Maltipoo Puppies

The two breeds standing behind it

The Maltipoo is a cross between a Maltese and a Poodle, usually a Toy or a Miniature. It is a modern cross, made deliberately for a small companion with a soft, wavy coat, and it has become one of the most asked-about small dogs in the country. Both parents were bred for company, which is a large part of why the combination works as well as it does.

The Maltese side is very old. Small white dogs of this type were written about around the central Mediterranean in antiquity — Greek and Roman writers describe them, and the breed’s ancient name points at the island of Malta. Whatever the exact route, the job never changed. The Maltese has spent something like two thousand years being carried around by people who liked having it there, and it developed the long, straight, glossy white coat and the confident little bearing that go with the profession. The American Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1888.

The Poodle side is German in origin and French by adoption. It began as a water retriever — the name comes from the German pudeln, to splash about — and the famous clip started as a working trim that kept coat over the chest and joints while taking weight off the hindquarters for swimming. The Miniature and the Toy were bred down from the Standard and kept the same brain in a smaller frame. Poodles are among the most trainable dogs there are, and that quickness is what the cross was reaching for.

Put the two together and you get a small, light, deeply sociable dog with a soft coat and a bright look behind the eyes. Which parent leads shows up differently in each puppy, and that is a good part of the appeal.

Size, coat and colour

Adults usually stand somewhere around eight to fourteen inches at the shoulder and weigh between five and twenty pounds. That is a wide band, and where a particular dog lands comes down to what stood behind the litter — a Toy Poodle produces a smaller adult than a Miniature does. The most useful question you can ask while you are in front of a puppy is what the sire and dam finished at, and it is one of the first things our staff will pull up for you.

Littermates in this cross genuinely differ, and that is ordinary rather than a surprise. Two puppies from the same litter can carry different coat textures, different adult sizes and different amounts of Maltese in the face, because there is no breed standard pulling them toward a single template. What you see in front of you is the reliable information.

The build is neat and light: a rounded head, a short muzzle, large dark round eyes and long ears that hang and frame the face. The coat runs from a loose wave through to a proper curl, dense and springy and pleasant to put your hands into. Colour is wide open — white, cream, apricot, silver, café-au-lait, and parti-coloured puppies with white on the chest, muzzle and feet. Many change shade as they mature, and a cream puppy often lightens toward the adult coat.

The nature people choose this cross for

Maltipoos are companion dogs from both sides of the family, and it shows in everything they do. They like people, they like other dogs, and they will generally decide a visitor is a friend before the visitor has finished sitting down. Give one a household with somebody usually in it and you have a very contented dog.

They want to be included, and they are honest about it. A Maltipoo will follow you from room to room, sit on the arm of your chair rather than the seat so it can see more, and lie against your leg while you work. Short absences are worth building into the routine from the first week, with a chew to work on and no fuss on the way out or the way back in. A puppy that learns early that people come back takes the pattern in stride.

With children they are gentle and willing, and they are at their best with kids who will sit down on the floor and let the dog come to them. They are playful without being frantic — a Maltipoo will chase a toy around the room for ten minutes, then be asleep on somebody within five. That combination, happy to go and happy to stop, is why the cross suits apartments and busy family houses equally well.

Grooming, week by week

A wavy or curly coat holds onto its hair rather than dropping it, which keeps the floors tidy and puts the work into the brush instead. The routine is simple once you have it: a brush right down to the skin three or four times a week with a slicker and a comb, plus a standing appointment with a groomer every six to eight weeks.

Do the fine hair first — behind the ears, under the collar, in the armpits and on the backs of the legs, which is where tangles begin. Finish with the comb, because the comb is what tells you whether the brush actually reached the skin. Most Maltipoos go boneless partway through and treat the whole thing as a massage, especially if you do it in front of the television.

Around the face, a wipe with a damp cloth in the morning keeps a pale muzzle bright, and most owners ask the groomer to keep the hair above the eyes short so the dog can see out properly. Some prefer a longer, softer look on the head; both are fine, and it is worth deciding what you like before the first appointment.

The rest is quick. Ears wiped out when you groom. Nails every few weeks, since a small indoor dog does not wear them down on pavement. Teeth brushed as a matter of routine, started early enough that the puppy decides the toothbrush is a game. Baths as needed, with a proper dry afterwards, because a dense coat holds water.

Training a very quick little dog

Both parents work for food and both are bright, so reward-based training goes fast. Keep sessions to a few minutes, ask for one thing at a time, mark it the moment it happens, and stop while the dog still wants more. A Maltipoo will offer you behaviour all day long if the pay is good, and tricks come almost as quickly as the basics.

House-training runs on a schedule rather than a signal, because a small dog works in short intervals. Go outside with the puppy so you can reward the right thing in the right place, and think in months rather than weeks. A crate with a soft bed makes the schedule easier to keep and gives the puppy somewhere that stays its own.

Socialization is where to put real effort through the first six months: new floors, new people, lifts, traffic noise, umbrellas, and calm adult dogs of a range of sizes. A Maltipoo that has met the world takes it in its stride, and this is a dog you can take almost anywhere, which makes that groundwork pay back for years.

What a day with one looks like

The morning begins with a small dog already awake at the end of the bed, waiting for evidence that you are also awake. Breakfast is greeted as a wonderful piece of news, and then comes a walk — a short, social one, at a pace that allows for sniffing.

The middle of the day happens wherever you are: under the desk, on the arm of a chair, in a patch of sun that moves across the floor. Afternoons want a little brain work, and this is where the Poodle side pays out. A snuffle mat, a food puzzle, five minutes of trick training before dinner — a Maltipoo can be thoroughly entertained without going anywhere.

Evenings are the sofa, a chew, and a small dog arranged along somebody’s thigh. In a Florida or Tennessee summer, the early and late hours are the pleasant ones for both of you, with shade and water in between.

Coming to meet the Maltipoo puppies

Coat texture, adult size and how much of the Maltese shows in the face are the three things people most want to know, and all three are easier to judge with a puppy in your lap than on a screen. Ten minutes on the floor usually sorts out which one is yours.

Our Maltipoo puppies come from our network of licensed breeders, and our team can tell you what a particular puppy’s parents were and what they finished at. We have a store in Orlando and one in Nashville, and you are welcome to spend as long as you like with a puppy before deciding anything. Find directions and hours, and if you would like to spread the cost, ask about financing while you are here. Every puppy here goes home with its vet records, its vaccination history and a health warranty, and our team will walk you through what those cover.