Maltese ... Swfs? *lol* :s

[Nekhbet]

I think sadly I can say I have only ever met one pedigree Maltese. The rest of the 'purebreds' were BYB, and looked iffy on the heritage. But even byb purebreds are rare. I dont know why people keep crossing the little ones, from what I hear real maltese are lovely dogs. Met a few Shih Tzus and they too are fabulous. Cross them together and something occasionally seems to go a bit AWOL between the ears

[mita]

There was a purebred Maltese boy a little while back, whose owner was an elderly lady going into a nursing home.

The lady's daughter posted on the DOL Rescue Forum, that the Malt boy needed a new home. I put her on to the person who does small poodle rescue (& who will take other small fluffies).

She took the little bloke in....& said he was the nicest dog she'd had. None of the SWF stereotypes. He was intelligent, loving, calm, clean, quiet....the list of positives went on.

Up until then, that poodle rescue lady had said the tibbies she'd taken in were the best dogs ever. So I had to take it on the chin...a p/b Maltie boy had gone on the top dog list.

She knew immediately the perfect home for him. A semi-retired nurse who lives in a lovely Q'der house with a lovely garden, wanted a little companion dog. And hopefully one she could take to work with her 3 days a week at a nursing home. The nursing home readily gave permission for him to join the 'staff', when they met him & saw how wonderful he was. He really was the best of little dogs & now has a very happy life, at home & at 'work'. If there are any other purebred Maltese like him, out there, it'd be a crying shame to do any 'crossing'.

Edited April 19, 2011 by mita

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Apparently I live next door to a "pure-bred Maltese" because "I won't own a Maltese crossed with anything"!!

I have to say if it's pure-bred it's the strangest pure-bred I've ever seen (and I've only seen them in pictures, etc). And my previous housemate whose mother used to breed Maltese in the US also agreed strangest looking one ever if it's pure-bred!

It does however look like a lovely example of a Maltese x Shih Tzu!!! Which is a shame, when you have someone who would like to own a pure-bred of a type of dog but they are getting something that really just isn't. Mind you I have a lot of issues with this person owning any dog at all, but that's a completely separate issue to what this thread is about!!

[Shakti]

Without hijacking this thread into a discussion of the program itself - The Greatest American Dog had a Maltese on it named Andrew and he was a great testament to the breed - very smart, well-trained, calm - just a great little dog!

[experiencedfun]

I believe many years ago they used to be called Maltese Terrier.....

Breed names change although I dont know why....the latest is Italian Corso Dog is now Cane Corso and the Black Russian Terrier si now the Russian Black Terrier

Edited April 19, 2011 by experiencedfun

[GoldenGirl85]

I believe many years ago they used to be called Maltese Terrier.....

Breed names change although I dont know why....the latest is Italian Corso Dog is now Cane Corso and the Black Russian Terrier si now the Russian Black Terrier

Technically its the same, cane is Italian for dog

[~Anne~]

Some interesting statistics on ANKC registrations

1987

Toy Group – 15775

Aust Silky – 2425

Cav KCS- 2085

Maltese- 2008

Pug-522

Terrier Group- 10021

Amstaff-0

Bull Terrier-3359

SBT-1913

2010

Toy Group – 10134

Aust Silky – 273

Cav KCS- 2942

Maltese- 315

Pug- 1495

Terrier Group-11770

Amstaff-1625

Bull Terrier-977

SBT-4695

I think the popularity of breeds come and go though and always will.

What is more telling, and is incredibly sad, is that the overall figures for purebred dogs is in a dramatic freefall.

In many breeds the freefall just continues, but it is not without warning but across society .... vets, universities, breeders, animal welfare orgs and canine registries .... have pretty much failed to heed the warnings.

All know the consequences of depleted gene pools (or they should know) but what steps have been taken to reverse the dangerous trends?

None so blind ...... or apathetic.

Souff

Agree.

It is sad isn't it.

[Gayle.]

I wonder what the numbers are on collies (rough), beagles, cocker spaniels and fox terriers. They are all breeds that were in abundance as family pets when I was growing up.

[dancinbcs]

Some interesting statistics on ANKC registrations

1987

Toy Group – 15775

Aust Silky – 2425

Cav KCS- 2085

Maltese- 2008

Pug-522

Terrier Group- 10021

Amstaff-0

Bull Terrier-3359

SBT-1913

2010

Toy Group – 10134

Aust Silky – 273

Cav KCS- 2942

Maltese- 315

Pug- 1495

Terrier Group-11770

Amstaff-1625

Bull Terrier-977

SBT-4695

I miss seeing well bred Maltese of good temperament.

Would be interesting to see how many Maltese pups were put on to the Limited Register in 1987 and in the following years. The practice did not stop unregistered breeders using Maltese to produce crossbred SWFs in their thousands but I suppose it kept the competition down in the show ring.

Souff

edited for s & g

I really don't think the showring has much to do with Malt numbers. Even when they were at an all time high with registrations there were very few shown. Keeping a Malt is a full show coat is not for the faint hearted and as a result they have never been a popular show dog, they were always much more popular as a pet so they could be scissored or clipped off to a more managable coat. For some reason the show dogs need a coat that drags on the ground so they lead rather restricted lives with their coats rolled up in "crackers" to protect it between shows. No one keeps a dog in show coat when it retires from the ring, they are trimmed back to at least clear of the ground so they can run and play like normal dogs.

[Souff]

Some interesting statistics on ANKC registrations

1987

Toy Group – 15775

Aust Silky – 2425

Cav KCS- 2085

Maltese- 2008

Pug-522

Terrier Group- 10021

Amstaff-0

Bull Terrier-3359

SBT-1913

2010

Toy Group – 10134

Aust Silky – 273

Cav KCS- 2942

Maltese- 315

Pug- 1495

Terrier Group-11770

Amstaff-1625

Bull Terrier-977

SBT-4695

I miss seeing well bred Maltese of good temperament.

Would be interesting to see how many Maltese pups were put on to the Limited Register in 1987 and in the following years. The practice did not stop unregistered breeders using Maltese to produce crossbred SWFs in their thousands but I suppose it kept the competition down in the show ring.

Souff

edited for s & g

I really don't think the showring has much to do with Malt numbers. Even when they were at an all time high with registrations there were very few shown. Keeping a Malt is a full show coat is not for the faint hearted and as a result they have never been a popular show dog, they were always much more popular as a pet so they could be scissored or clipped off to a more managable coat. For some reason the show dogs need a coat that drags on the ground so they lead rather restricted lives with their coats rolled up in "crackers" to protect it between shows. No one keeps a dog in show coat when it retires from the ring, they are trimmed back to at least clear of the ground so they can run and play like normal dogs.

I take your point. Same goes for the Silkies and Yorkies and other little ones with long coats. A lot of work goes into it. If it isnt to keep others out of the show ring, then putting all pups on the Limited Register has been done with the idea of stopping other registered breeders from breeding with them. And the end result of that train of thought is that the dogs still got bred from and the pedigrees are now lost. No matter what the motivation, putting whole litters of pups on the Limited Register has been disastrous for some breeds. One can only wonder when the practice will be outlawed or regulated, for the sake of the future of those breeds.

Another huge drain on Australian gene pools has been through the very obliging and very protected Hawaiian vacuum cleaner .....

Souff

[Souff]

I wonder what the numbers are on collies (rough), beagles, cocker spaniels and fox terriers. They are all breeds that were in abundance as family pets when I was growing up.

COLLIE, ROUGH: 1986: 2572, 2010: 417

BEAGLES: 1986: 1232, 2010: 819

COCKER SPANIELS: 1986: 3431, 2010: 1489

FOX TERRIERS (SMOOTH) 1986: 800, 2010: 264

Does anyone have similar stats from other countries?

Edited April 19, 2011 by Souff

[dancinbcs]

I take your point. Same goes for the Silkies and Yorkies and other little ones with long coats. A lot of work goes into it. If it isnt to keep others out of the show ring, then putting all pups on the Limited Register has been done with the idea of stopping other registered breeders from breeding with them. And the end result of that train of thought is that the dogs still got bred from and the pedigrees are now lost. No matter what the motivation, putting whole litters of pups on the Limited Register has been disastrous for some breeds. One can only wonder when the practice will be outlawed or regulated, for the sake of the future of those breeds.

Another huge drain on Australian gene pools has been through the very obliging and very protected Hawaiian vacuum cleaner .....

Souff

I do agree that the limit register has been used the wrong way. It was originally intended to stop dogs being exported by dealers without the breeders consent and to stop anyone breeding with dogs with obvious faults, like undescended testicles, blue eyes in breeds that don't allow it, or dogs with bad conformation. The intention was never to prevent any new breeders entering the world of purebred dogs. Any litter that is all limit registered is a wasted litter, contributing nothing to the future of the breed, yet there are constant ads on DOL for breeders that buy all their breeding stock, only sell dogs on limit and never seem to keep anything themselves. These are not the type of breeders we need for the future.

In some litters there will not be any dogs worth breeding with, most litters will have at least one stand out and some will have a few worthy breeding candidates, so it would be hard to set any sort of number that should be main registered. The rule of thumb for improving a breed is to only breed with progeny as good or better than the parents. If only we could mark microchip records with "not for export" and large scale puppy farms were outlawed then breeders may again feel confident about selling puppies on main again.

Even here on DOL if any new person expresses an interest in becoming a breeder, they are jumped on and interrogated, told all the negatives and never given any encouragement. The majority of registered breeders only ever stayed "in dogs" for about 5-10 years, showing a few dogs and breeding just a few litters. Without new breeders constantly coming into purebred dogs the numbers will continue to decline rapidly.

[Leelaa17]

Might want to add your title before the Maltese people get up you.

They are not a 'terrier'.

There's a lady at work we call the Terrier but that's another story completely.

Aren't they a terrier at all? I've always thought they were classified as terriers and I've often heard them referred to as Maltese Terriers. Is this wrong is it?

Well, I've learned something new today!

This happened to me just last week! LOL I thought they were terriers as well! lol

We have a purebred maltese - she lives with my MIL. I have to say - they are amazingly awesome dogs. Mia is an absolutely character - she has such a BIG personality. She does zoomies at least once a day. She will play hide and seek (literally - like, I will hide and she will look for me until she finds me). She sits on the windowsill like a cat and watches the front... shes a pretty big barker.

They are fantastic little dogs and Im sad to hear that they are rare - I actually thought they were extremely common.

Btw/// what is a swf?

[GoldenGirl85]

Swf=small white fluffy

[Guest Panzer Attack!]

I remember one day at work a lady came in with her two purebred Maltese. There was another owner with his own 'purebred Maltese' that was an inch taller than a Bichon and with a really thick, almost wooly coat. He asked her why her dogs were so funny looking LOL. It would shock me if even half of the 'malt x' sold in petstores and byb have any Maltese in them whatsoever.

[Souff]

I take your point. Same goes for the Silkies and Yorkies and other little ones with long coats. A lot of work goes into it. If it isnt to keep others out of the show ring, then putting all pups on the Limited Register has been done with the idea of stopping other registered breeders from breeding with them. And the end result of that train of thought is that the dogs still got bred from and the pedigrees are now lost. No matter what the motivation, putting whole litters of pups on the Limited Register has been disastrous for some breeds. One can only wonder when the practice will be outlawed or regulated, for the sake of the future of those breeds.

Another huge drain on Australian gene pools has been through the very obliging and very protected Hawaiian vacuum cleaner .....

Souff

I do agree that the limit register has been used the wrong way. It was originally intended to stop dogs being exported by dealers without the breeders consent and to stop anyone breeding with dogs with obvious faults, like undescended testicles, blue eyes in breeds that don't allow it, or dogs with bad conformation. The intention was never to prevent any new breeders entering the world of purebred dogs. Any litter that is all limit registered is a wasted litter, contributing nothing to the future of the breed, yet there are constant ads on DOL for breeders that buy all their breeding stock, only sell dogs on limit and never seem to keep anything themselves. These are not the type of breeders we need for the future.

In some litters there will not be any dogs worth breeding with, most litters will have at least one stand out and some will have a few worthy breeding candidates, so it would be hard to set any sort of number that should be main registered. The rule of thumb for improving a breed is to only breed with progeny as good or better than the parents. If only we could mark microchip records with "not for export" and large scale puppy farms were outlawed then breeders may again feel confident about selling puppies on main again.

Even here on DOL if any new person expresses an interest in becoming a breeder, they are jumped on and interrogated, told all the negatives and never given any encouragement. The majority of registered breeders only ever stayed "in dogs" for about 5-10 years, showing a few dogs and breeding just a few litters. Without new breeders constantly coming into purebred dogs the numbers will continue to decline rapidly.

It is just all very depressing, it has all been predicted and it was avoidable.

If some of the affected breeds were native animals, there would be screams from the rooftops in some quarters and charities set up to "save them".

But try telling somebody that it will be impossible to buy an Australian bred pedigreed cocker spaniel, or a doberman, or a maltese, in 5 years time.

They think you are nuts or just exaggerating.

It is surreal ... the stats show the story, and there is no exaggeration.

Souff

[MalteseLuna]

I'm a proud purebred Maltese owner (she is papered and on LR)

They are a fantastic breed - unfortunately because they are small, white, cuddly they are used in crossbreeding alot. Most Maltese that I see do not look purebred and few people know what Luna is... I have been asked if she is a spoodle (huh?!?), poodle, Maltese x Shih Tzu... etc

Maltese is the breed name - they are not terriers (never have been) - they are closely related to the Bichon and are actually a small spaniel.

I will have to start visiting the DOL sydney meet to show everyone what a real Maltese looks like - not one in a show cut though

I think alot of people get deterred by the grooming - it is extensive even if you keep them short (as this is $$ etc.). The poor fools who buy Maltese crosses don't know what they are in for - grooming nightmare!!!

[Lowenhart]

They are called Bichon Maltais - The Maltese Bichon by the French.

There are also Bichon Havanais (Havanese), Bichon Frise and Bichon Bolognese. I have Lowchen are contentiously a bichon breed as well.