Maltese Dog Breed Information

The Maltese is one of New Zealand’s most popular toy breeds, and one of the most misjudged. The 3 kg body, the long white silky coat and the show-ring photographs suggest a fragile lap ornament. The actual dog is a confident, opinionated little terrier-of-a-toy that will guard a sofa cushion against a Labrador and bark at couriers from a third-floor balcony.

Adults stand 20 to 25 cm at the shoulder and weigh 2 to 4 kg. The coat is single (no undercoat), silky, long and pure white, although most NZ pet Maltese live in a short “puppy clip” rather than the full show coat. The breed is one of the longest-lived dogs in the world: 12 to 15 years is typical, and 16 to 17 isn’t rare.

Owners describe the Maltese in honest contradictions: small but bold, affectionate but selective, easy in some ways and demanding in others. The trade-off list is short and specific.

Personality and behaviour

Maltese are deeply attached, often to one person more than the rest of the household. The breed bonds early and strongly. They will follow that person from room to room, sleep on the closest pillow available, and protest loudly at being shut out. Separation distress is common; long workdays without company tend to produce barking, house-soiling regressions and excessive grooming.

Around strangers, the typical Maltese is somewhere between confident and pushy. They are not shy small dogs. Many will bark at the door, bark from a window, and bark at any unfamiliar dog passing the front yard. Done well, that’s a useful watchdog instinct on a 3 kg frame. Done poorly, it becomes nuisance barking that drives flat-mates and neighbours mad.

The behavioural surprise to new owners is the willpower. Maltese are stubborn in a small-terrier way, with strong opinions about routine, food, sleeping spots and which family members count. They are not pushovers because they are small. Owners who treat the dog like a toy and don’t apply training rules end up with a 3 kg dog running the household.

Around children, the breed is patient with calm, older children who handle small dogs gently. Toddlers are a poor match: the small frame is fragile, an accidental fall onto a Maltese is a trip to the vet, and the breed will bite to defend itself if grabbed. Most NZKC-affiliated breeders avoid placing Maltese in households with children under seven.

Care and exercise

Plan on around 30 minutes of exercise a day, split between two short walks and indoor play. The breed is not high-energy in the working sense; a 15-minute morning walk and a 15-minute evening walk plus zoomies in the lounge meet the daily need. Maltese aren’t built for hour-long walks or long runs; small legs cover less ground than they look like.

The grooming commitment is the breed’s defining ownership task. The full long coat needs daily brushing, every day, with no skipping. Mats form fastest at the ears, armpits, behind the legs and around the collar; once formed they need to be cut out. Most NZ pet Maltese are kept in a short “puppy clip”, trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks at a professional groomer for NZ$60-100 a session. That cuts home grooming to a quick brush every few days, regular face-wiping and weekly ear checks.

Tear staining around the eyes is a daily reality. The reddish-brown staining below the inner corner of each eye is mostly cosmetic, but persistent or heavy staining can mask shallow tear ducts that need vet checks. Daily wipes with warm water and a soft cloth keep the visible staining manageable. Some owners use specialty tear-stain wipes; vet advice on these varies, since some products contain low-dose antibiotics.

Dental care is the other ongoing task. Toy-breed jaws crowd teeth together, plaque builds fast, and most adult Maltese need annual scale-and-polish under anaesthetic from age four or five. Daily brushing slows the build-up but doesn’t replace the descale.

The dietary watch-out is portion control. A 3 kg adult eats 60 to 100 g of food a day. Twenty grams of overfeeding is enough to show on body condition within two weeks. Treats need to be weighed against the daily allowance, not added to it.

Training a Maltese in New Zealand

Maltese are smart and food-motivated, with a stubborn streak and a small-dog tendency to be “trained” to demand things. The training reality is that they learn cues quickly and learn unwanted behaviours just as quickly.

What works:

• House training with a clear schedule. Toy breeds have small bladders and need outdoor breaks every two hours as puppies. Cold and wet NZ winters make outdoor training harder; many NZ Maltese owners use indoor pee pads as a winter backup, then transition fully outdoor in spring.
• Crate training. Provides a safe sleep space, helps with house training, and gives a dog who panics easily a calm baseline. Most Maltese settle into a crate within a fortnight if introduced positively.
• Quiet-on-cue from week one. The breed barks. Train an alternative behaviour (sit on bed, get the toy) that the dog can do instead of barking, and reinforce calm behaviour heavily. Picking up a barking Maltese to soothe it is the single most common reinforcement of the problem.
• Harness, not collar. Tracheal collapse is common in toy breeds and any pulling on a collar adds risk. Front-clip harness sized small.
• Reinforcement-based methods. The breed sulks under harsh corrections. Treats, voice praise and short sessions get faster results than any pressure-based method.

NZKC-affiliated puppy classes accept toy breeds and most run a small-dog grouping for socialisation. The SPCA Animals & Us programme runs in most NZ centres. Most six-week courses are NZ$150-300.

The training trap to avoid is letting “small dog” rules overrule “dog” rules. A Maltese who jumps on the bed, demands food, and barks until picked up has been trained, just not deliberately. Same household rules as a Lab, scaled to size.

Climate fit across New Zealand

• Auckland and Northland. A good fit. The single coat is comfortable in summer, and indoor air conditioning suits the breed. Avoid the 1 pm to 4 pm walk window December through February.
• Wellington. Good with one caveat: a small fitted coat for winter walks. The wind chill cuts through a single coat fast at 8 degrees. Indoors, Maltese are happy in any heated home.
• Christchurch and Canterbury. Winter requires a coat for outdoor walks below 8 degrees. The single thin coat doesn’t insulate against frost. Summer is comfortable.
• Central Otago and Southland. The coldest regions need preparation. A proper insulated coat for winter walks, a heated dog bed and an indoor toilet option (pee pad in a laundry) for the worst weather days. Maltese adapt to cold climates indoors but don’t thrive in them outdoors.

Where to find a Maltese in New Zealand

Three paths.

1. Registered NZKC breeders. The Dogs NZ breeders directory lists Maltese Club of New Zealand affiliated breeders, mostly in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch. Expect a 6 to 12 month waitlist and NZ$2,500 to NZ$4,500 per puppy. A reputable breeder will show you patella scores for both parents, bile-acid tests on puppies (liver shunt screen), and ideally let you meet the dam in her home environment. Walk away from breeders selling “teacup” Maltese; the term has no breed standard meaning and usually points to runts or undersized dogs with health problems.
2. Maltese and toy-breed rescue. Toy breed rescues in NZ are smaller and less formal than larger-breed rescues, but Maltese turn up periodically when older owners can no longer manage. Adoption fees run NZ$300-600. Older Maltese (8+) make excellent companion dogs for retirees who want a settled, affectionate dog without the puppy work.
3. SPCA NZ. Pure Maltese in SPCA centres are uncommon; Maltese-Shih Tzu and Maltese-Poodle (Malti-poo) crosses are more frequent and worth considering. Standard SPCA adoption fees apply.

Avoid pet shop puppies and Trade Me listings without health screens. Toy-breed puppy farms remain a problem in NZ; the volume breeders cut corners on patella, dental and liver-shunt screening that show up later as expensive vet bills.

Insurance and lifetime cost

Maltese insurance claims in NZ cluster around three categories: dental treatment, patella surgery, and tracheal or respiratory issues in older age.

Three things to check on a policy:

• Dental cover. Most Maltese need annual scale-and-polish from age four to five at NZ$400-700 a session, plus tooth extractions in middle age. Insurers vary on whether routine dental work is covered or only injury-related dental treatment. A dental allowance saves real money.
• Patella and orthopaedic cover. Patellar luxation surgery costs NZ$3,000-5,000 per knee. Confirm hereditary conditions are covered if no diagnosis was made before the policy started.
• Lifespan-adjusted premium pattern. Maltese live longer than most breeds. A lifetime policy taken out as a puppy and held for 14 years compounds; check the premium increase pattern between ages 8 and 14 carefully.

For a typical NZ Maltese on a mid-range lifetime policy, lifetime cost (purchase plus 12 to 15 years of food, vet, insurance, council registration, grooming, gear) lands around NZ$22,000 to NZ$38,000. The food bill is small but the grooming bill is large; professional clipping every 6 to 8 weeks for 12 years adds NZ$5,000-8,000 to the total.