Hi, I am new here and new to having a Maltese

[Katzie]

Hi, my name is Kathy and my 17 week old male Maltese is Kirby.

How do I get my picture of Kirby to be my avatar? I thought putting the picture in my profile would do that.

I'm going to try to attach some pictures of him here.

[CinttisLuke]

:mtwelcome:

He is ADORABLE!!!! You came to the right place!!! All the people over here are so nice! I love this forum and I been learning a lot about maltese! They have been helping me so much about taking care of my baby. I have a baby boy named LUCAS! he is 11 months and I LOVE him SO MUCH:hearter:. Thank you for sharing pictures! He is Adorable! :hearter:

[Zo zo's mom]

Welcome Kathy and Kirby!! Your fluff is just adorable. I am Elizabeth and I have two girls- Zoe, 3 and Abbie, soon to be 2. They are my first Maltese and I am totally in love with this breed.

Welcome to MT!

[JiJi's Mom]

Welcome to MT!!!

Glad you decided to join us. Kirby is too cute, love the pics :D

[JesBred]

WELCOME TO MALTESE TALK KATHY AND KIRBY

Kirby is SO cute!! I see you got a picture as your avatar.. So you got it figured out I assume?? Let us know if you would like some additional help ;)

I have a little morkie girl named Mitzy who just turned 3 last month, they grow up so fast!! Take lots of puppy pictures :D

[Morkie4]

Hi Kathy.......Mr. Kirby Man is looking mighty fine! He has an adorable face.......so stunning and sooooooo very very cute! He is a doll! What a cutie pie face; can you tell I adore that look!!!! :D

Thanks for sharing! I love picture #3 and #4; it really shows off how handsome he is! How long have you had him???

[bellaratamalt]

hi and welcome! Your kirby is a little cutie!

[Katzie]

Thank you all so much for all the welcomes and compliments. You all have such adorable fluffs too. Fluff is a very appropriate nickname for them. :)

We just got back from the Vet for his last distemper vaccine. Wow, did he give the Vet a fight this time. He made such a fuss with her touching his face, looking in his ears and mouth. Then when she cut his nails, she managed to distract him with a biscuit for the back paws but come the front paws he yelped so loud and cried. When the Vet was all done she held him and kissed him so he wouldn't hate her....LOL

I adopted Kirby on April 28th. I had a Lhasa Apso prior to that who had CRF and he was only 9 years old when he lost the battle on April 5th. Then 11 days later my mother passed away. A lot of people suggested that I get a puppy and I said "no way". I was not getting a puppy, I wasn't getting a purebred with hair that grows and grows, I was not getting a male dog, I was not getting a puppy and then I met Kirby. It was love at first sight.:o

I asked my kids if they wanted to go meet him and let me know what they thought. My son was hesitant as he was still struggling with the loss of Nestle and his grandmother. Then the next day he wanted to go see the puppy and my daughter was ready to go the minute I said "puppy". He won them over in an instant.

The place where I got him tells you this insanely high price for the dog at first. They wanted $4399- for him. I said "dollars???", that's more then I paid for the last car I bought...LOL Then it was $3500- and I got very upset because when I was there the day before the girl told me he was around $800-. I told the salesgirl and she took Kirby away and brought me a Maltipoo and a ****zumal and said they were $800-. I was really upset and told the salesgirl that this wasn't about buying an $800- dog, this was about finding the puppy that was going to help all of us heal. So, she said she'd call the breeder and then she came back and said they could sell him for $1500- and the store would throw in a free crate and all the supplies I'd need. I was still upset about the situation, but my kids both said they would give me $500- towards him for my birthday which was April 25th and Mother's Day present. So, of course we took him and he has helped this family heal so much and filled up that empty spot till it has overflowed!!!!

He has Kennel cough and he also had intestinal parasites. I brought another sample today to retest. The Vet said it could take 3 mons for the Kennel cough to go away. We are spacing out the vaccines because of the cough and we're holding off on the Bordella vaccine.

I try to brush him everyday to get him used to it. He hates it and is a HUGE challenge. He may be small but he is fierce. I call him the "Kirbinator". I had a baby gate for over 10 years that I used for my last two dogs and it was in perfect condition. I used it for him and in less then 5 minutes he had chew chunks of it out, got his face hairs stuck in a piece, yelped for help. He survived just fine but the gate went out to the garbage. I am so thankful that he loves his crate. This is the first time I have ever used a crate with a dog. He's part bird because he has to have a cover on it to go to sleep. He loves it though, cause if I get busy and loose track of time for his nap he will put himself to bed in the crate.

I am going to share some more pics of him. I could talk about him forever. Hope you enjoy the pics. As soon as I figure out how to do a photo album I will put a bunch of pictures. These are from when I first got him. The first one he found a friend to play with in my closet, the 2nd one he's in the opening of my coffee table, the 3rd one he's looking at the camera and the 4th is by his crate. He is a real ham for the camera too!!!

[Emma's Mama]

Welcome! Your little Kirby is adorable. I just love puppy ears! I have one Maltese, Emma, who is one and a half. (I can't believe that - time flies!) She's my first Maltese too (first dog of any kind for me, actually!) and you'll learn lots here! :)

[JesBred]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother and your Lhaso :(

Kirby is such a DOLL baby!! I love the photo of him looking in the mirror, how smart!! I love crating my dogs too, growing up I never heard of such a thing then we got our first dog (a Weimaraner) and the breeder told us it was a good way to potty train. So we did some research and got him one. Well he was potty trained by the next week (I credit it to him being a genius dog, not the crate :lol2:) but he still LOVED his crate. Even now we don't really use it but even when we are just watching tv he will go lay in it and nap!! It was so worth it to train him :thumpup:

Hopefully Kirby will get over his Kennel cough soon!!

[CinttisLuke]

Hello!! Your baby is SOO CUTE!!!! I know why it was love a first sight! Im so sorry for your lost:( everything will be okay:hearter:. Now you have that baby that need and gives lots of love!! They are so smart! and they loves us!! Lucas is my first Pet and a LOVE LOVE LOVE him so much!!:hearter:. We love to see pictures of the fluff!! Thanks for sharing your pictures!!:D

[Punky]

How cute is that baby!

[Shammi's Dad]

Welcome, Kathy and Kirby! Shammi and I are quite glad to make your acquaintance.

I think you'll find, as I did, that the owners of Maltese fluffies end up in a reversed role scenario. But I'll say that it's one time being owned isn't all bad. These little guys and gals will find a way to endear themselves to the core of your soul. I know for sure Shammi did to me--and I couldn't ask for a better pal. So much so that I find myself proudly walking into K-Mart and buying hedgehogs two and three at a time.

Like you mentioned, I lost a good dog before Shammi came along and somehow he filled in part of what had been left vacant by Simba's passing and the rest of an emptyness that I'd lived with for far too long. That was a year ago. Today I can say that, yes, I am a guy and, yes, it may sound a little strange for us burly men-types to admit it, but I definitely love my little buddy. So much so I'm actively campaigning at home to get one or two or ten more Malties--I just doubt my wife will approve (especially considering that now our every kiss is interrupted by Maltie-tongue and she gets left out).

I have to give you this... Your Kirby definitely has a coat length I'd like to get on Shammi. Trouble is he buddies up to our Jack Russell/Beagle mix and their playing causes matting which ends up getting taken out by his groomer. Plus he won't let the wife touch him with a brush or comb.

Well, I've rambled on enough... Again, welcome!!

[Katzie]

Thank you for all the welcomes!!!!:)

Shammi's Dad - I love your description of what us Maltese fluffy owners are in - a reversed role scenario :hearter: Very fancy way of saying they have us wrapped around their little paws. I wouldn't have it any other way ;)

It's great to see a guy expressing his love for his fluffy little buddy. My son is 21 and he fell in love with Kirby instantly as did my 29 year old daughter. Actually everyone who has met him has fallen in love with him.

Tomorrow he and my groomer will be meeting for the first time. I have a groomer that comes in a Van and she was great with my Lhasa's. I'm getting him a puppy cut. I'll take some pictures in the morning for a before and after. Right now his hair is about 3 inches long and his head is starting to look like a mop. He is a challenge to brush and comb, but I figured out that he fits perfectly on this step stool I have, so if I put that up on the coffee table it's at the perfect height and he has no place to go because he's not into jumping yet. I try to brush him everyday and he gets a treat for putting up with it.

Be back with pictures in a day or so:)

[Shammi's Dad]

Like I told my wife--she's a Daschound person--you haven't lived until you've been Maltesed...