A Feist or a plot hound

We have a corgidor.  

He's good with kids and protective without being aggressive but otherwise not on OP's list.

Of the breeds mentioned that OP is conisdering:
Viszla - Had a wireharied viszla, she turned out great for us, but was poorly socialized. I think a typical one needs exercise - but they are truly velcro and I thing awesome family dogs.
Schnauzer - I have only ever seen 1, but he looked and acted awesome, wish I had more experience with them.
Greyhound/ Saluki - my sister has had several rescues - very chill, low energy, BUT they were not real dogs. Did not care if people interacted with them, did not play. It came from being rescues for sure at least partly. If you have never seen one actually run you are missing out on one of the greatest sights in nature. It is incredible.

I still say go with poodle or poodle mix of some sort.

Vizsla. I have had 6.  Currently have 2.  They do need exercise but nothing crazy to be calm.  They have all been great with kids, very tolerant and loving.

Your game, or a husky's stand up slap fight game, isn't always the game that a sighthound likes to play.... You can play their game too, if you can keep or even catch up






... 3 way biteyface is still on the game table

Well, you have to kind of rank what’s most important and then narrow from there. Is energy level most important or is shedding/allergies?

We just had to let our girl go, she ticked a lot of your boxes.

Medium sized (45-55lbs), no drool, very little doggie smell. An alert dog, but not aggressive. Think alarm system, not attack dog. Ours happened to be pretty mellow, but the breed generally is more energetic than she was. The shedding is complicated. Normally, they don’t shed much. But there is upkeep with the dual coat. And when they blow out...they shed. But it’s not like a short haired breed where hairs are everywhere all the time, and weave their way into the fabric of your couch. It’s more fluff.

Drawbacks: the alert nature means barking. And while you can train when you want them to bark (I had her bark at my pistols and smoke detector alarms), it’s a huge challenge to train them not to bark. Grooming, as mentioned before, is recommended daily. While I think that’s a bit much, if you do let it go too long, there will be matting and extra grooming involved. Breed is know to “kiss” a fair amount; whether that’s a drawback is up to you. Breeders are hard to find, and there’s generally two styles, the dark fur and light fur. The dark ones tend to be more limp fur, the light are fluffy. Last drawback is no one will pronounce the breed right, even most owners.

Breed: Keeshond. (Pronounced kayz-hondt)

As a puppy:


As an adult:

Standard Dachshund.....or mini Dachshund

Get a mix of JRT, Malinois, and ACD.

Don't think you could go wrong with a standard poodle. Ours was one year older than me from the day I was born. She died when I was 12, absolutely broke my heart. They are insanely intelligent, loyal and protective of kids. No shed, female will come close to your size requirement.

My number two here would be a standard schnauzer. Also hits almost everyone of your targets. Never owned one, but our neighbor does and it's a very cool dog. Haven't seen it around children, but he's very smart as well.

Going off-target, the golden retriever is the most loving animal on earth, but can be protective if they sense real danger. They are serious clowns, and don't mature until they're about three. Even then they're big, goofy love-doves. The fur is no joke...even with frequent grooming the amount that comes off a golden is impressive. We kept three or four tape rollers near the door when I was working.

Be careful of "English" goldens, but not for any reason you might expect. An English is just a golden retriever bred for a very light coat. They don't meet AKC breed standard, but unscrupulous breeders are raising them as "rare and highly desirable"...and then charging a premium. We bought our first golden in Bury St Edmunds from a highly regarded and reputable English breeder. She was...well, golden in color. You've been warned.

We got a wire-haired pointing griffon. Hugely smart dog, no shed, but just try heal training one... They are very, very active and love to run. Do have an indoor "off" switch, but you can't leave the dog in off mode too long or it'll explode.

Missed our goldens so much we broke down two months ago and started looking. Mac (named for the late shotgun/outdoor writer Michael McIntosh) came home two days ago. His dad Percy won Best in Breed at Westminster...I have no illusions about the vacuum time I face in the future. He and Maggie are already bonding, and turning the house into a race track. He's a good boy, and shares my love of mechanical timepieces!

There are a couple of these in our neighborhood.  An adult and a puppy.  I was out walking with my son once (7yo at the time) and we ran into them being walked.  My son wanted to pet the puppy because he looked like a little teddy bear.  Very friendly dogs.  The adult was laid back and the puppy wanted to wrestle and lick my son's face.  After the interaction, my son wanted one.

I vote Boxer as well. Typically a chill dog, may or may not enjoy walks, can be energetic if you want it to be, protective and great with kids. Get a middle aged female just to lower the energy level a bit. Just be aware that pure breds will have health issues pretty early, 7/8 years old in my experience.