by Alastair Harris

Created on: February 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 03, 2010

Introduction:

Maltese Terriers are pure white. If they have colour in them they are probably cross bred with something else which seems to be a very popular trend today.

They are classed as a small dog 2.5-5 kg in weight.

They were breed to hunt and love to dig.

They are very good with children and love attention.

Feeding:

Dog are carnivores - meat eaters. It is possible to bring up a dog vegetarian but you must start from when it is a puppy and make sure it has a balanced diet.

We used to spend a lot of money of can dog food, but it can be high in salt and bad for their teeth. Now we feed them a large bowl of dried dog food, with smacko's cut up and mixed in. We also have a large bowl of water. This way the dogs can have access to the food whenever they want. We find they don't overeat. They love treats from our table. Whenever we have chicken, steak, or roasts they love the scraps. If you trim your meat in food preparation don't throw it in the bin, give it to the dogs. We even give them spaghetti and vegetables, so long as it has meat mixed in they will eat it.

Make sure to provide bones for their teeth and worm them regularly as per manufacturers instructions.

Maltese bitches tend to come into season twice a year. It is recommended by breeders that you give the bitch a rest and not breed her all the time or she will lose condition.

Puppies:

There are few things in life as much fun and as playful as puppies. Cute, adorable and sometimes troublemakers.

Puppies are born quite small, but they are feeding machines. After a week they begin to open their eyes first with a small hole then slowly opening more and more. After two weeks they begin to change shape from 'fat rats' to a more dog like appearance. By five weeks they can be fully weaned and will do fine in a good home, but six to seven weeks is probably the more ideal time to introduce them into a new home. Some people would leave it longer, but for the sake of the new owner, the sooner the better so a young puppy can settle into the routine of a new home, the older the dog is,the harder it becomes to adapt.

Health Issues:

It isn't too hard to keep the average dog healthy.

Keep it regularly wormed, vaccinated, provide good food, water and bones.

Like most small dogs Malteses due to their coat can be a home for fleas. To control this we recommend using Frontline. In Queensland, Australia you have to beware of the paralysis tick and Frontline takes care of that as well.

Also in Queensland heart worm can be

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