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Maltese
Size
by Tonia Holibaugh
of
Rhapsody Maltese
In the official AKC Maltese breed standard, it states
that Maltese should be under 7 pounds, 4 to 6
preferred. Please
click here
to read the AKC standard.
In other
countries, such as most of the European countries,
Maltese are slightly bigger than the US version.
I
have had 15 years experience in showing and breeding
Maltese, approximately 90% of the Maltese being show in
the US are under 7 pounds. The goal is 4-6 pounds but
we will end up with some puppies smaller and some
bigger. The median weight would be in the 4-6 pound
range. This is the ideal for intact adult Maltese of
breeding age. Spaying and neutering any animal give
them the likely hood to be slightly overweight. Age can
cause any animal to lean towards carrying more weight
also. A Maltese female that is 6 pounds at 1.5 years
can easily be 7 when they are 5 years old and have had
some puppies. It is like comparing your own personal
weight now to how you were as a teenager. Probably the
better way to examine a Maltese would be to measure
their height at the withers. This will change less from
1.5 years of age to 8 years, than their weight will
change.
As a
show breeder, I would place most of my puppies as pets (
i.e. not to be bred ) that are not within the breed
standard weight range. Females under 4.5 pounds are
small to breed, in my opinion and are more at risk for
complications. I tend to place these small females as
pets. I have had quite a few very small pet puppies
during the time I have bred my Maltese. Males over 6.5
pounds are too big for my preference and I would place
these in pet homes, and so on. The average pet vet only
see the "pet" quality Maltese. The best way to
accurately weigh a toy dog is on a 10 pound postal
scale.
Maltese are a popular breed right now. Many puppy mills
are banking on this fact and are out their mass
producing their version of the breed. It is not cost
effective for a puppy mill to breed little girls. A
9-10 pound Maltese female will have 5-7 puppies and have
less c-sections than our 4.5-6 pound show girls. With
long hair Maltese will look bigger than a Maltese with a
hair cut. Do not let the amount of hair throw you off.
Maltese are one of the 5 hardest breeds to condition and
show in AKC conformation shows. Their hair is not
easily kept in show condition. This makes the number of
true "show" breeders very limited.
I
have shown and finished over 130 Maltese in my handling
career. Probably only 3-4 were 7 pounds or over when I
showed them.
In closing, I would say most show Maltese breeders
breed Maltese that are within the weight range of the
AKC Maltese Breed Standard.
Maltese breeders with the repetition of experience with
raising Maltese puppies are able to help gauge the
possible weight of a prospective puppy at adulthood. We
cannot guarantee adult weight but we can gauge a weight
range by past experience of raising puppies of similar
bloodlines. I personally use the 12 week weight
multiplied 2 times and add a half a pound. So a 2
pound Maltese puppy at 12 weeks that has had a normal
puppy hood would weight around 4 to 4.5 pounds full
grown. Breeding and raising dogs is not an exact
science. But, in experience alone, I would go with the
people that live, breed and raise Maltese on a 24/7 -
365 days a year basis.
Please come to an AKC Conformation show sometime when
there is one in your area. The Maltese you see there
will be in the 4-6 pound range.
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