# Where did you get your silky haired maltese?



## NYCHelloKitty (Jun 28, 2013)

There was a thread with a nice breakdown of maltese coats with pictures. To those who have Maltese with silky coats, fine or thick, can you tell me which breeder you bought it from?

So far I checked on Chrisman, and Bonnie and Chrisman's puppies look like their coats are more a thick silk, not sure. Can you post pictures of yours? There was a member who had a malt with absolutely straight hair. She said hers was from Angel Maltese. It was an old post do not sure which Breeder she was talking about. I'm searching for a malt with silk hair as I know cotton tangles easily.


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## StevieB (Feb 2, 2012)

You should always be searching for a maltese with silk coat as that is the standard where cottony is really not. It's my understanding show breeders strive for a straight silk coat. Some do seem to have a thicker, "fluffier" look than others (I love fluffy!). Maybe others will correct me, but I think you're probably looking for a coarser silk coat as it's my understanding that does not matt as easily as a finer silk coat. But I hope some others more knowledgeable will chime in. Good luck! I am glad you're doing your homework.


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## NYCHelloKitty (Jun 28, 2013)

StevieB said:


> You should always be searching for a maltese with silk coat as that is the standard where cottony is really not. It's my understanding show breeders strive for a straight silk coat. Some do seem to have a thicker, "fluffier" look than others (I love fluffy!). Maybe others will correct me, but I think you're probably looking for a coarser silk coat as it's my understanding that does not matt as easily as a finer silk coat. But I hope some others more knowledgeable will chime in. Good luck! I am glad you're doing your homework.


Oh, coarser? I didn't know how to describe it.


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## elly (Sep 11, 2006)

Both of my girls have a silk coat. Mercedes coat is very thick and has some wave. She has what some have called a heavy silk coat. She is now cut in the Town and Country. Whitney has a straight silk coat. Her coat is much easier to take care of and always looks nice.


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## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

A good show breeder will put an emphasis on silk coats, but it is not the 'main' thing that is worried about. You're more likely to get a silk coat than a cottony coat from most show breeders, without a doubt. There are sooo many variations of a silky coat too - the girl in my signature pic has a truly silk, straight texture - but it is soo thin and fragile that is was not something I could slack off on. She was shaved pretty much the minute she became a champion, LOL

When looking at photos on various breeder sites, keep in mind that their dogs don't just look like that from a simple bathe and blow dry - there is a fair amount of flat ironing involved and various product.

My most durable coat has been my most incorrect coat -which is very coarse silk that frizzes up like crazy. But with a little flat ironing and a little product, it looks great. And it's taken a lot of abuse over the years and still looks.. showable, LOL.


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## NYCHelloKitty (Jun 28, 2013)

Your babies are beautiful. I intend on dressing up my little one and I know matting happens more with clothes on. 

Where did you two get your little ones? Yea I realized that they get flat ironed just recently, haha. I just dont want much matting. I had a Maltese YEARS ago, and although he matted his hair was silky, and if I brushed it more I would not have had tangles. I had another malt afterwards and his hair tangled terribly.

I haven't gotten a picture of the possible puppy but I am most likely going to get a Shinemore puppy. I'm waiting for a photo of the puppy and I'm looking at the parents, and cant tell their coat.


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## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

I have 2 girls with silk coats. Kelly has a finer silk that mats easily and frizzes easily, she has a ton of hair, but it's not thick hair, just alot of it. Reese has what i would call a coarser silk, much easier to care for and doesn't frizz and is stick straight, but neither girl has a thick coat.


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## elly (Sep 11, 2006)

Both of my girls are from TNT Maltese. Whitney's Grandfather is Shinemore.


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## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

NYCHelloKitty said:


> Your babies are beautiful. I intend on dressing up my little one and I know matting happens more with clothes on.
> 
> Where did you two get your little ones? Yea I realized that they get flat ironed just recently, haha. I just dont want much matting. I had a Maltese YEARS ago, and although he matted his hair was silky, and if I brushed it more I would not have had tangles. I had another malt afterwards and his hair tangled terribly.
> 
> I haven't gotten a picture of the possible puppy but I am most likely going to get a Shinemore puppy. I'm waiting for a photo of the puppy and I'm looking at the parents, and cant tell their coat.



Really, every coat is different and you can't really tell anything by the parents coats if your pup will mat up or not. Two awesome coats can still produce a not awesome coat.

I bred mine (the girl in my signature picture, Elena, that I refered to), I did not get them from anybody. Dad has an awesome thick silk coat, mom's is correct silk but thin and her daughter got her coat. It is a definite fine silk coat and it still managed to mat. Elena now has her own puppy so we'll see what kind of coat she has.


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## Dominic (Nov 4, 2012)

Benjamin's hair is amazing, never tangles and it's very easy to keep it up. It's pretty straight, it bounces when he walks. Awe he's just perfect.
He is a pup from Emma (Bellarata Maltese) and I couldn't be happier with his face, personality, behavior and of course, his hair!


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## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

Dominic said:


> Benjamin's hair is amazing, never tangles and it's very easy to keep it up. It's pretty straight, it bounces when he walks. Awe he's just perfect.
> He is a pup from Emma (Bellarata Maltese) and I couldn't be happier with his face, personality, behavior and of course, his hair!



little Ben!!! His brother Stevie says Hello!


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

Boo is a Chrisman pup. He is almost six months old. 

Looking Good and Feeling Fabulous -Grooming day - YouTube

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RgYVbTgsJc]Boo and Zach's Bandana collection - YouTube[/ame]

He's a great pup very smart! I would highly recommend Chrisman but he is expensive.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

My Callie is from Cher-Chien Maltese and has a heavy, thick silk coat. It dries straight naturally and never matts. Callie is dressed every day. She has a lot of Chrisman in her pedigree. And if you look at many Chrisman dogs, you will see many have Cher-Chien in them as well. They work closely together. But to be honest, just because you see a Maltese with a fabulous coat doesn't mean that every puppy that breeder will produce will have that exact coat. I think you are doing a great job in trying to ensure you get a good puppy with the traits you are looking for, but I think perhaps you are focusing too much on what your 'perfect look' and coat type will be. When I search for a puppy, of course the look/conformation is important. But even more important are health and temperament. For me, I look for a breeder who breeds on a smaller scale so that they have time to really spend with their dogs and their puppies. With a smaller scale exhibitor breeder, you have a greater chance that they are doing things to ensure you have a well socialized puppy and one that they can better assess for temperament. We have so many wonderful breeders here in the US that I don't understand the desire in getting a puppy overseas. Especially when there are a lot of US breeder lines in those breeders you are looking at. What if you get there and you are not happy with the puppy? What happens if you get home and find out there are health issues? What happens if you've had your puppy for a few weeks and discover there are temperament problems? Wouldn't it be safer to be able to return or exchange a puppy with a breeder who isn't half a world away?


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## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> My Callie is from Cher-Chien Maltese and has a heavy, thick silk coat.
> 
> We have so many wonderful breeders here in the US that I don't understand the desire in getting a puppy overseas. What happens if you've had your puppy for a few weeks and discover there are temperament problems? Wouldn't it be safer to be able to return or exchange a puppy with a breeder who isn't half a world away?


I love the look of Cher-Chien Malts :wub:

I also agree that there is risk in buying a Malt from far away, as I had a negative experience with that. I would always recommend meeting your pup in person.


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## Tashulia25 (May 19, 2013)

Both of mine have silky hair but totally different texture.


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## CloudClan (Jan 31, 2007)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> My Callie is from Cher-Chien Maltese and has a heavy, thick silk coat. It dries straight naturally and never matts. Callie is dressed every day. She has a lot of Chrisman in her pedigree. And if you look at many Chrisman dogs, you will see many have Cher-Chien in them as well. They work closely together. But to be honest, just because you see a Maltese with a fabulous coat doesn't mean that every puppy that breeder will produce will have that exact coat. I think you are doing a great job in trying to ensure you get a good puppy with the traits you are looking for, but I think perhaps you are focusing too much on what your 'perfect look' and coat type will be. When I search for a puppy, of course the look/conformation is important. But even more important are health and temperament. For me, I look for a breeder who breeds on a smaller scale so that they have time to really spend with their dogs and their puppies. With a smaller scale exhibitor breeder, you have a greater chance that they are doing things to ensure you have a well socialized puppy and one that they can better assess for temperament. We have so many wonderful breeders here in the US that I don't understand the desire in getting a puppy overseas. Especially when there are a lot of US breeder lines in those breeders you are looking at. What if you get there and you are not happy with the puppy? What happens if you get home and find out there are health issues? What happens if you've had your puppy for a few weeks and discover there are temperament problems? Wouldn't it be safer to be able to return or exchange a puppy with a breeder who isn't half a world away?



:goodpost::goodpost::goodpost:


I own six show dogs. Four are finished champions (the other two are working on it). Every single one of them has a different coat. The "worst" coat I have is on my first champion. His coat is super thick, and tends to be super poofy and even frizzy. It was a JOB to get it to look right in the ring and heaven forbid it was humid on a show day. But he has yet to reproduce that coat and in fact his first champion daughter had the best coat I have seen yet on a Maltese. Heavy, luxurious silk and her owner barely needed to do more than blow it out to dry. The thing is, that his coat being as thick as it was, actually was easier to keep than some and did not tend to knot more than my silkier coats. The other thing is that when you use products you can really change the way a coat responds. And when you dress your dogs, you will find that can present challenges. I would rather put clothes on my boy with his incorrect coat than on one of my finer silkier coats because I know I can fix the tangles easier on him than I could on theirs. 

Crystal's point is a good one. I know that there are some stunningly beautiful dogs from overseas, but I feel like many times those same dogs are sent here and they look just like all the rest of the dogs here (when they are without the benefits of talented photographers). It would make sense to start your search closer to home if you can (unless you make frequent trips to Korea or know someone who does). 

I think the relationship you have with the breeder is an important one. I feel having bred a few litters and having established relationships with the families where my dogs live both the puppy buyers and I have benefited greatly from the ability to stay in such close contact.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

mdbflorida said:


> Boo is a Chrisman pup. He is almost six months old.
> 
> Looking Good and Feeling Fabulous -Grooming day - YouTube
> 
> ...


Sweet pics :wub:, and love, love, love the music!:wub:


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## NYCHelloKitty (Jun 28, 2013)

bellaratamaltese said:


> little Ben!!! His brother Stevie says Hello!


Little Ben is amazing.


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## Dominic (Nov 4, 2012)

NYCHelloKitty said:


> Little Ben is amazing.


Just to clarify, this gorgeous show dog is Steve, Benjamin and Mieka (from eiksaa). Ben is the one at the other picture, with a round face shape. That also helps you to see how different they look due to the hair style as the three of them looked pretty much the same.


Sent from Petguide.com App


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## NYCHelloKitty (Jun 28, 2013)

Dominic said:


> Just to clarify, this gorgeous show dog is Steve, Benjamin and Mieka (from eiksaa). Ben is the one at the other picture, with a round face shape. That also helps you to see how different they look due to the hair style as the three of them looked pretty much the same.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com App


Yea the hair style does change up the look. Stevie is a very pretty boy.


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## hoaloha (Jan 27, 2012)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> My Callie is from Cher-Chien Maltese and has a heavy, thick silk coat. It dries straight naturally and never matts. Callie is dressed every day. She has a lot of Chrisman in her pedigree. And if you look at many Chrisman dogs, you will see many have Cher-Chien in them as well. They work closely together. But to be honest, just because you see a Maltese with a fabulous coat doesn't mean that every puppy that breeder will produce will have that exact coat. I think you are doing a great job in trying to ensure you get a good puppy with the traits you are looking for, but I think perhaps you are focusing too much on what your 'perfect look' and coat type will be. When I search for a puppy, of course the look/conformation is important. But even more important are health and temperament. For me, I look for a breeder who breeds on a smaller scale so that they have time to really spend with their dogs and their puppies. With a smaller scale exhibitor breeder, you have a greater chance that they are doing things to ensure you have a well socialized puppy and one that they can better assess for temperament. We have so many wonderful breeders here in the US that I don't understand the desire in getting a puppy overseas. Especially when there are a lot of US breeder lines in those breeders you are looking at. What if you get there and you are not happy with the puppy? What happens if you get home and find out there are health issues? What happens if you've had your puppy for a few weeks and discover there are temperament problems? Wouldn't it be safer to be able to return or exchange a puppy with a breeder who isn't half a world away?





CloudClan said:


> :goodpost::goodpost::goodpost:
> 
> 
> I own six show dogs. Four are finished champions (the other two are working on it). Every single one of them has a different coat. The "worst" coat I have is on my first champion. His coat is super thick, and tends to be super poofy and even frizzy. It was a JOB to get it to look right in the ring and heaven forbid it was humid on a show day. But he has yet to reproduce that coat and in fact his first champion daughter had the best coat I have seen yet on a Maltese. Heavy, luxurious silk and her owner barely needed to do more than blow it out to dry. The thing is, that his coat being as thick as it was, actually was easier to keep than some and did not tend to knot more than my silkier coats. The other thing is that when you use products you can really change the way a coat responds. And when you dress your dogs, you will find that can present challenges. I would rather put clothes on my boy with his incorrect coat than on one of my finer silkier coats because I know I can fix the tangles easier on him than I could on theirs.
> ...



GREAT POSTS! I had actually been a bit hesitant to respond to this thread because I wasn't sure how to word it, but Carina and Crystal have basically taken my thoughts out of my brain 

I think it's GREAT that you're doing so much research into your pup. From my experience of having 1 puppy from a BYB who died early on and then 2 maltese from excellent show breeders, there is no such thing as a perfect dog. Dogs are living creatures that can and will eventually get sick and pass on (just like humans). I know we all think our dogs are perfect in our eyes because we love them so much, but you really can't have the PERFECT LOOK (with perfect movement, structure, coat, bite) with PERFECT temperament and PERFECT health. This perfection is the goal for maltese show breeders, and if they are THAT perfect, they will likely be keeping that dog as a show dog. That being said, you really have to evaluate and make a priorities list based on what is most important to you. 

For me, my priorities were:
1. temperament 
1. (it's a tie) health 
2. ongoing trusting relationship with the breeder
3. gender (preference for males, but i was definitely open to a female if she had the right temperament; males are more readily available though)
and MUCH, MUCH further down.... specific look (size, face, coat, etc)

I'm not saying that desiring a certain look is wrong- after all, we are paying BIG bucks. But, you need to be willing to wait and you can definitely get a dog with the look and temperament you desire WITHIN REASON. A dog with a perfect bite may not have the perfect coat. A dog with the perfect look may not have the right personality for you. A dog with the perfect coat and face may have asymptomatic MVD (a very common subclinical liver disease in maltese). And the permutations go on and on.

I am blessed to have 2 dogs who met my criteria. Not everyone's priorities are the same though. My dogs were older (my preference) which was to my advantage because the overall look and temperament/personality were well-established by that age. Both dogs were held for show, but did not make the final cut (obi had a finicky testicle, owen's bite was ever so slightly off). That means- yay for me 

Obi is from Stacy (bellarata maltese) and I got him at 9 months old. Right when I saw him picture, I adored him but it wasn't until Stacy described his personality to me that I knew he'd be a great match for our family. O He has THE softest coat which is voluminous and straight yet each individual strand is a finer silk. His hair can tangle if not brushed at least every other day due to his rigorous playing with his brother. He has that typical "fluffy" look  


Owen is from Heidi (aria maltese) and he was 5.5 months old when he came to us. Stacy didn't have any pups available with the right personality match for us at the time we were looking, so she helped refer me to Heidi. This is the great part of going through a local breeder- the network is great and I was able to go visit Heidi before making ANY decisions. I went to visit Heidi with only a verbal description of Owen's face and personality. He has more of the "babydoll" look (I personally don't like to use that description) compared to Obi's more balanced look. Owen's coat is very thin in volume of hair, but each individual strand is a thicker silk- his coat has a wave to it and it does really does not mat at all. His coat isn't as soft feeling as Obi's. He does not have quite the fluffy look as his hair just immediately part down the middle and is a bit flat (likely due to the volume).

I'm not sure if you're Korean (I am  ) but I would encourage you to find a more local breeder in the US and wait for the right match unless you make very frequent trips to S. Korea. I can't even begin to stress how much relief I feel that if I have any questions with my dogs, I can contact each of the breeders. Not all people really care to have a relationship with their breeders, but this was important to me.




And don't judge a book by its cover- some people would have easily passed on Owen due to his tear stains, bite, etc. His coat looks straight in this photo because I just bathed and blow-dried him.


Now, look how he has matured:



Obi: 




Good Luck in your search


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## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

That was a terrific post, Marisa! :thumbsup:


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Great post, Marisa!


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## puppydoll (Jul 11, 2013)

I don't see Emma on Bellarata's website. Ben and Meika are so cute. If I knew which one was Steve, I would be saying the same thing, I'm sure:thumbsup:


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

hoaloha said:


> GREAT POSTS! I had actually been a bit hesitant to respond to this thread because I wasn't sure how to word it, but Carina and Crystal have basically taken my thoughts out of my brain
> 
> I think it's GREAT that you're doing so much research into your pup. From my experience of having 1 puppy from a BYB who died early on and then 2 maltese from excellent show breeders, there is no such thing as a perfect dog. Dogs are living creatures that can and will eventually get sick and pass on (just like humans). I know we all think our dogs are perfect in our eyes because we love them so much, but you really can't have the PERFECT LOOK (with perfect movement, structure, coat, bite) with PERFECT temperament and PERFECT health. This perfection is the goal for maltese show breeders, and if they are THAT perfect, they will likely be keeping that dog as a show dog. That being said, you really have to evaluate and make a priorities list based on what is most important to you.
> 
> ...


 

:goodpost:


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