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Originally Posted by Jokerman  I also did like you, lurked for months before joining, then didn't get my puppy for a year after that. I will give you a suggestion I learned here, that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. If you find a show kennel whose dogs you like, don't automatically feel you can't afford one of their puppies. They often sell pet quality dogs for much cheaper than a BYB sells their puppies for. Also, the difference in their "pet quality" and "show quality" puppies are often negligible, and they will generally be a much better bred puppy than you'll find in a newspaper ad. Also, if they have older pups, they will often sell them much cheaper. Last year when I contacted a show breeder, she had a six month old puppy she said she'd sell for $600. I didn't buy him because I was afraid of getting a dog that old, thinking he'd be harder to potty train, and worried he'd bark too much from being raised in a kennel. But now, after buying a four month old puppy, I realize I was probably wrong about that older puppy.
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I couldn't agree with this post more. Since you want a male, they will be even more affordable from a show breeder since breeders don't want to keep them when they get close to being sexually mature. I know many people who have gotten a close to show quality male Maltese from show breeders for about $800 just because they were a little older, about five months old.
This is an excellent article about the difference between show and pet quality:
Maltese Show Dog Versus Maltese Pet.....What is the difference?