# How much tan is possible on a Maltese?



## myfairlacy

I saw two Maltese puppies today that are littermate...I think they are about 4 months or so now. They look like Maltese, except one has a LOT of tan on her. The other one is all white with lemon/light tan just on her ears...otherwise she is all white (this one has a little shorter muzzle than the other and has an underbite). The one I'm wondering about also look like a Maltese except she has so much tan on her, and it's a much darker tan than I"ve ever seen before. She has tan on her ears and three huge spots of tan on her back that all run into each other. It's not the light lemon color I've seen on other maltese puppies...it is a medium tan color, and like I said it covers quite a bit of the puppy.

So..is it possible for a purebred maltese to have that much tan on it?


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## bellaratamaltese

yes, it is possible. Lois looked like a dalmation when she was a young pup, TONS of tan but it faded so by the time she was in full coat, you could hardly notice it. Sometimes it doesn't fade though but it definitely doesn't mean that it is a poorly bred or 'mixed' malt.


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## Canada

At first I thought you meant a tan for a Maltese! Lol!


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## Cosy

Now if it were a black spot I might have to question the purebred line there. I've seen some dark lemon but mostly it is lighter.


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## roxybaby22

Canada said:


> At first I thought you meant a tan for a Maltese! Lol!


Haha, me too! :w00t:


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## myfairlacy

bellaratamaltese said:


> yes, it is possible. Lois looked like a dalmation when she was a young pup, TONS of tan but it faded so by the time she was in full coat, you could hardly notice it. Sometimes it doesn't fade though but it definitely doesn't mean that it is a poorly bred or 'mixed' malt.


good to know. This was the second time I've seen the puppies, and the tan is still as dark as when I saw them a month ago. I'm not sure where they came from. I had just never seen one with as much tan as this one, and the tan being that dark. So I thought I'd ask. Will be interesting to see if the tan fades on this one as it gets a little older.



Canada said:


> At first I thought you meant a tan for a Maltese! Lol!


LOL too funny. I probably would have read it that way too


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## jmm

Yep, I've seen that...usually it fades like others have said.


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## luvmyfurbaby

Michele, Mia had medium champagne ears when she was younger you can hardly see them at all now unless you look on the inner side of her ear flap. KCee has a champagne spot on his back but is only visible when wet or in the bright light. Look up Bogie Reva's boy he has beautiful champagne ears.:wub:


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## puppymom

Sophie has tan on her ears and down her back. With her long coat it isn't very noticeable but when she is wet you sure can see it.


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## myfairlacy

This puppy's spots were a dark tan...not the light lemon I usually see on Maltese puppies. I guess SI should have taken a picture, but these were very large spots of a medium-dark tan on the back and ears.


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