Need help identifying dog!

[DoggUncertainty]

I’m hoping someone can help me, my mum has recently bought this gorgeous puppy. I’ve attached some photos.

DISCLAIMER: I know nothing about dogs and different breeds!

The lady who sold him to her said he’s a pure Maltese, however since she’s had him, 4 separate people who’ve seen him have told her he looks like a Maltese/Shih tzu mix breed.

Anyone got any ideas from these pics? She wasn’t given a certificate of his breed or anything like that, but on his vaccination record it says he’s a Maltese, so surely that’s confirmation enough? However she’s now doubting it due to the comments of others.

Not KC reg so could be anything! Hard to tell until fully grown. Does it matter? If it did then she should have gone for a KC registered breeder.

Get a doggy DNA test - you'll probably find husky in there too ...

I didn’t even know what KC registered meant til I just read your reply, just googled it! No she didn’t get anything like that, no official certificate.
No it doesn’t matter anyway, she loves him no matter what breed he is, more just curiosity really.

LOL. Yep he’ll probably grow up and his eyes will turn piercing blue, he’ll be 10 times the size he is now, and he’ll have an urge to lie down in the snow.

Looks Maltese to me but a word of caution - they can and do suffer from inherited problems (I know several) so make sure your mum has good insurance. I take it no health testing of the parents was done. Unlikely if not breed registered.

The vet will have written "Maltese" on the vaccination record because that's what your Mum told him/her - vets don't do DNA tests, they just ask the owner!

Omg he’s so cute. I recommend the Wisdom Panel DNA test. It turns out that our beloved pooch is a mix of 11 different breeds, several of which I hadn’t heard of 🥰

Looks Maltese to me. I wouldn't pay attention too much to what random people say a dog looks like though, I've been asked before if my greyhound is part poodle, and someone tried very hard to convince me the other day that my Scottish Deerhound is actually an Irish Wolfhound and that I'm definitely wrong because his granddad had one growing up. Everyone's an expert!

If you're really curious you can get one of those doggy DNA tests. If he's a mix the insurance will be cheaper at least!

He just looks Maltese to me. I think if he were half Shih Tzu, he would have a shorter muzzle and a flatter face.

For future use - if you take a picture of a dog on an iPhone, swipe up from the bottom you can 'look up dog'. It works for plants too.

Dont pay too much attention to what people say. When my Lab was a puppy everyone, including my friend who is a vet, said that she had huge paws and would be huge.
She's fully grown and literally the smallest Lab I've ever seen! And now people comment on that!

Wow ok thank you for this, I don’t think she checked about inherited conditions, this was all done spur of the moment and before I knew it she’d bought him.
She's sorting his insurance out this week thankfully.

It was the breeder who took him to get the first two sets of vaccinations so she told the vet his breed I guess.

It does look maltese. It sounds suspiciously like your mum has bought this puppy somewhere dodgy - do you know where and how she bought it?

He’s a cutie isn’t he!! 😀 Thank you for the recommendation, I will tell her this. That’s crazy about your dog, I didn’t know that amount of breeds was possible in one!

Oh ok that’s interesting about your dog, I guess like with every other subject in life, some people just have to voice their opinion 😅

Thank you, I had totally forgotten about this feature! I used it ages ago for a flower and forgot that it can be used for other things too!!

My comment would be the same except "vet will simply have written what the breeder told them".

Ah ok thank you for this, yes agree about the face, from the shih tzu pics I’ve seen.

My cousin has a Maltese Cross who looks just like this. Can't recall what she's crossed with, prob Lhasa. They have hair as opposed to fur. Your mum's doesn't look like a pup. Looks like an adult dog.

I love labs, they are so cute and lovely dogs from the couple I’ve interacted with in the past. Just shows then that even vets aren’t always that clued in about things like this!

Haha can’t stop people’s comments, no matter what the situation is.

As far as I know, not dodgy at all but then my definition of ‘dodgy’ might be different than what it is in the world of dog breeding if that makes sense.
She was a private seller on pets4homes, apparently very nice house, married couple, professional jobs, still had both parents which are the family dogs and had sold all the others with no issues. This guy was the last one left.

Oh right ok thank you, that’s interesting because I’ve thought his fur does look more like hair. And this one is actually only 4 months but she told me people have also said he does look older than that 🤔

"last one left", "last minute decision", "pets4homes"? Yeah, that's a puppy farmed pup. She needs to go to a vet and get the poor thing checked asap.

Really? That’s horrifying if so. Are there no other green flags in my post about the people, like the fact my mum met the parents of the dog and saw photos of the siblings. And the couple have kept in touch with her over the past week to check on him. And they seem very “professional” and have a lovely house. Or am I just being very naive here?