Caring for Your Maltese Puppy

A Maltese asks for a few minutes of attention every day and a little more once a week, and in return stays healthy, clean and comfortable into old age. None of what follows is difficult. Most of it is simply noticing. This is the basic care for a pet; a show dog needs a good deal more coat work than this, and if you have a show puppy from us, that is a conversation with us or a professional handler rather than a page.

Vaccinations

Our puppies leave at twelve weeks with their first vaccinations done and the record in your hand. Your vet will finish the series over the following weeks, typically two or three more visits a few weeks apart, and will tell you when rabies is due; in most places the law sets that date. Until the series is complete, keep the puppy off the ground in public places, out of pet shops and parks, and away from dogs whose vaccination status you do not know. Parvovirus lives in soil for months and is a killer of puppies. Carry the puppy, and let it meet the world from your arms until the vet says otherwise. Adult boosters are a matter for you and your vet; many now vaccinate less often than once a year, on the evidence.

Teeth

Toy breeds lose teeth early, and the Maltese is no exception. Tartar builds under the gum, the gum recedes, the tooth loosens, and the bacteria go everywhere the blood goes. Brushing with a dog toothpaste, daily or as close to daily as you can manage, is the single thing that changes this, and a puppy that is started young accepts it. Dry food and dental chews help a little. A professional cleaning under anaesthetic every year or two is normal for the breed, and the better you brush, the fewer of those the dog will need. Have the vet check at about six months for retained baby teeth, which Maltese keep more often than most and which have to come out.

Ears

Hair grows inside the ear canal and traps wax and moisture under those heavy ear fringes. Once a week or so, dust a pinch of ear powder in, grip a few hairs at a time between finger and thumb and pluck them, then wipe the ear out with a cleaner that dries. Any smell, dark discharge, head shaking or scratching means an infection or mites, and the vet.

Nails and feet

Every two to three weeks, ideally after a bath when the nail is soft, take the clear tip off each nail, stopping before the pink quick. On white nails you can see where that is. Do the dewclaws on the inside of the front legs if the puppy has them. Trim the hair flat between the pads so the dog can grip the floor, and check the feet for mats and for anything caught between the toes.

Face and eyes

Wipe under the eyes and along the muzzle every day with a damp cloth, comb the sleep out of the inner corners, dry the hair and dust it with a little cornstarch. Keep the hair out of the eyes with a topknot. A clear, watery tear is normal; a yellow or green discharge, a red eye, or a dog that keeps an eye shut is not, and needs the vet. The tear stain page covers the rest of the subject in full.

The bottom

A long coat and a small dog mean stool can catch in the hair under the tail, and in a puppy a blocked bottom can become a serious problem in a day. Check daily, rinse off anything caught, and keep the hair around the anus trimmed short. A healthy stool is firm and brown; soft, pale, or persistently loose stools are the first sign that something is wrong with the diet or the dog.

Worms and parasites

Puppies leave us wormed. After that, have the vet check a stool sample once a year and worm on their advice rather than guessing. For fleas, ticks and heartworm, use the monthly preventatives your vet recommends, year round in the Gulf South; heartworm here is not seasonal. Ticks should be removed with tweezers close to the skin, pulled straight out. A flea infestation on a white dog is easy to see and miserable to clear, and the preventative is cheaper.

Exercise and fresh air

A walk round the block on a harness, never a collar on a neck this small, is plenty of daily exercise for a Maltese once its vaccinations are complete, and the sunlight and sniffing do it as much good as the walking. Watch for other dogs. A Maltese is fearless and will walk up to anything, and not everything it walks up to is friendly. Pick the dog up rather than finding out.

Keeping it safe

The dangers to a Maltese are mostly domestic: a fall from furniture or a child's arms, a door closed on it, a foot that did not see it, a bin, a swimming pool, a hawk if it is left alone in the yard. Supervise children holding it, keep it off high furniture until it is grown and can get down safely, and never leave it outside alone. These are sturdy dogs for their size, but their size is five pounds.

When to ring the vet

A puppy that will not eat, vomits repeatedly, has diarrhoea for more than a day, is lethargic, has a temperature outside the normal range, or simply seems not itself. In a dog this small, waiting a day to see is usually the wrong call. The first aid page covers the emergencies, and our number is on every page for anything in between.