Advice--Yorkies vs. Maltese?

[kwaymon]

Well, I love my yorkie! He is sweet and playful and such a little doll. I have never had a maltese, but have a friend who has one. She seems to be very calm with several bursts of energy throughout the day. My friend also has a 7year old with a learning disability and a four year old. She has never had any problems with her dog and her children. I have a four year old daughter and am planning on having another child within the next year. This dog is definately mine. I didn't buy it for my child or future children, although I let my four year have supervised play with him. I think to have a small breed with children is alot more work than a large breed would be, but this is the breed I want and I think it is worth it. And like others on here have said, when I need my dog to have a safe place when I can't be supervising, I put him in his crate or xpen. One more thing, If you are planning on having children eventually, I would expose your puppy to as many children as possible so that he/she will be used to children when you do have them. Good Luck!

[genie]

Like I said before I have a maltese and yorkie. My daughter has allergies and asthma. She has never been tested to see if she is allergic to dogs but when she brushes our golden retriever she gets a runny nose and watery eyes (he stays outside), but she has never had any problems with either the yorkie or maltese. As far as with children, I don't have any small children that live in my house but some of the neighborhood kids come over to play with the dogs and my yorkie loves it, she will jump up in their laps, the maltese is a little more hesitant of them at first, it takes him a little longer to warm up to them, even though he sees them often, and it take him forever to stop barking (it drives me crazy sometimes). When I am walking them and we see another dog or cat or another person, my yorkie is so excited to and wants to go "see" them, she doesn't bark she just waggs her tail really fast and tries to pull me over to them. My maltese barks and wants to run in the opposite direction. I guess the biggest difference is that my yorkie is more quiet and friendlier than my maltese, he seems to be afraid of alot of things, and so then he will bark....ALOT!

[crystalsmom]

I really love both breeds and I think you can find yappy ones in both. The yorkie takes alot of grooming but the maltese even more....every tear stain shows and you have to on top of it all the time. Yorkies in most cases have ears that are up that let the air in and Maltese are down which means more ear infections but even with what I have mentioned I think you should wait getting a toy breed for a babyz(coming) or young child. Just my opinion. Good Luck with your decision. Joan

[donnarod]

Originally Posted by Yorkiekids

Welcome to YT. I personally think Yorkies are better off with bigger kids and adults then with babies. They can be so small, and be hurt so easily. Atleast a Maltese has a little more girth to it.

My Yorkie is 8 lbs. and my maltese was 10 lbs.

[ThumpersMom]

I know I'm several years late on this one, but in case anyone does a google search and comes across this forum, I wanted to add my 2-cents.

I'm a mommy to a 5-year-old Maltese (male) and 1-year-old Yorkie (male). Their personalities are night-and-day, and I wouldn't venture to say it's breed-specific either.

My Maltese is perfectly content cuddling with me or laying around (and has ALWAYS been that way). My Yorkie, however, is a million times more hyper-active than my Maltese ever was/has ever been and isn't as content just laying around.

Both are inquisitive, beautiful animals that get restless easily so constant stimulation is a must! Both can drive their owners nuts with yapping and their inability to realize just how little they are. And, both make amazing pets!

My suggestion wouldn't be to base any new family member decision solely on a breed (especially if you're torn between two or more), but rather to interact with the dogs/pups you're interested in specifically. Best of luck to anyone on the hunt!

[lady40jay]

I don't have any experience with Maltese, but my granddaughter's Yorkie screams when she gets excited. She barks normally, but when she gets excited, like when someone knocks on the door, she screams and it will raise the hair on the back of your neck!

Jeanette

[lvtyorkie]

I had the same hard choice, for me it boiled down to the tear stains I had noticed with the Maltese. Just cosmetic, but I knew I would notice it so I went with Yorkie and I love the breed. The most impotant advise is to go with a good breeder that has references. Do not settle for the first cute puppy you see.

[erica6581]

I also know I am years to late but found this thread during a Google search. I just want to thank everyone for their input regardless of how long it has been