Maltese

About the Maltese

Writers in the ancient Mediterranean world described a small white lap dog kept by wealthy Roman and Greek households, and the Maltese is its direct descendant, a companion breed with two and a half thousand years of doing nothing but being a companion. The connection to Malta itself is traditional rather than documented, but the name has stuck for centuries.

The dog stands under 25 cm, with a long, straight, silky single coat of pure white that hangs to the ground when shown and is usually clipped short in pet homes. There is no undercoat, so it sheds little but tangles quickly. Look for a stud that is compact and sturdy under the coat rather than fine and shivery, with black points, dark eyes and a confident, cheerful manner. Extreme smallness is not a virtue here and brings problems with it.

Ask for a patella examination and a current eye certificate, since tear staining, distichiasis and cataract all occur. Portosystemic liver shunt is a recognised problem in the breed and no DNA test finds it, so ask whether it has appeared in the line and whether puppies have been bile-acid tested. In a white breed, ask whether any deafness has been seen and whether BAER testing has been done. Dental crowding is worth checking in the dog's own mouth.

Health & breeding

We check every hip, elbow, eye and DNA result you give us against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records by hand, and we record who checked it and when. The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested.