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.

All red flags, I'm afraid. It's a super-common thing for puppy farmers to off-load dogs this way. They rent a house on air bnb, and bring in fake dog parents. It's almost always "professional couples" in "nice houses". Pets4homes is literally just a front for puppy farmers - no reputable breeder or owner would sell puppies on there, and most good breeders have a waitlist for puppies so it's very rare to get one at short notice.

This sounds incredibly dodgy. OP´s mother needs to get insurance ASAP (you should already have it, tbh).

Does the breed actually matter? She already owns the dog...

Could you spot a puppy farm? - PDSA

Some things she can do:

• google the number in the pets4homes ad, and see what other hits it brings up.
• Get the puppy to a vet immediately for a thorough check up. (He doesn't look like a 16 week pup from the pics tbh - a vet will be able to give you an estimate from looking at his teeth.

Looks like a maltese... but not a puppy! That dog is definitely older than advertised. A vet will be able to give you an approximate idea of how old it is... I'd say it's at least a year old...

Looks a lot like my dog- a Coton de Tulear. She also has soft hair rather than fur

I’m actually so surprised by these comments about him being possibly from a puppy farm and that he might not be the age they said. I’m also angry that she didn’t do more thorough research, or that she didn’t give me chance to do this on her behalf. She agreed to buy him within 20 minutes of meeting them all.

I had zero idea that all those things were red flags when it comes to buying a dog!! I feel so stupid and also sad for the little boy as he’s just so adorable.

Thanks for the tips and advice, going to speak to her and see what she wants to do next. It genuinely doesn’t matter what breed, or mix of breeds he is- she really does love him regardless. It was more a curiosity thing but now I think of it, it’s also not ok to advertise and sell a dog as a false breed. Is this illegal and can anything be done or is it worth reporting?

Aww she’s absolutely beautiful 😍 What a sweetheart!

Is the price she paid a red flag at all? £700. Or is that irrelevant here maybe.

Where did she buy it from? An advert on internet or paper? A breeder? What price? And more importantly, did she see the dog in her home with the mother???

Or is the poor dog one of those from puppy farm in Eastern Europe.

It does sound dodgy, but it’s done now - she just needs to insure to the max and love the dog and look after him well and train him and she’ll know better next time.

Did the 'breeder' say why the puppies weren't KC registered?

Decent breeders will do health testing, including genetic, of the parents before breeding, they'll work out the coefficient of inbreeding (COI), socialise the puppies once born (as far as is possible), have the puppies vet checked before they leave for their new homes, register the puppies with KC if purebred puppies, and lots more. New owners will have copies of the KC registration, usually a 5 generation pedigree, usually a months free insurance, copies of results of testing etc.

Was any of this done with this puppy? He does look older than 4 months. Is he teething at the moment?

That's a very cute puppy but I agree that he probably came from a puppy farm.

Decent breeders don't have random 16 week old puppies leftover.
They don't own both parents.
They don't advertise on Pets4Homes.
They also KC register their puppies (KC registration isn't perfect but there's no good reason not to KC register if the puppies are purebred).

The whole "professional married couple in a nice house" thing is also a common ruse - nobody would buy from a puppy farm if they actually saw the conditions the puppies were kept in.

He also looks older than four months - I'd say closer to six or even eight.

I think the bigger issue is, if not KC registered or confirmed in anyway as the breed stated, has your DM paid full price but potentially not got what she paid for?

Caveat Emptor.

She saw the puppy in person, knew it didn't come with papers and still chose to spend £700 on it. I doubt she'd have any comeback now - it's an expensive lesson in not doing your research, unfortunately.

This indeed. Let's hope its healthy and lives a long, healthy life. Fingers crossed.

I’ve got a Maltese shihtzu and looks quite different from your mums (but cross breeds it’s always hard to tell).

I have a pure-bred KC registered Maltese and a Bichon Frise cross. Facially your mum’s dog looks a bit more like the Bichon (the one at the back in the picture). The Maltese have silky hair whereas the Bichon’s is slightly coarser, more like fur.

£700 is quite cheap for a purebred Maltese I would have thought

I really do hope for your sake that your mum lucks out with this purchase and that the dog is healthy, but it was an incredibly stupid and irresponsible thing to do. She has not got a dog worth £700, but the puppy farmers are not going to give it back. Fingers crossed things work out.

I don't know but awwww he's gorgeous 😍

Correct the vet record and say it's a crossbreed. You have no idea what it is without a DNA test and insurance will be cheaper!

Also at that price I will assume, and I mean this in the nicest possible way as the owner of two, that they're a mutt. Which is often better in many ways.

It makes me so angry that your mum has very probably been sold a lie. There's a special place in hell for puppy farmers.

As previous posters have said, the Kennel Club is not without its faults, but with no KC registration, this little chap could literally be a cross of anything. Additionally of course, his parents could be brother & sister, or father & daughter, or his mum could have be either too old, too young or to have had far too many litters, and I too would say he's older than they say.

Please ask your mum to get him to the vet tomorrow for a thorough checkup, and to get him insured on a Lifetime policy (go on to a site like comparethemarket for quotes, and that explains the difference between Lifetime policies and Annual ones).

He looks like a lovely wee soul though, and whatever else he might be he's definitely 100% cute!

Edited to add - I've just looked on the Kennel Club website, there's a Maltese puppy on there for sale at £2000, so I'm afraid that's another marker that things aren't right.

My gorgeous little mutt is a Parsons Jack Russell in the vets the breeder registered him with...

I wasn't sold a pup though. I knew we were buying a mixed breed puppy. We visited him almost weekly from birth with his mum and litter mates at home.