# What type of Bichon is my dog?



## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

We recently got a 8 month old dog that the owner said was a Maltese. 

The tail does stay down and fairly straight with a small curve to it.

Shes on the better side of 7-8 months and is a real eater.. = human food a lot and is 12.8 stout pounds.

Here are a couple pictures, and link to a couple short videos.. My wife and I are puzzled. She looks like a number of Bichons. We were thinking Balognese, but I think shes too big.. Then we were thinking the possibility of a couple others ones.. 


*Pictures:*

























*Videos:*
[video]http://s7.photobucket.com/user/224/media/IMG_1221_zps4a9d8ed1.mp4.html[/video]
[video]http://s7.photobucket.com/user/224/media/IMG_1220_zps09972220.mp4.html[/video]

Your breed experience in guessing, or if you know right off the back would be very appreciated.

Additional notes: She has generally very soft hair, nice round eyes, legs are short, stockyish (I think shes already over weight.. shes an eater!)

THANK YOU!!!


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## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

Based on the likelihood of whats common and what is not I would say malti-poo ( maltese / poodle ) . Only because havanese and Bolognese are not as common as a malti-poo and I would imagine the first owner would know better what the dog was..especially if it was a specific breed like those. Thats just my opinion. Maltipoos have a range of looks depending on what characteristics they pick up.

Examples of Maltipoos: ( they can def take on a Bichon look )


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

We were seriously considering the possibility of Havanese and Bolognese. I know she came from a breeder to a elderly couple to us, and came with all paperwork under the sun but breed registration. I would consider your response to be in a really good direction.. Something itches me and says shes a pure bred, but what do I know.. thats why i'm here.


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## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

she does have characteristics of a havanese don't get me wrong, for sure she has that look. but I am just going by the logic of whats the most likely. and most common. add into that the owner said it was a maltese. and it came directly from a breeder. not from a shelter where they took a guess at the breed. If it came from the breeder to that family and they said it was maltese that adds a little more weight. Probably not a reputable breeder ( from the few details you provided. Paper work "trail" say one breed ends up not looking like that breed completely. Smells like someone trying to get $$ selling "pure bred" dogs with "papers" ) but they had to have known maltese was part to pass that on to the buyer in my opinion.

Also Havanese and Bolognese are more of a rare specialty breed and are usually expensive one would not usually buy one breed and end up with one of these dogs. It would be extremely unlikely!


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

Al thought those dogs resemble our dog, I don't think we have a match there. The people that we got her from said she was a pure bred Maltese, but there is no way she could be seeing that she is 2x the weight only at 8 months old. My wife and I love the bichon, and poodle breed and took a shot in the dark here. 

Thats whats making us consider other options.

We already have a Malti-poo as a 2nd dog.. They do not even resemble each other, but in white color.. Thats it.


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

She does look a ridiculously a lot like a havanese.. The color white throws everything off lol! If these breeds had distinct colors it would be so easy..


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

Fade said:


> she does have characteristics of a havanese don't get me wrong, for sure she has that look. but I am just going by the logic of whats the most likely. and most common. add into that the owner said it was a maltese. and it came directly from a breeder. not from a shelter where they took a guess at the breed. If it came from the breeder to that family and they said it was maltese that adds a little more weight. Probably not a reputable breeder ( from the few details you provided. Paper work "trail" say one breed ends up not looking like that breed completely.) but they had to have known maltese was part to pass that on to the buyer in my opinion.


I totally agree. They had the dog from 6 weeks old till 7 months. They were very old and extremely slow... Only reason why i'm here.. And we put her on the scale.. and I happen to have a small grudge against maltese dogs because of an experience and she just looks different.


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## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

I just can't see how they would end up with a not so common dog when getting a maltese. Slow or not. I dont think someone would unknowingly buy a purebred dog of a completely different breed. and mistake that. I think it was more likely they bought a Maltese that was mixed with something else and the breeder was trying to get money passing it off as a purebred. Its just way more likely.


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

Fade said:


> she does have characteristics of a havanese don't get me wrong, for sure she has that look. but I am just going by the logic of whats the most likely. and most common. add into that the owner said it was a maltese. and it came directly from a breeder. not from a shelter where they took a guess at the breed. If it came from the breeder to that family and they said it was maltese that adds a little more weight. Probably not a reputable breeder ( from the few details you provided. Paper work "trail" say one breed ends up not looking like that breed completely. Smells like someone trying to get $$ selling "pure bred" dogs with "papers" ) but they had to have known maltese was part to pass that on to the buyer in my opinion.


WAIT... NOW my wife looks at some of the paperwork and its had Maltese spelled wrong all over the place..


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

Fade said:


> I just can't see how they would end up with a not so common dog when getting a maltese. Slow or not. I dont think someone would unknowingly buy a purebred dog of a completely different breed. and mistake that. I think it was more likely they bought a Maltese that was mixed with something else and the breeder was trying to get money passing it off as a purebred. Its just way more likely.


But how do you explain the size, stockiness, and the look resemblance.. We already have a Maltese poodle mix... and they don't even compare slightly. LOL shes a great dog.. I'm doing this for my wife.


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## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

You don't know what characteristics a dog picks up when its mixed. My mom has a maltese / yorkie / Shihtzu and its bigger then all of them. Its weird how it works...Poodles come in all sizes ...and not all maltese are super tiny. Sounds like this breeder was not a good breeder...so who knows even if the maltese they claim it was , was purebred to begin with. 

lets use another breed mix as a example. a husky lab. Same mix completely different look and will probably come out completely different sizes. Genes work that way...


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## RunsWithDogs (May 19, 2013)

Since a maltipoo is not a real breed no two will look exactly a like..same with golden doodles and any other poodle mix people come up with. You have a very cute dog..and chances are you have a mixed breed. If you had one of the purebreds you mentioned you would know! Those dogs are not very common and many of those breeders are pretty careful about placing them in homes where they don't end up in puppy mill or backyard breeding situations. Unless you paid $1000+ for this dog I really doubt you have a Havanese or Balognese..pair that with the fact that the breed "maltese" wasn't spelled correctly on your paperwork and i'm betting you either have a poorly bred maltese or a maltiXsomething.

In any case you have a very cute white dog! Any breeds will only be a guess but I'm pretty sure you have a cute little mix.


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## hueyeats (Apr 2, 2013)

I'm thinking some Havanese too...
Just because of the eyes and the way the hair framed the face.

Cute!!!


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## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

You could always do a DNA test. See what happens they are not always accurate tho


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

After looking around a little more... She looks exactly like a coton de tulear


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## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

These are uncommon dog breeds. they cost a lot of money not signed over with bad paper work with the wrong breed written on it from a back yard breeder. The chances of you getting a purebred dog like that from the information you provided is so unlikely ..it would be like going to a local backyard breeder and buying a cheap German Shepard and walking out with a Belgian Tervuren by mistake...or going to buy a quartz ring and the jeweler accidentally gives you a diamond ring. Its extremely unlikely. People know when they have these dogs and the prices reflect that. those dog breeds are not very common! Honestly I work as a vet tech for 6 yrs and see hundreds of dogs and have not had one coton de Tulear or a Bolognese come in. and only one Havanese. but IVe seen more dogs than I can count that look like yours that are maltese mixes or other mixes.

if you REALLY want your dog to be a purebred then get a DNA test done and see what happens I would be greatly amused to find out for sure and maybe youll prove people wrong for doubting you.


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## rhapathy (Jul 10, 2013)

I'm not sure at all.. I know what your saying. I'm just going off what I see from pics and what she looks like... I have no knowledge of these breeds so I'm not wishful thinking. None the less, these responses really help.. Maybe a pure bred.. Maybe a mutt... Maybe a rare breed.. Just didn't know if she strikes anyone of a certain dog right off the bat.


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## Spirit_of_Cotons (Jun 21, 2009)

Your dog looks similar to mine which is a Coton de Tulear. So I'll say that or a Coton mix.

Fade--the Coton is actually making its name known. Four years ago not many people had heard of the Luke's breed, now a days? There are a lot of people who say, "Oh I know what that is." Also an ex-friend of mine was finding Cotons that needed rescuing, so they are out there, but not as often as a GSD.


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