How big can they get?
by April B
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
I know this subject has been brought up before but I just had to tell you all about the giant Maltese I saw. I was coming out of the grocery store and heard a Maltese barking. It sounded like the "Mommy-come-back-please-don't-leave-me" bark. Lo and behold, a van had pulled in across from mine and it had a large white dog in it. It had straight white hair, black points on the face, and the tail was curled up over the back. He looked well-cared for, too. This dog looked like it weighed about 30 pounds. I actually gasped and rubbed my eyes thinking I was mistaken. It looked like a Maltese! I thought my 8 pounder was hefty. Could this have been a mix? How big can they get?
DISCUSSION:
It's possible what you saw was a Havanese. They come in a lot of colors but some are all white. Wavy hair is prefered and in general they look like a not so good Maltese. This is a new AKC breed in the toy group and the size varies a lot, some are very large.
Mary Lou
I have a 20 pounder ! He's as sweet as he's BIG !
Renee H
April, it must have been another breed. Maybe the Havenese like MaryLou suggested. I thought my four-year-old was big. She's 12 pounds. Renee, what do you feed your "little boy"? The owner of a pet shop in my town tells me that my Kailey is too big and told me to feed half a treat only once every three or four days! She was eating human food, if we were having roast beef or turkey, she'd eat it too, along with her veggies. To get her at a healthy weight, the vet suggested that I get Kailey on a good diet. I bought Nutros Max Chicken and Rice dry, the pet shop owner told me this would be better for a hard stool then the Pro Plan Lamb and Rice dry. (I was having trouble with dingleberries/clingons.) Eukunaba(sp) was suggested on this site to me but the owner of the pet shop said the kibble would be too big for Kailey to eat, since she is missing all but four teeth on top and has some of her bottom ones out as well. (She wasn't looked after at her previous home and had pyroria(sp) when we adopted her.) I can't believe your baby is 20 pounds, wait till I tell my husband - he surely will want to feed her human food again.
Roberta & Kailey
Yes, I agree. This had to have been a Havanese. They look like giant, sort of "wide" Maltese. Curious though, why didn't you ask the owner what exactly it way?
Karen
YEs, yes , yes ! I really do have one that weighs in at 20 pounds ! His registered name is " Freddie Big Boy" ( 6 yrs). His mother Cristy is @ 12 pounds( 9 yrs) and his daddy "Snowfire Vickery" at time of siring weighed @ 6 pounds
His Grandmother Tiffany is 9 pounds ( 12 yrs old) and his grand-daddy " Sugar Baby" weighed 10 pounds ( would be 14 3/3/99) his nieces and nephews come in @ 4-8 pounds ...I have them all ! Full blooded Maltese's...so, who's to say what ????
Renee H
Karen, the owner was not around. The dog was alone in the car. I have never heard of a Havanese. Is a Havanese a Maltese combination of some sort? It does sound like that is what I might have seen.
April B
You may have see a Spitz, they look like a miniture huskey or a large Maltese, they have black points and a white tail that curles over their back and weigh about 30 pounds. We had one several years ago. I never thought about it but they do look like a large Maltese.
PK
Hi April - If you look in the "Mini Atlas of Dog Breeds" (the latest addition a Havanese is in there). There are so many dogs it could have been, I think Toy American Eskimos also get that large - and, it may have been a maltese, I met someone in the dog club in my building who's maltese is about 20+ lbs with beautiful hair! Also, you said it looked well taken care of? Not for nothing, apparantly not that well taken care of if it's owner left it in the car!!!
Mary & Bailey
I did a little web-surfing and located some Havanese breeders. I noticed there are quite a few here in the Southeast. Anyway, I found some good photos. I'm now convinced that what I saw was a Havanese. Mary Lou, you were right! It was heavier boned than a typical Maltese. Of course, A Havanese just does not compare to our beautiful, elegant, precious Maltese. Thanks for your help, ladies.
April B
Yes, the Havanese have just been added to the AKC in the "misc" category. There are apparently only 4000 in the US. A close friend has a year old little Havanese male after having a Bichon for 18 years. They are both in the same family as our precious Maltese but both have a larger standard. They both also have an undercoat and curly hair, (you know the kind you comb backwards! LOL) The Havanese standard does not list white as acceptable.
BeeGee
The Havanese is generally black & white, not white ! There really are some huge Maltese's out there , I have never heard of one weighing 30 lbs., however I have seen some 18-23 pounders !!
Ingrid
Buster is 13 pounds and a bundle of love. My previous Malt was 8 pounds. Buster is a very solid boy and pure Maltese.
Libby & Buster
Does anyone remember previous posts where someone will swear they saw a black Maltese? Maybe it was a Havanese. According to the web site I found, they can and sometimes are pure white. Although if that is what April saw, it was still awfully big, even for a Havanese which is suppose to be 8 - 13 lbs. They were cute though. But of course not quite as cute as our precious Malt babies.
Sandee
Sandee, you must have looked at the same website that I did. There was a white one allright. Most of them were bi-colored, some red-and-white and some black-and-white. Okay, this dog could have been in the 20 pound range. The hair made it look bigger. I was just guessing. As far as rare, there seem to be quite a few breeders with puppy photos for people to look at. Well, if I should see this dog again, which is entirely possible, I will attempt to have a word with the owner. "Velly intelesting."
April B
I thought I might share my experience with a larger Maltese. We got Chester when he was 7 mo old. He weighed 13 lb and never weighed more than 15 lbs during his lifetime. We had to put him down on 2/3 as he had inoperable stomach cancer. He had never been ill before, but last year before his 10th birthday he came down with an auto-immune disorder. He had large lesions on his body that would erupt and get infected. After 3 vets we found we could control this by giving him cortisone tablets. Then in January he quit eating completely. Anyway, we would like to get another one about the same size because they feel so much sturdier than the 4-7 lbs ones. He was 100% Maltese, looked exactly like the smaller ones, AKC registered and full-breed mother & father. I've heard they are called "Imperial Maltese", but am not having much luck finding one that size again.
Shirley
Shirley, I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this post but I happened to catch it. I have never heard of Imperial Maltese. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having or wanting a bigger Maltese. I have one myself and she is beautiful and very healthy. But I really don't think they were bred that way on purpose. The standard is 4 to 7 pounds and that is what a good breeder strives for. I knew someone who had a 20 lb. pure breed Maltese. You should be able to find a larger Maltese if that is what you want but I think it may be hard for a breeder to know when it is a puppy just how big it is going to get. This may sound strange, but in my opinion, you are going to get a bigger Maltese from a breeder who is not as concerned about protecting the breed standard....in other words, a back yard breeder. Now if any reputable breeders read this and ended up with a large Maltese, please don't flame me. This is just my opinion and I probably got my Maltese from one of those less than reputable breeders and I feel truly blessed for having her. But I think there is only one kind of Maltese (no tea cup or Imperial ones) and the very tiny or the very large are flukes. Good luck in your search.
Sandee
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