WANTED info on maltepoos

i recently fell in love with the maltepoo breed, i've been doing a lot of research trying to determine if this is the right dog for me...I've read never to buy a puppy from a breeder that sells "teacup" puppies...the problem is i would really want/need a 3-5lb dog so i will be able to bring her to work with me opposed to leaving her all day... also how bad are their tear stains?? can such small dogs get up/down stairs?? what is this i've read about low blood sugar?? do they have bad seperation anxiety? lastly do they bark a lot (work). i know i must sound crazy but this is all very important to me so i don;t end up getting the wrong dog for me. thanks

 

First off the maltipoo is not a true breed it's a mixed breed with a cutesy name.

If you truely need a dog to be between 3-5 lbs I don't think you should get a Maltipoo. Maltese get to between 4-6 lbs and shih tzus get 9 -16 lbs. There's no guarentee that a mixed breed will stay small as it could have the size of a maltese or a shih tzu or something inbetween.

Teacup dogs are just a nice way to put undersized and usually with come with tons of health problems. Also with a 3-5 lb dog I wouldn't risk letting git go up and down stairs. A tumble from that height would probably mean serious injury or even death. Even a jump onto the couch could be disasterous.

If you're looking for a small dog I would go with a purebred Maltese. Again there's no size guarentee but you'll have a better idea of what you'll be getting.

 

Low blood sugar can be a serious problem especially in smaller breeds and especially in the first 12 months. They generally need to eat about every 2-3 hours (the length of time can expand a little as they get older), what often happens with a 'new pup', owner gets it at 8 weeks old, pup doesnt want to eat, new owner puts it down to leaving the litter or changing the food....and the next thing is they have to be rushed to a hospital because theyre virtually comatose or seizing.

There are a good range of breed specific books available at good pet stores and the ones Ive looked at do cover pretty much all of the problems you 'might' or are more likely to encounter with that breed.

Please dont take this the wrong way but if the breed of dog your looking for is based on how it behaves at your work maybe any dog is not suitable for you at this time.

Obviously I dont know where you work/what your job is but I can tell you that even working in animal hospitals, kennels or grooming salons and employees, management or owners of the business bringing their dogs in daily is great if the dogs out of the way but Ive seen dogs get accidentally trodden on by other employees, have office chairs accidentally run over their tails, have accidentally got outside of the building when someone has opened a door...and there are the occasional employee dogs that have barked non-stop almsot the entire time theyre there, have attacked other pets that have been there, either other employees dogs or patients or even gone for and bitten other employees.

If your working you cant be paying attention to your dog all the time. Not that I have anything against dogs going to work with people if the dogs are under control, Ive had quite a few of my own dogs with me at work....but I had already had them for a while and I knew exactly what their behaviour was like. All Im saying is that what if the puppy you get turns out after a month or 2 not to be suitable to be able to go to work with you?

Just a thought.

 

thanks for the advise...as far is work is concerned i work for my dad...just him and i in the office, so theres not much traffic, mainly i didn't want to bother him... i also sell real estate so i could also bring the dog with me if it wasn;t too big...i'll look into a purebreed

 

Have you thought about looking around some local shelters and rescues? That way you could see exactly what your getting and some rescues actually encourage you to spend a few days or so coming in and taking dogs your interested in for short walks so you can get to know them a little.

I think Ive seen just about every breed there is in these places, including plenty of mixes. You might have a hard time finding one so small as they usually go pretty quick but Ive worked with a lot of rescues that weighed between about 6-12# My little Chi mix rescue weighed about 5-6#