Maltese

HDB-APPROVED · DOG BREED GUIDE

Also known as Bichon Maltais, Maltese Lion Dog, Roman Ladies' Dog.

The Maltese, with its royal lineage and disregard for its own size, often mistakes itself for a much larger dog, which only adds to its charm when strutting through Singapore's HDB corridors.

At a glance

Size category

Small

Weight

2 to 4 kg

Height

20 to 25 cm

Lifespan

15 to 18 years

Energy level

●●●○○ 3/5 (editorial, unvalidated)

Shedding

●○○○○ 1/5 (editorial, unvalidated)

Heat tolerance

●●●○○ 3/5 (editorial, unvalidated)

Barking

●●●●○ 4/5 (editorial, unvalidated)

Trainability

●●●○○ 3/5 (editorial, unvalidated)

Grooming needs

●●●●○ 4/5 (editorial, unvalidated)

Origin

Malta (Central Mediterranean)

The Maltese has been a companion dog for something like two thousand years, with no working job in its history at all, and it shows in the best way: this is a breed that is genuinely, uncomplicatedly good at living with people in small spaces. This page gives it a lifespan of 15 to 18 years, which is among the longest we record.

Two things decide whether it works in an HDB flat, and neither of them is size. One is the coat, which is beautiful and demanding in a climate that fights it. The other is the voice.

Personality and temperament

Energy is rated 3 out of 5 and the breed is rated good with children and good with other dogs, with high beginner friendliness. A Maltese is a small, affectionate, portable dog that mostly wants to be wherever you are.

Barking is rated 4 out of 5, and that is the number to plan around. The Maltese is alert, attentive and entirely willing to tell you about the corridor, the lift, the neighbour and the delivery rider. It is not an aggressive breed and it is a vocal one, and in a flat those are different problems with the same solution.

Trainability is rated 3 out of 5. That reflects a certain amount of negotiating rather than any shortage of intelligence. Maltese are clever and quite capable of deciding your suggestion is optional, particularly the housetraining suggestion, which is the one first-time owners of small breeds most often struggle with.

The attachment is the defining trait. This dog bonds hard, dislikes being alone, and does not develop independence with age. Plan for that rather than hoping.

Exercise in Singapore's climate

Heat tolerance is rated 3 out of 5, which is better than its appearance suggests. The Maltese coat is a single layer of long silky hair with no woolly undercoat, so it insulates far less than a double-coated breed of the same size, and it can be clipped short.

The limitation is body mass. A 2 to 4 kg dog sits close to the ground, gets the full radiated heat off pavement, and dehydrates quickly. Singapore's daily maximum of 31 to 33 degrees Celsius with average relative humidity around 82% year round (Meteorological Service Singapore) is comfortably manageable for this breed in the cool hours and not otherwise.

Two walks a day of twenty minutes or so, before 8am and after 8pm, with water. Test the pavement with the back of your hand: if you would not kneel on it, the dog should not be walking on it.

At 3 out of 5 energy the physical demand is modest, which is a real advantage here. Fill the rest with short games and training. A Maltese with something to do is quieter than a Maltese without, and most of the barking problems in this breed are boredom and separation wearing a costume.

Coat and grooming in the humidity

Shedding is rated 1 out of 5, grooming needs 4 out of 5, and the annual grooming line on this page is S$1,400. That is the trade, and in this climate it is worth making deliberately rather than by default.

The full-length show coat that the breed is famous for is a poor idea in Singapore for a dog that actually goes outside. It drags, it collects the environment, it holds moisture in 82% humidity, and it mats against the skin where you cannot see it. Almost every sensible Maltese owner here keeps the dog in a short puppy clip, and the dog is more comfortable for it.

Whatever length you choose, comb to the skin two or three times a week, particularly behind the ears, under the collar and in the armpits. Book a groom every four to six weeks. Dry the dog thoroughly after every bath and every rain-shortened walk, because a damp coat against skin in this humidity is how the itchy skin listed on this page begins.

Then there is the tear staining, which is the thing every Maltese owner asks about. On a white dog, tear overflow oxidises to a rust-coloured mark under the eyes, and in a warm damp climate the wet fur in that fold can become sore as well as stained. Wipe the area with plain water and a soft cloth daily and dry it. Resist the whitening products sold for the purpose. And treat a genuine increase in tearing as a veterinary question rather than a cosmetic one, because eye conditions lead this page's health-issue list and persistent overflow can mean a problem with the eye itself rather than the fur.

Diet and feeding

Food runs about S$900 a year. At 2 to 4 kg, precision matters more than product: a couple of stray treats is a large share of the daily allowance for a dog this size.

Weigh portions and count treats inside the total. Toy-breed puppies can drop their blood sugar if meals are spaced too far apart, so feed a Maltese puppy little and often and ask your vet what interval they want.

Dental health sits second on this page's health-issue list, and on a 15 to 18 year lifespan it is arguably the condition that will most affect the dog's comfort over time. Small jaws crowd teeth, crowded teeth trap food, and an old Maltese with untreated dental disease is in daily low-grade pain that owners routinely mistake for slowing down. Brush daily, from puppyhood, and take your vet's advice on scaling rather than deferring it.

Keep water available and refreshed, and note that a dog drinking noticeably more is worth mentioning at the next visit.

Training

Three priorities, and the first one is worth more than the other two combined:

• The "quiet" cue and alone-time, treated as one project, from week ten. Barking at 4 out of 5 in a breed that hates being left is a predictable combination, and it is the single most common reason Maltese owners in flats end up with a neighbour problem. Teach the sequence rather than the silence: alert once or twice, come to you, settle, get paid. Separately, build tolerance for being alone in minutes, long before you need it. Do both early and you will likely never have the problem.
• Housetraining, taken seriously. Small dogs have small bladders and are frequently allowed to be inconsistent about this in a way a Labrador never would be. Decide the system, be boring about it, and do not let a puppy pad become a permanent arrangement by accident.
• Grooming tolerance. Combing several times a week and a groomer every four to six weeks, for up to eighteen years. Make handling ordinary while the dog is tiny.

Health

The UK Kennel Club recommends eye testing using the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme for the Maltese, and does not currently offer a breed-specific DNA testing package for it. It places the breed in Breed Watch Category 1, and states that "currently no points of concern specific to this breed have been identified for special attention by judges, other than those covered routinely by The Kennel Club's breed standard".

That is a short and reassuring list, and it puts the weight on two things: the one certificate that does exist, and the questions you ask about everything else.

Ask for the eye certificates on both parents. Eye conditions lead this page's own health-issue list, the Kennel Club recommends the scheme by name, and it is the single document worth insisting on for this breed.

Then ask about knees. Patellar luxation is not on the Kennel Club's recommended list for the Maltese and it is common across toy breeds generally, so ask for a written veterinary patella assessment on both parents anyway. A slipping kneecap ranges from an occasional skip in the step to a joint needing surgery, and it is partly heritable and heavily influenced by weight and jumping.

The third issue on this page's list is itchy skin, which in this climate is mostly a management question rather than a genetic one: keep the coat short, keep the dog dry, and do not rotate foods hopefully at the first scratch, because it makes the picture harder for your vet to read.

Routine veterinary care runs about S$1,100 a year here. Read that against the lifespan rather than the year: fifteen to eighteen years is a long commitment, and the final few are usually the expensive ones. Arrange insurance in the first weeks, and check what the policy does with older dogs before choosing it, because on this breed you will be relying on that clause. None of this replaces your own vet's assessment of your own dog.

Housing and space in Singapore

The Maltese is named on HDB's published list of approved breeds for flats, which runs to 61 named breeds plus a cross of any two of them. Confirm the current position there before you commit, since HDB maintains and updates the list.

Ownership limits come from AVS rather than HDB. Under AVS's rules, an HDB flat may keep a maximum of one dog of an approved small breed plus up to two cats, and no dog on the Specified dogs list; private property may keep up to three cats or dogs in combination. Every dog needs an AVS licence. Licence fees depend on sterilisation status, age and the number of pets. One-time and three-year licences are different options. Check the current AVS fee table before paying.

Three small adjustments matter more than floor area. Put runners on polished tile where the dog turns and stops, because a 3 kg dog skidding is how knees get worse. Provide steps to any furniture the dog is allowed on, or decide it is not allowed. And put the resting place away from the front door, so a dog rated 4 out of 5 for barking is not spending its day watching a corridor it can do nothing about.

Care and cost in Singapore

On this page's figures: about S$900 a year for food, S$1,400 for grooming and S$1,100 for routine veterinary care. Grooming is the largest line and the least avoidable, and skipping it in this humidity produces a matted coat and a skin problem that costs more than the appointment did. Multiply the total by fifteen to eighteen years rather than the ten most people assume. Run the ten-year picture with the cost calculator.

Getting a Maltese: buying and adoption

Ask for the AVS dog farm licence number, the eye certificates for both parents, a written veterinary patella assessment for both parents, and a written health guarantee.

Be sceptical of anything sold on being unusually small. "Teacup" is not a recognised size and there is no Kennel Club category for it. Deliberately undersized toy dogs bring more fragility, more dental crowding and more anaesthetic risk, and the premium price is being charged for the problem rather than the dog.

Ask how the puppies have been raised and by how many people, because a breed this attached needs early, varied human contact to become a dog that copes with ordinary life.

Adoption is realistic and often overlooked here. Maltese and Maltese crosses come through SOSD, Causes for Animals and Mercylight, frequently as older dogs whose owners could no longer manage them. Given a lifespan of fifteen to eighteen years, adopting a nine-year-old Maltese can still mean the better part of a decade together, with the temperament and the coat commitment already visible rather than hoped for.

Life stages: puppy to senior

Puppy, to about 12 months. Feed little and often while very young. Start "quiet" and alone-time practice in week ten, together, because they are the same problem. Begin daily tooth brushing and daily eye-area wiping before the dog has an opinion. Get grooming handling established, and insurance in force, early.

Adolescent, roughly 9 to 18 months. The adult coat comes in and grooming demand rises sharply, which is exactly when owners are tempted to let it slide. Watch for a skip or hop in the back legs, the usual first sign of a slipping kneecap, and mention it to your vet even if it passes.

Adult, roughly 2 to 11 years. A long, easy middle. Coat short, teeth brushed, weight held, eyes wiped and dried. Keep the dog learning small things, because a bored Maltese is a loud one.

Senior, from about 12 years, with years still to come. Lifespan here is 15 to 18 years, so senior is a phase rather than an ending. Move to twice-yearly vet visits. Expect dental work to matter more rather than less, and do not let "he is old" become the reason to skip it. Watch for cloudiness in the eyes and for hesitation before jumping. Keep the coat short for comfort, keep walks short and frequent in the cool hours, and keep the flat cool.

See dog-friendly cafes and parks in your region → | Run the 10-year cost of a Maltese in Singapore →

Tags: toy-breed, hypoallergenic-ish, low-shedding, long-lived, apartment-friendly, first-time-owner, ancient-breed

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