I wanted to put my dogs in our Christmas cards this year. My Maltese (the smaller of the two) suffered a severe hemorrhage to her eye the week before last, so I had to photoshop her eye (it's grey/red right now).

Here they are!


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Say, I had a lady who I made a special compound for who brought her
maltese in to meet me (his name was Wheezer). I thought he was a doll too.

We are thinking of a small dog when our oldest cat passes...
How are the maltese as a breed? Do they like the out doors?
Are they nervous, etc?

What is the other dog, may I ask?

Do they bark alot? Sometimes small dogs have ATTITUDE, if you get my drift?
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Oh Ellie those are just precious!

Honestly, I love my dogs to death but tell everyone I know not to get a Maltese unless you get a puppy and have a LOT of time to work with them. She is nervous, normally sticks to us and hates everyone else. She is also afraid of grass, pees when she's mad, etc.

The other dog is a shih-tzu and poodle cross. He is extremely smart and very well behaved. However, he barks at nothing and does this a LOT.

Both dogs are great in the terms of shedding (they do not shed). The Maltese requires a lot of 'cleaning'. You need to clean her eyes daily or they will stain her hair. The same applies for her mouth. Furthermore, when she goes potty she needs to be cleaned afterwards since things typically end up 'hanging around' if you know what I mean.
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I'd feel safe to say a Maltese would be best with one owner who has a lot of time to spend on training. Also a person who doesn't get a lot of company. It took me almost two years and a lot of house guests (who had treats and belly rubs) to teach mine to not bark at everyone. She would growl and bark at everyone and tends to dislike all men but my boyfriend who she adores and will protect (if someone gets too close to him, she will lunge).

She also has breathing problems which seem to be common for the breed, it's called reverse sneezing so I have to hold her nose when she does it. She also gets sunburn easily.

Another problem these days with Maltese is they are looked at like an accessory rather than a pet, so people keep inbreeding them to accomplish the smallest Maltese possible. With this comes serious health problems and a shorter life span for the dogs. I personally would go anywhere BUT to a breeder for this reason. My dog came from a puppy mill and her mother was killed during a bunk debarking (they want to save money by using a metal rod shoved down their throat). My dog was given a botched spay job and they used steel stitches. I have to be careful picking her up as one will poke through her skin, they cannot remove it due to how her tissue grew around it.

The shih-tzu and poodle cross is a very smart dog, but hyper as ever. He's 9 and has 10 times the energy of my Maltese. He also has some humping problems with stuffed toys (he finishes). He will follow all of my commands but not my boyfriend. He is very smart. For example, I was teaching the Maltese it was 'OK' to go potty outside, and teaching him to come in after going potty. She wouldn't go out, he wouldn't come in. So I rewarded them with treats after they came in from going potty. He learned this quick and would 'fake' going potty to get his treat, then will go to the door to go BACK outside and then go potty, trying to get two treats. It's funny, but you get the idea of how smart they are and how willing they are to trick you.

I've had several pets through my years. I had a cocker spaniel, pit bull, newfoundland and soft coated wheaten terrier. Out of all dogs, my pit and the wheaten were the best. The pit was best with kids (god love the poor thing, they rode him like a horse) and the wheaten was the best mannered. He was easy to train, very loving and good with all people. The only downside was I had to brush him several times a day (he could walk and get tangles).

I'd suggest if you're looking into a dog, go towards a rescue that dog matches. They basically will train the dogs and then do a personality match with you and/or your family.
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is the best place I have found to date. I used to work for a wildlife rescue, so I have a 'thing' for animals. I'm in the process of looking into adopt a new one but the eye injury of the Maltese set us back.

Anyway, hope that information helps out. I need to go back to bed now.
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Oh, also - I haven't owned one - But I have a friend with a Malte-poo and she is a very great dog. Also the mini-schnauzers seem to be very good (not big barkers, sweet, etc.). I find most dogs behave differently depending on how they were trained, much like children. I adopt, so it's hard to say with mine. My boyfriend corrupted our oldest one so he walks all over us (literally).

I feel like I may be having an aura so I will finish this when I'm done (sorry)

(((ellie))) get some rest.

in the words of grandmonkey....a
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Ellie~ What adorable photos!

We meant to take a family photo this year with the new wheaten puppy, and totally forgot to do it. Oh well, maybe I will get a big Christmas box and try to get a picture of the pup popping out of it in front of the Christmas tree.

My pup vomited last night and this morning. I'm taking it to the vet...just in case... having a stool specimen checked, etc. If anything is wrong in the first two weeks, the breeder will pay the bill. Of course, if nothing is wrong...I pay it, but such is life. At least I will have peace of mind.

So, how is the Maltese's eye doing? Do you know anymore about the long term effects?

Cara

Ellie,

you have beautiful dogs
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And you did a great job with the photoshop because I can't tell which eye has been photoshopped.


Mrsd -

We had a Maltese once when I was a kid, and Ellie is right about how high maintainance they are. Our Maltese had to be brushed daily, cleaned daily arounf the eyes and rear-end, we had to put a sweater on her anytime it was below 60 degrees and we live in New England so that was quite often.

The dog would pee anytime she got nervous - and she got nervous anytime the wind was blowing and made a noise on the window. Overall, she was a cute dog and she loved to cuddle, but she was a LOT of work.

The best dog I ever had in my life was a Keeshond. So easy to train, so lovable, very friendly, great with kids and cats and other dogs, a great indoor dog who also loves being outside (and has the coat/fur to be able to be outside in the cold without needing a sweater).

I had never heard of the breed until I rescued my dog from an abuser, but if I ever get another dog again I will get a Keeshond.

Here is the AKC info about the breed-

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Mine was a female, she was shorter than the normal standards, and she weighed about 30 pounds... I used to bring her to the groomer at the beginning of the summer to have her shaved, and she looked so adorable
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Here are some pictures of Chelsea (my Keeshond) when she was shaved during the summer of 2003

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She loved being at the lake house and going in the water to get fish (or watching me as I caught a sunfish in a net for her). As you can see if you look at the pictures, the only time I have her on a leash is when she came hiking with my husband and I... she was so easy to train and she listened so well - so the only time she needed a leash was when the law in the area required it.

sorry you are not feeling well... but I do appreciate the details. The Maltese I
made the meds for seemed afraid of new situations. His owner carried him in to me and he was trembling.

We watch Breed All About It on Animal Planet, and since I grew up with a cocker spaniel, I am tending to that type still. Our oldest cat was given a short live expectancy 2 yrs ago..and she has fooled us all... she is still going strong at 16. ( I guess the suspected brain/spine tumor is not there--which caused her seizure 2 Xmases ago) We've been looking at dog types all that time!
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We have that outdoors thing up North, and a 1/2 acre yard, so I want a dog
that will be happy in or near water and outside, can appreciate it, and is not too big.
A Lab is a bit too big for me. Maybe a Cockerpoo? I would like a dog I could pick up, you know? If we lived in the country all the time, a Lab is what I would do. But we do not, so I don't want that much dog in the city. I really like Pugs, saw some cute well behaved ones at the vet..but the owner of the pair said they had expensive vet issues.

So there is the Puggle-- beagle/pug -- this seems like a nice match, but I don't like that "shedding" concern.
And the Labradoodle... have cute faces, but alot of fur too. These names are SO FUNNY...

A rescue is a good idea...that is how we have done all our cats.
The cocker we had 50 yrs ago, was the only purebred anything I have experience with. She was a very good dog...I really loved her.

Well, Ellie, your tempermental Maltese, looks just fabulous in the sweater!
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The medication I made for Wheezer was a liquid form of an antibiotic not available in liquid. He had some gum disease. But then he was old.

Of course our other two cats, are a consideration, but I think they would accept a little puppy.. an adult rescue is out of the question here with them.
Sheba I don't think would accept ANY DOG EVER...so we have to wait for her to "move on".

Thanks for posting... the pictures are just a huge wonderful addition to the forum. They are cute, funny, and loving and make my day!

Mrsd,

You mentioned the need for a city dog who also likes the country - and that is what my Keeeshond was. We live in a 1 bedroom condo, and she was very happy and comfortable being inside and going out for walks to go potty.... and then when we would go to the lake house she was very happy running around in the woods and playing in the lake.

As for shedding, my keeshond would shed in clumps when her fur was unshaved. It was so easy to pick up and clean up because it wasn't little hairs all over the house, it was a few clumps of fur in a few places (very easy for me especially with my medical stuff since I was often unable to vacuum due to my tendonitis).

As for being able to be picked up, I was able to pick chelsea up and carry her (which I had to do for the last few months of her life to bring her outside to go potty because we live on the 3rd floor) She was 30 pounds so I would not have wanted to carry her around everywhere I went, but I was able to pick her up and carry her when I needed to even with my back problems.

Ok, I'll stop babbling on and on about my Keeshond now. I just miss her so much (she passed away in May of 2005).

I could NOT handle incontinence for every little noise... Whew!

All day long I handle incontinence for HUMANS in long term care. Coming home to that would be too much for me!
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The mainstay in nursing homes is "drugs", diapers, and Desitin...the 3 Ds. We make ALOT of ointments for this as well! sigh.

I guess we were posting at the same time too.
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The keeshond-- I have never heard of this breed. Thanks for posting the pic.

You know not to be a "downer" on this thread which is so much fun...
but at lunch yesterday, I was talking to some colleagues (whom I often don't get a chance to see during night shifts when they are gone)... so they tell me this truly horrific story. The medical records supervisor has been out for 6months, and just returned part time. And this happened over the summer while I was gone too. She has a Akita... you know I think OJ and that murder had a Akita involved as welll....making it more recognizable...as a breed.

Well, long story stort...this gal was playing with the dog, and it accidently jumped up to her face (she is not a tall woman) and grabbed her lower lip and ripped it right off her!!! This gal has been out on leave having plastic surgery to fix it (several operations)..and I haven't seen her yet. I understand it was hanging by a flap of skin under her chin. I was stunned. Sounds horrible to me! I have seen some pretty ugly things in my day..including a little boy who was savaged in his
stroller, by surprise, but this one is rather extreme! Kind of put the damper on my "doggie research" this week as well!
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I am sorry you lost your friend/dog too, Liz. I know how you feel...we have lost several cats as well. When our cocker died of kidney cancer it was very hard on all of us too. I still have those memories after 50 years too! sigh.