Maltese dog breed standard

General Appearance
Smart, white-coated dog, with proud head carriage.

Characteristics
Lively, intelligent, alert.

Temperament
Sweet-tempered.

Head and Skull
From stop to centre of skull (centre between forepart of ears) and stop to tip of nose, equally balanced. Stop well defined. Nose black. Muzzle broad, well filled under eye. Not snipey.

Eyes
Oval, not bulging, dark brown, black eye rims, with dark haloes.

Ears
Long, well feathered, hanging close to head; hair to mingle with coat at shoulders.

Mouth
Jaws strong, with perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Teeth even.

Neck
Medium length.

Forequarters
Legs short and straight. Shoulders well sloped.

Body
Well balanced, essentially short and cobby. Good spring of rib, back level from withers to tail.

Hindquarters
Legs short, well angulated.

Feet
Round, pads black.

Tail
Feathered, carried well arched over back.

Gait/Movement
Straight and free-flowing, without weaving. Viewed from behind, legs should neither be too close nor too wide apart.

Coat
Good length, not impeding action, straight, of silky texture, never woolly. Never crimped and without woolly undercoat.

Colour
Pure white, but slight lemon markings permissible.

Size
Height not exceeding 25 cms (10 ins) from ground to withers.

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

Current as of September 2000