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Maltese Breed ID page

You are welcome to print this flyer (back to back works well) to utilize for identification purposes in shelters or rescue efforts.

The Maltese is a single coated toy breed dog, with no undercoat, and all white hair. The hair will grow until you cut it so you will see hair of various lengths in this breed.

The breed standard states weight under 7 pounds, with from 4 to 6 pounds preferred. However, pet quality Maltese typically range from 5-12 pounds, with some Maltese in rescue occasionally reaching up to 15 pounds. The eyes should be round and very dark. The muzzle is tapered, not particularly square or pushed in . The teeth meet in an even, edge-to-edge bite, or in a scissors bite. The tail will be full length, and should curl up and over the back, although it can be carried down if the dog is scared. The dog should have all black nose, eye rims, and pads on feet, known as "black points" but pet quality Maltese can have missing or partial black points. The pads of feet, nose or eye rims may be grey or even pink if there is poor breeding.

The coat is all white, and can also include minor "lemon" or light tan colored places, most commonly on the ears. The coat grows long, and should be of a heavy silky texture, but pet quality coats can also be curly, wavy, woolly or cottony. Most dogs are kept in a puppy cut, which is very short. Often the coats are long, matted and dirty if the dog is a stray or if grooming has not been maintained. Maltese in shelters, or just coming into rescue, can often have infected ears and/or eyes, and often have dental problems.

The skin is typically pink, and can also include large or small areas of black pigment, which can be particularly noticeable if the dog is clipped very short.

The body is suppose to be boxy but often a long body is seen. This breed has a drop ear set at the sides of the head.

Maltese have a sweet disposition wanting only love and attention, and are usually very people oriented unless they come from a bad situation, in which case they maybe fearful of people.

Lisa Stanley
Ohio Maltese Rescue
MalteseRescuer@aol.com CUR #485
http://www.geocities.com/OhioMalteseRescue
~*~ Until there are NONE, rescue ONE ~*~