# Maltese puppies from pet owner



## jacqueline (Oct 4, 2008)

Hi, I'm looking for a maltese puppy in a price range of under $850. I found some good breeder in my area but their price are too high for my budget. I also found some maltese puppies from this person who said the parents of the puppies are her pet and she is not a professional breeder. The dad is register with ckc and the mom is register with akc. The mom maltese does have some champion bloodline in her pedegree. If I buy a puppy from her she will give me a puppy package that includes training pad, nutri-cal, food, and some other stuff . The puppies are register with ckc but she is trying to which to akc. From our conversation she seem like a very good pet owner and care a lot about your dogs. Do you guys think I should buy from this person if all of what she said is true? Is it a good idea if I buy from seller that are pet owner and not professional breeder. My husband and I will go visit the puppies this weekend. Here are some of the picture of the dogs that she send to me. Tell me what you think of their quality. thanks

jacqueline

mom & sons
 


mom



dad


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## mamamia (Jul 26, 2008)

THere are alot more qualified people on here who could give you better advise than I can on a BYB. I will just tell you my experience and what I have learned.

I purchased my Maltese thru an ad in the newspaper 7 years ago. I paid just under $1000. I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I wanted a maltese. I go to this womans home and she has 14 pet maltese....all living inside her home. Half of her house is for the dogs and the other half is hers. She was very nice and loved her dogs very much...I could easily see that. So we picked a puppy out of a liter of 4 and put our deposit down. Two weeks later...when the pups were 8 weeks old...I was told I could come and pick him up. We were in LOVE from day 1. He has been a really good dog. He is so smart and loving. He's been healthy other than extremely bad allergies. Today he is a healthy 13-14 pounds. What I mean by that is he is no way near what the standards are for a maltese. He is very big (not fat) just big...he also has curly hair....more like a Bichon. He is AKC registered but I'm sure if I had DNA test done on him...he would have another breed in there somewhere.

Since joining SM...I have learned alot about the breed. I should have purchased thru a reputible breeder. That way I would have been guaranteed I was getting what I paid for. My baby should have stayed with him momma til he was 12 weeks old.

I do consider myself lucky. Other than his allergies...I have a healthy dog that we love very much.


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## Tanner's Mom (May 27, 2005)

Here's my story about Tanner: I thought the way you found a dog was in the newspaper and if he was AKC registered then that meant you were getting a real 
Maltese or whatever you were buying. I brought Tanner home at 7 weeks, he could barely walk, again, I didn't know. At 6 months I take him in to get neutered and his ALT is in the 300 range. 
Go to the specialist for an ultra sound, (found out later this vet trained under Dr. Center), anyway, she can't find a shunt but recommends a liver biopsy. 
Many $$ later, the surgeon takes a very small liver sample, so small that when I sent it to Cornell, it was difficult to do an analysis, anyway, bottom line is 
Tanner is probably an asymptomatic MVD doggie. Now, he is fairly close to being a "real" Maltese, he has a sweet little Maltese face and disposition, and he is 
white. But he weighs 8 pounds, has a pig tail, his fur is mostly cotton candy, he has fairly dark pigmentation on his skin around his head, his back legs are 
longer than the front legs, and neck to tail he is about 12" long. When I first started going to shows, I was absolutely stunned at how tiny and compact and exquisite
a "real" Maltese was. I love my baby to death, but he's pretty far from the breed standard!

The luckiest day of my life was when I found SM and learned about buying a dog and the breed standard and BYBs. If I were you, I'd save some more $$ and
get a baby from a reputable breeder because chances are, you're gonna spend that much $$ in the long run anyway. Oh yeah, Tanner is on a low-protein food, takes
Marin once a day and goes to the vet quarterly for blood work. Read some more in the breeder section, go to some shows and see in person what a properly-bred
Maltese should look like. You will not regret it.


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## Maidto2Maltese (Oct 19, 2004)

When we got our Missy it was from an ad my hubby found and set up an appt then told me. I had wanted a female Bichon and none available at the time in reasonable proximity to us. The pup was to be my aniversary gift. I had FINALLY come to where I felt I could open my heart to another pooch after losing our Puffy. With Fall upn us we decided to wit to spring to start looking again when he saw the ad for Maltesepups. I truly didn't want to go.. didn't know much about them but had heart set on Bichon. He talked me into going to at least look.. well I did and fell head over heals in love with this one particular little pup and no way was I leaving without her. I thought the price was too good to be true, and was told she had no papers. They just had mama and papa as their pets and I guess decided to just have the pups for the 'experience.. or whatever. Now in my ignorance! I actually thought that the pups raised in the home.. just mother and father as pets, home raised, used to children etc etc.. was a great thing. I had no intentiosn of breeding or showing so papers didn't mean a thing to me anyway. She was only $100! ... so they weren't in it to make big bucks. 
Things were wonderful in the first couple of years. She was our adored little girl! Then it started... all kinds of health issues cropped up one after the other. Our little bargain ended costing us thousands of dollars and I mean MANY thousands of dollars! ... and wosre yet lost of stress and anguish seeing our little girl having these problems. 

I don't regret for a second having gotten her and in truth am glad that we got her because someone else may not have been able or willing to go the full way for her healthcare. Would I do it again... never! 
After Missy died I thought it would be quite awhile before we got another but then I was made aware of a little Malt mix in rescue . She was young but had been victim of severe neglect/abuse. She was all shaved down , not real 'pretty in her shave down, and she had some issues somebody had to be willing to work with. Nothing horrible.. just potty and separation anxiety as the main things. I knew the second I saw her and read of her sad situation I HAD to have her! and I knew I needed her as much as she needed me. I have to tell you she is one of the best little dogs I've ever owned. She's a total love, she wants so much to please and is the sweetest little soul!! We worked thru her 'issues' eventually and I just adore her! ( Quincy is a total sweetheart but he came under different circumstances and is my little luv-bug too! )

If I was to get another and could take any dog... I'd go with rescue... no reservations! just something for you to think about! Yes, problems 'could' crop up... but so too could they with a BYB. ... and there ARE pups and young pooches in rescue.. you just have to investigate!.


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## coco (Sep 20, 2006)

My Bubba was the sweetest little thing. I wanted a Maltese and found an ad in the paper for him. I honestly don't remember how much he was--probably $500-$700. Supposedly, he was from a breeder in LA, and he did have AKC papers. At about 12 weeks, he started chewing on his paws. Before he was a year old, he'd developed such horrendous allergies that he chewed the hair off the whole side of his body. Yes, he had allergy tests, shots, steroids and on and on. Long story short, he died at age 6 of heart failure. I spent a fortune on him on testing, vet bills, and specialists. He was as sweet as they come, but he was so poorly bred. You can pay for a good pup on the front end, paying a lot more than what you say, or you can pay a lot more in vet bills trying to keep you dog well. I know there are many here who can attest to what I'm saying. This time, I paid a bundle for a dog whose only gone to the vet for her shots, etc. Please think about that before you buy from someone just because the price sounds right.


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## binniebee (Sep 27, 2007)

Here are my stories:

Back in 1992 I decided I had to have a Maltese. Knowing nothing about breeding, showing, BYB and only limited knowledge of AKC (that if they were AKC then they must be "the real thing") I also newspaper shopped. Which brought me to Casper's breeder. She had one male, the bitch and the bitch's daughter (about a year or so old) and then a new litter. There was one champion in the five generation pedigree that I got from AKC. I paid between $300-$350 for him. Casper ended up being a healthy, but a little large (7-9 lbs), coat was a little fluffier than I'd imagined. After a few years he was diagnosed as having a heart murmur and had to be put on a lot of dieuretics and heart medication, but this wasn't until he was over 11 years of age. He was a great dog and we loved him and he loved us VERY much! 

After that I learned more, did more research and bought Midis from what I consider a reputable show breeder. She has several bitches and the studs are champions. I paid slightly less than $1000 for him. But he's a lot larger even than Casper was, luckily so far no health issues (but he's only 2 years old) and has a beatiful, silky coat, though we are keeping him clipped down now. He also has a great attitude and loves my grandchildren, which is a REAL plus!

So, those are my experiences.

Cyndi


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## TheButtercup (Mar 3, 2005)

yet another side to the answer 

the buttercup came from (what I now know to be) a broker. i had thought she was "just" a hobby breeder, and even had a friend who lived near her visit the house. i paid less than $600 for my little girl, and i have been *very* lucky in that she has been healthy since day one. okay, save for some really awful ear infections early on, but otherwise, knees are good, eyes are good, insides are good, she's not too smart (conversely, she may be an inch away from maddening genius, but it's hard to tell which...), but i'm good with that 

would i do it again? i honestly can't say. i wouldn't go to the same person, that's for sure. but i just don't know for certain. i DO know that i will never be able to afford a "reputable" or "top tier" breeder. does that make me "unworthy" of a maltese? in some eyes here, sure, if i can't afford a dog from one of "those" breeders, then my "only option should be" a rescue or no dog at all, but i'm not a buttercup, i dont live to please everyone that comes my way LOL.

rescue? probably. i have to say, i _*really did* _enjoy the puppy stage. i may have also really lucked out again, in that the buttercup wasn't ever really a biter, an eater, an investigator, nor did i ever reach the stage of "omg what am i doing? why did i do this???"...

that's not to say that if something were to happen to the buttercup in the near future that i wouldn't be up a creek, lol, because i certainly would be! i'm fairly certain that the $7 and change in my savings account would *not* cover any emergency. am i at a time in my life where i can "afford emergencies"? no. when i got her, i was, but not now. 

that said, either way, i couldn't imagine my life without her. :wub:


Ann Marie, always representing the unpopular side of any discussion LOL, and The "My momster and me were MEANT to be Momster and Buttercup!" Buttercup


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## vanessan (Jan 20, 2008)

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your stories. I bought my baby from a breeder and he's the love of my life. After reading all your stories, it just reminds me how true the saying "money can't buy you happiness." Although some of us probably paid more money than others, it doesn't matter. If you asked anyone on this forum, I'm sure everyone would say that if they had to do it over again, they would. With that said, I do agree that you should really do your research before purchasing any puppy from anyone. When you make the decision to become a pet owner, become a responsible and well educated one.

Good luck with your search!


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