[Eunice]

Hello everyone. I am a previous owner of a beautiful Maltese. I had my fur-baby since he was a puppy and sadly I lost him after 12 wonderful years of due to congestive heart failure. Now I think I am ready for another fur-baby. I live Southern California and it is so hard to find a puppy over here. I want to get the puppy from a loving family and I am afraid to get one from a puppy mill and there are so many scammer over here. I cannot find a Maltese in shelters or rescues either. I finally found and met with one puppy after weeks of searching. However, while the puppy is really cute and lovely, he seems to have long legs and long body. The breeder said he is toy size and he will probably grow up to 7 pounds. What do you think? Can Malteses have longer legs? I appreciate your input.

 

[zooeysmom]

Hi Eunice, I'm so sorry for the loss of your fur-baby :'( I lost mine a just a month ago--so painful. I definitely see how hard it is to get a puppy right now. When I adopted Zooey, purebred Malts were pretty rare, but they still popped up in shelters and that's how I got her. If I were to get another puppy, I would be open to situations that I wouldn't have been previously, but of course no puppy mills! I would have to see the place the puppy was raised to make sure it is clean, loving, and that the puppy was healthy and well socialized.

Maltese can have longer legs--some people are okay with this look and others don't like it because most show Maltese have a cobbier look. For a pet it doesn't matter. I haven't heard of the term "toy size" in Maltese, as all Maltese are toys! The standard calls for 4-7 lbs. I love the ones that are on the larger side because they are less fragile yet they are still a very small dog. If you like this dog and feel good about the situation, I would go for it (listen to your gut!). Hope this helps

 

[Eunice]

Hi Eunice, I'm so sorry for the loss of your fur-baby :'( I lost mine a just a month ago--so painful. I definitely see how hard it is to get a puppy right now. When I adopted Zooey, purebred Malts were pretty rare, but they still popped up in shelters and that's how I got her. If I were to get another puppy, I would be open to situations that I wouldn't have been previously, but of course no puppy mills! I would have to see the place the puppy was raised to make sure it is clean, loving, and that the puppy was healthy and well socialized.

Maltese can have longer legs--some people are okay with this look and others don't like it because most show Maltese have a cobbier look. For a pet it doesn't matter. I haven't heard of the term "toy size" in Maltese, as all Maltese are toys! The standard calls for 4-7 lbs. I love the ones that are on the larger side because they are less fragile yet they are still a very small dog. If you like this dog and feel good about the situation, I would go for it (listen to your gut!). Hope this helps

Thank you so much for your input. I would love to adopt, but it is so hard to find a Maltese or even a Maltese mix in shelters. Even if they pop out once in a while, they get picked up immediately or have a long waiting list.

 

[zen’s mom]

I live in Southern California as well and I could not find a good Maltese breeder at all in my opinion California is the hot spot for pet lovers so most self proclaimed “breeders” are pet brokers and/or deal with the puppy mill operations. you will most likely have the best of luck finding a Maltese out of the state of California or up north. Best of luck😊

 

[Eunice]

I live in Southern California as well and I could not find a good Maltese breeder at all in my opinion California is the hot spot for pet lovers so most self proclaimed “breeders” are pet brokers and/or deal with the puppy mill operations. you will most likely have the best of luck finding a Maltese out of the state of California or up north. Best of luck😊

Thank you for the advice. I am trying to find a puppy where I can see their parents. It’s been very hard.

 

[maddysmom]

Here is a breeders list by state from the AMA website. Hope this helps!

Breeder Referral by State | American Maltese Association

www.americanmaltese.org