Shiba Inu. Look it up.
I REALLY REALLY wanted a Shiba Inu.
But the lady made me buy a Pom to breed her dog with
Yeah, cuz there's a shortage of poms.
I'm biased towards pits, because they're damn good dogs, easy to train, relatively small, healthy, quiet, tough, easy to maintain... Females shouldn't be more than 55lbs if they're appropriately sized, but mine is 65lbs and of course all the backyard breeders want the biggest dogs with the biggest heads.
Originally I was looking for a shiba inu or malamute sled-dog looking thing, but we had a huskie in the past and FUCK ALL THAT SHEDDING. Also, Alabama summer's aren't really a comfortable climate.
If it wasn't already adopted by time I got to it, I probably would have taken home a miniature pinscher. Don't know how easy they are to train, and they look like they could be little bastards, but I think they qualify as small and badass.
Boston/jack russell/cairn terriers I'd consider if I
had to get a small dog. My mom has a cairn -- not nearly as intelligent as my pit but it has a smaller brain so I let it slide... Otherwise it's a pretty good dog. Barky motherfucker, but that probably has to do more with the dog itself than the breed. Snappy when it know's its in trouble, but that seems to be the norm with little dogs.