Please tell me about your Maltese dogs

[3billboardsoutsidebarnsley]

I’ve done some online research and think a Maltese would suit my lifestyle - older person living in a flat, not working so home most of the time. But I’d like to hear from real Maltese owners. Are they not too noisy, would they cope with two 30 min walks a day, are they stinky, will I be able to bath/groom them myself, does yours have health problems , how much is insurance. I’d love to hear the good and the bad really. Thanks.

This really needs to go in the doghouse board, you’ll get much more responses

They don’t shed or smell
You can groom them yourself, but you’ll need to do it regularly (every day brushing)
Maltese need hair cutting imo. You can do it yourself but it’ll look better if a groomer does it.
Can easily Bath in sink
2x30 mins walk fine
Flat fine
Easy to house train and to train to sit.
However training can be a bit hard imo as they are fussy eaters. A big hungry dog will do anything in order to get the treat but a Maltese night not even want the treat even if it’s offered for free! Unless it is a very high value treat like chicken or liver. Sometimes you need to train a Maltese with praise.
However the Maltese is a firm companion dog and will bark a lot if he thinks strangers are coming to the door etc. If you have noise from a flat above at night, the Maltese may wake up to alert you.
They love their people, want to be with them all the time. They don’t like being left and may punish you for doing so eg go and bite up paper or toilet rolls etc
Basically the Maltese is an extremely affectionate dog and will worship you. However he can also be a bit naughty in order to get what he wants. He is a very clever dog!

Mine does not have health problems (yet) however only young (2yo).
Insurance is expensive if it’s decent. Like all insurance, insurers will do anything to get out of paying out.

Mine is 3 and was a tear away until he was about 14 month old. Chewing, biting the works. Now he’s a dream but he hates me leaving him at anytime even though it’s for a short period and he sleeps in a position where he has to be touching me at all times 😆
Insurance I pay about £12 a month

This is really helpful thanks. I forgot to say I’m a first time dog owner. I’ve only had cats before. Would a Maltese be a good breed for an inexperienced owner? pennee do you mind me asking which insurance company you are with?

I don’t think you need experience really. My dog is like no other I’ve had anyway so wouldn’t make a difference. The issue I had was showing him I was the boss. He was naughty because he was dominating and trying to get attention by nipping etc. I went through some leggings and pj bottoms as he used to run behind me and bite me for attention!
I’m insured with morethan but they were all similar it just depends on what excess you wish to pay as to what your premium is. When he was a puppy is was around £10’a month and then it increases with age

Thanks pennee. I need to do some more calculations now to see if my budget will stretch to all the costs involved.

I don't have direct experience with the breed but whatever pet you get, make sure you get decent insurance. It may seem expensive but operations for dogs can go into the thousands - tens of thousands if you need specialist care. Your £120 excess will seem absolutely tiny in comparison!

You also need to consider monthly flea and worm treatment and annual vaccinations. Also the cost of a walker/sitter/boarding if you want to go away without the dog. Also bare in mind that dental care often isn't covered by insurance.

We have a Maltese (first dog) and he’s fabulous! Hard to train as not interested in food but very well behaved. Happy with short walks, sits cuddling all day. Can be left for up to 4 hours no problem. And we groom him ourselves most of the time now since lockdown - wash in shower then use clippers! Professional cut 1/4 times ish...

Obligatory cute photo!

A Bichon Frise might also suit you. We had one growing up, she was a lovely companion.

Petra. He’s a little smasher .

Vanilla. Thanks that gives a good idea of the costs involved and things to consider .

@3billboardsoutsidebarnsley

Petra. He’s a little smasher . Vanilla. Thanks that gives a good idea of the costs involved and things to consider .

Maltese shouldn't be TOO expensive to insure as they're fairly healthy dogs AFAIK and they're also fairly small, but I would say to get the best insurance you can afford, and get lifetime cover too. You want as much protection as you can afford - it only takes a torn cruciate, for example, for surgery costs to go into the thousands. I pay £26 a month for lifetime cover for my Beagle - he's 2.5 years old if that helps give you can idea of price. That gives him 15k of annual cover should we need it.

Don't they have less fattening centres?

Gosh, I would say it depends.

Ours is 2 yrs old and it took 10 months to potty train, in comparison I trained our Great Dane foster in 1 week and they were the same age.

You will need to budget for grooming every 8 weeks, more in the summer, they also need to be bathed often after walks as everything sticks to that white hair they have.

It's been mentioned but they are fussy with food and often have gastro issues. We are usually at the vets every 6 months because he won't stop throwing up for a few days. But nothing is ever directly wrong. Ours also had luxating patella at 2 so we are heading for surgery within the year. Most of these are covered by insurance but not all.

They also suffer lots from anxiety and separation anxiety. And they bark A LOT!

Honestly as a first time pet parent, I'd get a toy poodle. Much easier to train, less issues and more robust as a breed.

Mine barks very little! There's a 10pm run outside and bark at the moon but otherwise he's pretty much totally silent! He was toilet trained almost totally by about 16 weeks - the odd accident inside (and intentional marking of territory) after that but now nothing.

Also we find he needs washing more in winter as he's closer to the ground - but if we towel him off then it's all dried and disappeared within a couple of hours (my poor carpet)...

I use BoughtByMany insurance - think I'm paying about £40 per month at the moment but they are pretty good - they cover all vet visits except worming/flea treatments.

Thank you everyone. The main stumbling block is that I think on my tight budget it’s going to be too expensive to own a dog. There are outgoings I wasn’t aware of and hadn’t factored in. I think I’m going to need to wait until i get my state pension in 7 years which is sad.

How about looking at fostering for the time being? The rescue would pay medical costs and you'd just need to buy food/toys.

We had three Maltese growing up. They were all lovely, but:

First had a very strong personality, was easily trained and lovely but only on her terms. Would bark a lot.

Second, male had a lovely personality, was most definitely not trainable by any stretch of the imagination though,, had 0 recall and this was never able to be rectified so he had to be kept on a lead at all times. And had the most god-awful bark you could imagine.

Their puppy however was like a little pyjama case. She never barked, ever. Was quite happy to just be there. Was never any trouble, but it took about a year to house-train her.

I would own another one in a heartbeat, but it’s worth bearing in mind that if the cost of owning a dog is too much, average puppies (of any breed) have about doubled to £2500 minimum during the pandemic. And no it’s not about making sure that only people who are serious buy the pups, it’s about making money out of people.

I’ve even heard of so-called reputable breeders offering new puppy owners some money to give the puppy back so they can sell it for more. .

IMO now is most definitely not a good time to get a puppy.