Breed History

Receiving their breed name in the city of Malta, 80 miles south of Italy, the Maltese is a very popular dog breed in the USA today. Believed to be crossed with the Poodle and Spaniel, this breed was strictly owned by royalty where they were spoiled consistently. Today, not much has changed as these lovable pups can be seen all over getting spoiled by their human companions.

Breed Appearance

The Maltese is a small breed with males and females both measuring 8-10 inches in height and weighing and average of 6-9 pounds in weight. Please note that males and females may be smaller or larger than show standard and still be purebred. This breed is very small and docile. Their small compact body is covered in a single layer coat of hair that is wavy to straight in texture and available in white to cream. This breed has a small round head with two small, pendant shaped ears gently falling alongside of their face. Their two round eyes are brown to black in color. Their body is built stocky in appearance and their tail is curled upwards and over their back. This breed can have a puppy cut or be groomed with floor length hair.

Breed Temperament

The Maltese breed is a very cute, fun, energetic and gentle personality. This breed is wonderful to add to any family with children and other pets, as this breed will typically bond well with anything they grow up around. This breed is very smart and does well with learning new things as well as obedience competition. This breed loves to play and have human interaction and truly needs this daily in order to be happy. Please be sure to include your Maltese in all family activities and outings or vacations that you are able to. This breed can be difficult to house train. When not receiving enough attention or mental and physical exercise, your Maltese may develop destructive behavior such as excessive barking, digging and accidents in the house. Be sure to pay attention to any of these signs to be able to quickly fix the issue and get back on the right track. This breed requires a firm, consistent and calm owner who uses positive reinforcement training methods only.

Breed Grooming

This breed sheds lightly. Daily brushing and facial cleaning to prevent tear stains is required. Bathe and have professional groomed when needed.

Special Notes

Please note that this breed is prone to sunburn where ever their hair is parted. They are also prone to skin issues and allergies, eye issues, digestion issues, hot and cold sensitivity and damp, humid environments. Please fully research the Maltese prior to adding one to your family to ensure that this is the proper breed for you and you are able to meet the care requirements for the lifetime of your new dog, both physically and financially. A proper harness and leash or properly fenced in area is required for your dog to be within while outdoors at all times to ensure their safety. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.

Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2024. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.