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Bichon vs Maltese
by Chantal
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Hi, i've seen references to Bichon's on this site and just wanted to confirm what the difference is. I have a Maltese, and in French a maltese is called a "bichon maltais" (pronounced mal-teh) and there is also a "bichon frisé". The bichon frisé's are the curly ones. Are they refered to simply as Bichon's in english? Thanks in advance!
DISCUSSION:
Malteses are actually descendants of Bichon, which is why they look similiar and carry similiar names
K
Maltese are in no way descended from Bichons. Bichon Frises, Bichon Maltaise, and Bichon Havanese may be cousins but the Maltese is the oldest of the 3 breeds. Bichon means small dog. In the US Bichon Frises are called Bichons.
Dottie S
I had read that the Bichon Frise is a descendant of the Maltese which had been crossed with the Poodle. Now I am very confused....
Rachel I have both
I believe Dottie is correct. Maltese is one of, if not the oldest breeds know to man. I have heard that both the Bichon Frise and The Poodle were bred from Maltese. The Maltese is also one the most intellegent dogs in the world. The Standard Poodle is probably the only breed that is smarter.
JP
Somebody please help. I know Bichon means small dog and Bichon Maltaise means small dog from Malta. Bichon Havanese is small dog from Havana where a family rescued and brought back the breed. Can't remember where they came from originally. But does anyone know the origin of the word Frise???
Dottie S
Hi Dottie - Okay, mom & dad would be proud, all those years of french lessons - if memory serves correctly, "frise" translates to "curly" in french. So the breed "bichon frise" translates to "little curls" in english. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me, I was a B student.
Mary & Bailey 4 Dottie
Thanks Mary! This subject comes up more often than you'd think. Now I can sound like I took French instead of Latin! LOL
Dottie S 4 Mary & Bailey
Hi Dottie - LOL - to be honest, the only reason why I remember that one is that "frise" sounds like "frizzy" in english dialect, so when you hear someone say "my hair looks frizzy", well, is was a way I always remembered it...and bichon's are a little frizzy, so, I guess it's right!! By the way, I took latin as well for two years, but switched to french for four years - crazy how things stay in your head! Take care!
Mary & Bailey 4 Dottie
Well you guys that took French are correct - frise actually there is an accent on the e means curl or curly so a bichon frise is small dog curly hair. Funny thing is that when you get them clipped the hair is straight until it starts to grow.
Shirley
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