# maltese or havanese???



## bella serra (Jun 23, 2008)

I rescued my bella from a pet store, she had kennel cough and just looked pathetic...i feel in love... her papers say she is havanese,but she is 1 yr old,only 8 lbs..and everyone swears she is maltese..could the store have made an error??
i love her 2 pieces,except also, the bad breeding must be responsible for the tear staining, becuase we are obsessed with the best water,food,and even angel eyes to no avail, any ideas???


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## havaone (Mar 25, 2008)

I wouldn't worry about people thinking she's a Maltese because of her size. Havanna (my black & white) is 11 1/2 months old, and she only weighs 8.3 lb. There are a few Havs on this Forum that are even smaller. Everyone thinks Olivia (my white & cream) is a Maltipoo because of her coloring. It's just that so many people haven't heard of a Havanese.


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## bella serra (Jun 23, 2008)

Glad to hear that!!!
I have only seen the larger ones, and i adore them!!!
your babies are beautiful....


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Hello and welcome to the forum.
As far as the tear staining goes, it's tough on white dogs...
Angel eyes with a combo of diet cleared up my Beamers real nice. What are you feeding right now?

Ryan


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Bella looks adorable. I doubt if the pet store made a mistake if she has papers. Are they AKC? Our Abby is nearly eighteen months and she has been staying steady at 8 lbs. since she was 8 or 9 months. Some Havanese are smaller than others. The breed standard says 8 - 14 lbs., I think. As for the staining, some just have more trouble with it than others. Abby's was bad when we got her at nearly 8 months but a couple of months later when we switched her from Science Diet to Blue Buffalo, the staining gradually got better - not gone, though!

Kathie


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## bella serra (Jun 23, 2008)

bella is on dick van pattens, natural balance, i chose this because it is about the only food for all stages of dogs life, since i had 2 adults, and no way can seperate them from each others food...but i think his food line is very good, i even use the one for allergies...
only filtered water and angel eyes..nothin has helped...


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

There are actually a lot of other foods that are good for puppies and adults, if you want to try something new. Also, you don't have to feed puppy food to puppies, you know, you can feed adult food. Anyway, just in case you want to try a different food, I suggest you check out dogfoodanalysis.com and look up some 5 and 6-star foods.


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## bella serra (Jun 23, 2008)

wow.. i never knew you could feed puppys adult food..i will definitely go to the sire you mentioned... what do you feed????


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## micki2much (Feb 8, 2007)

Oh welcome! Don't worry about size, Seamus is 2 years old and is 9lbs. Bella is beautiful!


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I feed Fromm's Duck and Sweet Potato.


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## havaone (Mar 25, 2008)

If you do a search on this Forum for "Poll: Your Dog Food Choice?", you'll find what a lot of people are feeding their Havs. Mine are currently eating Evo Red Meat Small Bites, which does not have a puppy formula. Olivia does not have any tear stains, but I do have issues with a lot of "goop" coming out of both of their eyes. My groomer recommended giving each of them 1 tsp of yogurt a day, which I've just started doing.


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Beamer also has a fair bit of 'goop' these days coming from his eyes. Is yogurt a giid way to cure this???

Ryan


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Hi. Lulu is 1 1/2 years old and only weighs 6.8. Sometimes I think she looks like a maltese but I KNOW she's not. The groomer says it's because of her color. If she were a different color she would definitely not look like a maltese. 
Tear stains are tough on white dogs. I feed mine Evo small chicken bites and I think it has less products in it to stain eyes. 
Your baby is precious!
Carole


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## Eva (Jun 20, 2008)

My Todd is a purebred Havanese but everyone thinks that he's a Daushund/ Spaniel mix..lol
Todd's another EVO eater. He's done really well on it except for some excess gas during transition. Other than that firm poop, less of it and a nice sparkly coat. 
Your little one is adorable, welcome to the forum!


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## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

My Daisy will be 5 in a couple weeks, and she weighed in at 7.6 lbs at the vet last week~~ And I also have one that is 16lbs!!! They come in all sizes and I love them the same!


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Well I have three, all with different issues, but Lily(white girl) also had a lot of tear staining. She is on special vet food due to past bladder crystals but I will say that she has had not staining problems since I started giving my guys distilled water, and 1-2 TBSP of yogurt each day! I dont think that you can ever get rid of eye gunk, but you can change the color it is, or stains the face. I would keep up with the Angel Eyes, and give some yogurt! Give it 2 weeks to see a difference. 
I am sure she is Havanese if her papers say so, I know a 5 lb Hav (Hello Bella) and a 20 lb Hav (Sir Brady -kisses to you) - so she could be anywhere in between!


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## Mizell26 (Aug 2, 2008)

Lina said:


> I feed Fromm's Duck and Sweet Potato.


I use the exact same thing and no problems as of yet....knock on wood


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Mine get EVO Red Meat Small Bites and some Little Cesar in it, or chicken, hamburger, whatever. This past February, Kodi had a real problem with staining, which he never had before. I didn't change anything, and he is stain free again. I think it was his allergies causing it.

Shelby tears heavily and gets lots of eye gunk. It seems I am always cleaning her eys. But, because of her coloring, if she is staining, it doesn't show.


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

*No more stains*

Cali had staining until her adult teeth came in. Now she is stain free.
We do give the dogs filtered water and I don't know if that had anything to do with getting rid of the stains. 
We changed the water at the same time the adult teeth came in.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

I wonder if there are any MAJOR personality/trait differences between the 2 breeds.
Anyone have the opportunity to own or know both?/


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## DanielBMe (Nov 25, 2007)

I'm sure I read something somewhere that giving dogs and cats distilled water is not a good idea as it lacks many essential minerals and can lead to health problems. I wish I could remember where I read that.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I think with pet stores it is hard to tell what you get even when they say they are purebred. A lot of Maltese are honestly mixed with poodles as they have more puppies. Isabelle was one of two in her litter and the breeder had one other litter of a singleton. 

I have both and I think they are very different but then again if you were comparing a maltese and a havanese bred in a puppy mill situation, the breeders aren't going to be breeding to the standard, temp is going to be drastically different, etc. In fact last year when I puppy sat for hte puppy mill maltese, I would say the only thing him and Belle looked similar in was their hair color. Otherwise, Belle probably had more similar texture to Dora and Dash!

Amanda


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## suzyfrtz (Nov 12, 2007)

gelbergirl said:


> I wonder if there are any MAJOR personality/trait differences between the 2 breeds.
> Anyone have the opportunity to own or know both?/


Cazzie's best friend is Cooper the Maltese. They have been buddies since babyhood. If you say the word "Cooper" Cazzie's head will go up and he will look all around for him. Cooper the Maltese is smaller, more delicately built than Cazzie. Cazzie is 10 pounds at a year and a half, but more muscular and sturdier than Cooper the Maltese. There is a difference in their facial structure as well. For one thing, Cazzie's nose is larger and longer and there are other differences as well.

I would say the main difference is their body structure, Cazzie's bone structure being bigger and just bigger and more muscular all around. Cooper can hold his own when playing with Cazzie, but tires easier. As for personality, Cazzie is more rambunctious than Cooper, but that just might be him. Good luck with your new puppy!

Suzy


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

Dusty has tear staining. We've tried EVO, Natural Balance Potato and Duck, and now Wellness Core Ocean. I use filtered water (R/O) and have tried yogurt. I have not tried Angel Eyes or any other food additives. The yogurt helped the most-the eye goop got lighter, but did not cure the staining. Combing/cleaning her face every day helps too.


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## DanielBMe (Nov 25, 2007)

My friends Maltese is definitely more delicate and thin than my either of my guys. I also find the Maltese more proportional than the Havanese which seem to be a bit longer in the body from what I can see.


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## Lilly's mom (Aug 10, 2007)

Amanda,

I didn't realize Maltese came in anything but white. What color was your foster? Any pictures?

Katrina



ama0722 said:


> I think with pet stores it is hard to tell what you get even when they say they are purebred. A lot of Maltese are honestly mixed with poodles as they have more puppies. Isabelle was one of two in her litter and the breeder had one other litter of a singleton.
> 
> I have both and I think they are very different but then again if you were comparing a maltese and a havanese bred in a puppy mill situation, the breeders aren't going to be breeding to the standard, temp is going to be drastically different, etc. In fact last year when I puppy sat for hte puppy mill maltese, I would say the only thing him and Belle looked similar in was their hair color. Otherwise, Belle probably had more similar texture to Dora and Dash!
> 
> Amanda


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Katrina,
I think you misread my post. I said the only thing they were similar in is hair color- white. But a lot of maltese are born with what they call lemon ears. Where the ears are a gold color but it fades. It is actually a sign of good pigmentation as puppies. They lose that color pretty quickly though. Here just to compare are Mickey (who came from the famous Britney pet store), Dora (havanese), and Belle ( another maltese). I am just saying it can be very hard to identify breeds of dogs that come from pet stores. I would say from this pic, Belle and Dora look more similar in breed than Mickey and Belle. Mickey is bigger boned more like Dora and quite taller. Then you take his face shape into account and he is probably more like a shih tzu with his underbite. But he is a registered maltese and a very expensive one at that 

I would say most of you are making good comparisons as a general rule- Belle is alot more fined boned than Dora and Dash. She has a shorter muzzle, rounder eyes, finer hair, and more square in body.


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## MoJoBoy (May 26, 2008)

Mojo is on the smaller size too. He is just over a year and weighs 9 pounds. I have also found that a little yogurt in the food helps with the eye stain. Bella looks a lot like Olivia, so my guess is she is a havanese!


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

I find that many cream/white Havs look like Maltese if they are fine-boned and petite. I have seen plenty of stocky cream Havs, with the squarer head and body, but when they are fine and delicate, like some on here, they can easily be taken for a Maltese. 

As to what you get in a pet shop, well...... it is a chance you take since no reputable breeder of any dog will sell in a pet shop. You likely got a mill dog whose parents are sitting in some cold barn somewhere among 100's of other moms, dads and puppies.


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

From the tiny picture of Bella I see - I think she looks a lot like my little Gracie. She is a pure breed havanese. But look much like a maltese in facial looks and is petite like one, but structurally like a hav. Many, many people think she is a maltese - maybe that is because havs are so new to America?? I just weighed her and she is STILL 4 lbs. 15 oz. at 15 months. She has gained about 1 ounce the past 5 months. I don't think she will ever be 6 lbs. You'll have to send more pictures so we can compare.


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## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

It's true for humans, I don't see why it wouldn't be true for dogs, cats etc.

Health food stores even carry pills of minerals to disolve in your distilled water so that you get the minerals you need. I myself use filtered water (good carbon and something else under the sink filter), but it doesn't remove all the minerals. I'm giving the same water to my dog.

Louise


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## Lilly's mom (Aug 10, 2007)

*OOPS my bad. I am sorry. Mickey was/is cute.*



ama0722 said:


> Katrina,
> I think you misread my post. I said the only thing they were similar in is hair color- white. But a lot of maltese are born with what they call lemon ears. Where the ears are a gold color but it fades. It is actually a sign of good pigmentation as puppies. They lose that color pretty quickly though. Here just to compare are Mickey (who came from the famous Britney pet store), Dora (havanese), and Belle ( another maltese). I am just saying it can be very hard to identify breeds of dogs that come from pet stores. I would say from this pic, Belle and Dora look more similar in breed than Mickey and Belle. Mickey is bigger boned more like Dora and quite taller. Then you take his face shape into account and he is probably more like a shih tzu with his underbite. But he is a registered maltese and a very expensive one at that
> 
> I would say most of you are making good comparisons as a general rule- Belle is alot more fined boned than Dora and Dash. She has a shorter muzzle, rounder eyes, finer hair, and more square in body.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

I think people that have never heard of Havanese that see a small white long haired dog always say "Maltese"! I've had some people think Gucci was a Maltese, but interestingly..we ran into a maltese owner at the pet store the other day and she asked me what breed Gucci was, I have had people recognize her as a havanese too, I don't know why people are compelled to play "guess the breed" with dogs, but it seems to pretty common, most likely just *small talk*, I think.

I was tossed between a Maltese and a Havanese, so I did research on both and I have a friend with a Maltese, but her dog is definitely "yappier" than Gucci and has a smaller muzzle and bone structure, and the eyes are different, I think. 

But Gucci has about every personality trait in the book for Havanese! So it may just be people trying to make small talk with you and the Hav breed isn't that popular/common as the Maltese are.

As for the tearing, i fought that for about the first year and then it stopped until I went out of town this summer and came back to it again, I'm not totally sure, but I think it was maybe stress induced that week? Crying for me, maybe? lol I dont' know, but I think it resolves itself once you get the diet right and keep their eye hair dry/clean (corn starch or baby powder works great for that)


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