Every toy aisle has the same problem. The interesting toys, the ones that move and make noise and take some working out, are built around a medium or large dog. Your terrier gets a look at the ball, tries to pick it up, cannot get their jaw around it, and loses interest inside a minute.
Then you buy something small enough and it turns out to be a squeaker in a bit of fabric that lasts an afternoon.
Small dogs are not low energy dogs
This is the assumption that causes most of the trouble. Jack russells, miniature schnauzers, dachshunds and most small terriers were bred to hunt, and a working terrier was expected to go underground after something that fought back. That drive did not disappear because the dog now lives in an apartment.
Small dogs also have fast metabolisms and often sleep less than large breeds. The practical result is a dog who is done with a twenty minute walk and is still looking for something to do at nine in the evening.
The size problem, concretely
A ball a dog cannot pick up is not a toy, it is an obstacle. Carrying things is a large part of why dogs enjoy toys at all, and a small dog who can never carry anything is missing most of the point.
The rough test is whether your dog can hold it and still close their mouth enough to walk with it. If they have to push it along the floor with their nose because they cannot lift it, it is too big. At the other end, anything small enough to go past the back teeth in one piece is a choking risk, so there is a narrow band that actually works, and most manufacturers do not aim at it.
Weight matters as much as diameter. A toy that is the right width but too heavy to pick up has the same effect.
What small dogs respond to
Movement they cannot predict. The hunting instinct is triggered by something moving away erratically, not by something rolling in a straight line.
Sound. High pitched noise, chirps and squeaks work on terriers and dachshunds in a way that surprises people the first time. It sounds like prey.
Something to shake. The grab and shake motion is deeply built in to small hunting breeds. A toy with a tail or a rope gives them somewhere to put it.
Nose work. Scent games are the great equalizer. A chihuahua and a german shepherd get equally tired from fifteen minutes of searching, and it takes no floor space. More of them are in indoor dog activities.
The BorkBall Nub was built around the first three: sized for a small mouth, chirps when it moves, and has a short rope tail to shake once it has been caught.
Tiring out a small dog indoors
Scatter their dinner across a rug instead of putting it in a bowl. Hide five pieces of food around the room and send them to find them. Roll treats in a towel. Five minutes of teaching a new trick, which is as hard for a small dog as a large one.
Then give them one thing to chase. Down a hallway is enough space, and a toy that keeps moving on its own stretches each throw into a proper chase. If your dog is on the larger end of small, or you have a mixed size household, the rest of the interactive balls cover the same idea at bigger sizes, including a version that lights up for dark evenings.
Two things specific to small breeds
Long backed dogs, dachshunds especially, should not be doing repeated jumping off furniture or hard twisting stops. Intervertebral disc disease is common in the breed and it is serious. Keep the chasing on the flat and skip the stairs.
And small dogs get less exercise than they need more often than large dogs do, precisely because a short walk looks sufficient. A dog who is restless in the evening usually has not had enough of the day, not too much. The general principle is in how to tire out a dog.
Buying for a small dog without wasting money
Check the actual measurements rather than the label, since small on a package covers a wide range. Look for a toy your dog can carry. Prefer something that makes a noise. Avoid anything with a loose part that could come off, because a small dog's airway is small too. And hand it over when your dog is already a bit interested rather than fast asleep, because first impressions of a new toy stick.