Maltese Dog Breeders: About Divine Maltese

Divine Maltese is Angie Stanberry, in the New Orleans area of Louisiana. The first litter was whelped in 1992 and there has not been a dog of any other breed in the program since. Thirty-four years in one breed is long enough to have made most of the mistakes, kept the dogs that corrected them, and ended up with a line rather than a collection of purchases. That is the difference between a breeder and a seller, and it is the thing to look for in anyone you are considering.

The lines behind the dogs

Everything here traces to three established Maltese families: Marcris, Pashes and Su-Le. Our foundation stock came from Marcris Maltese, Rhapsody Maltese and Pashes Maltese, with further help from Hi-Lite Maltese, all of them kennels that were themselves built on those same older lines. The breeders behind them were generous with dogs and more generous with advice, and the program is still shaped by both.

The four dogs the kennel was built on

CH Rhapsody's White Pepper ROM, Pepper, was the first dog we finished. She went on to earn her Register of Merit as a producer: one of her puppies took Best of Winners at a regional specialty, another placed in the Toy Group straight out of the puppy class, and a third finished entirely owner handled by a novice, which in this breed, with this coat, is not the usual way to do it. She lived out her years on the back of the sofa, running the house.

CH Lepetit's Heavenly Seraphim ROM, Sera, was technically our first show dog and our second champion. She taught two beginners how to keep a Maltese coat: which brushes, which conditioners, how to wrap it and how not to. She finished in spite of us and then produced a litter of three in which all three finished, including CH Divine's Heavenly Breeze, who won the American Maltese Association's National Grand Sweepstakes in 1997.

CH Marcris Indecent Proposal ROM, Indy, is the dog this kennel is known for. He was bred sparingly and almost entirely within a close circle of friends, and from that limited use he sired fifty-three conformation champions and an obedience titled dog besides. His first champion, CH Rhapsody's Indecent Mystery, was the third ranked Maltese in the country in 1997. His children won their classes at the AMA National Specialty every year from 1996 to 2000, and his son CH Divine's Indecent Desperado, Bandit, took Winners Dog and Best of Winners at the 1999 National from the six to nine month puppy class, then went on to seven all breed Bests in Show and the number one Maltese ranking in 2001 and 2002. What Indy passed on, litter after litter, whether line bred or outcrossed, was a true silk coat, black pigment, a correct outline and a head that judges remembered.

CH Marcris Divinely Risque' ROM, Divine, Indy's half sister, is the other half of the foundation. She produced fifteen champions, Bandit among them, and she did it by passing on the two things that are hardest to breed back once lost: a pure silk coat and a correct front and rear. Most of the females in our pedigrees go back to her.

What ROM means on this page

The Register of Merit is the American Maltese Association's producer award. A male earns it by siring five champions and a female by producing three. The lists below are the dogs we bred or owned who reached it. It is a quieter credential than a Best in Show, and a better one for a puppy buyer, because it measures what a dog passed on rather than what it did on one day.