I don't think you are being rude or forward at all. You clearly stated what your interest was in your first letter. As a breeder, my response would have included the availability(or not) of pups at this time, the prospects concerning upcoming litters, a pasted copy of my information sheet with application questions, links to breed information and an offer to forward your request to other breeders that I know. My favorite requests for info include questions for me in addition to info about you that let me know you've been doing your homework, though I am not offended by the 'hi got any and how much?' ones either...the education process has to start somewhere for everybody. The requests that do bother me are the ones where people are looking to replace a pup that they had for a short time and lost for various health issues that never should have been bred. Their stories are heartbreaking and it upsets me that there are so many uncaring/ignorant breeders just looking to make a quick buck or people just breeding their pets without regard to consequences.
I try to give people the information I would like to recieve if asking and generally much more than they actually ever wanted to know...lol!
Just fyi..the 'nice' guys at
www.pishpad.com are Maltese breeders, though I don't know if you'll get a better response or not.