as the dogs - I hate finding empty beer bottles and cigarette packs in my front yard after a "party" someone had in the street or down the street.
All of this sounds as if I'm a dog person, doesn't it?
The truth is, I'm not really a dog person at all. I'm not a pet person, really, not cats, dogs, ferrets, birds, iguanas, fish, or any other kind of critter.
It's just that they all end up at my house and I end up taking care of them. I have never actively sought out a pet, not even Itzl. I kind of wanted a long haired Chihuahua because of one I had as a child that one my mother's boyfriends killed, but not enough to hunt for one, which is why it took nearly 40 years to get Itzl. And he came into my life not particularly because he was a long haired Chihuahua but because he was meant to supplement my hearing. That he happens to also be the long haired Chihuahua for which I was casually looking is just a pleasant bonus.
I guess the ultimate point is it doesn't matter if you're a cat person or a dog person or no pet person, if the right pet comes along, regardless of the breed or species, you'll like that pet even as you continue to not like all others of its breed or species. I did say "if" because it's possible that the right pet for you (assuming you even want a pet, that is) may well be within the breeds and species you do like.
But don't dismiss a pet companion just because it's not the breed or species you think you like. I would never have had any pets if I did that.