I'd have said a Shetland sheepdog which I think is Shelty to those in the known. Quite a small dog but as you say normally bigger than a bloody cat!
I must say I love these bigger cat breeds. Obviously I prefer Norwegian Forest Cats lol. Maine Coons are bigger though and I'd happily give one a home.
From my experience of my sisters Shelties the pluses are they're very affectionate, small, will take as much or as little exercise as you want/can give them and are very trainable. Negatives they're a bit yappy (especially if you have more than one), hairy although they don't need a lot of grooming, being small and very cute everyone wants to make a fuss of them and makes some of them a bit nervous around strangers, one of my sister's dogs loves everyone and is very happy to be petted and stroked but the other one's less happy and has to be picked up before being fussed over and yet she's fine being pulled about by the judges in the show ring
People who are wrong are just as sure they're right as people who are right, the only difference is they're wrong