How to Groom a Maltese

Most Maltese grooming articles show you a dozen cute haircut photos. The honest version starts with one blunt question, because it decides everything downstream: are you going to brush this dog every day, yes or no?

The traditional Maltese look is the floor-length show coat, parted down the spine, and the American Kennel Club is upfront that it is a show-stopping, high-maintenance coat. It needs daily, often twice-daily, line brushing, baths every week or two, and in serious show homes the coat is wrapped to protect it. That is a real time commitment, not a weekend hobby.

The alternative most pet owners choose is the puppy cut, or teddy-bear cut, taken down to roughly a quarter-inch to an inch all over. It still looks like a Maltese, it mats far less, and it brings the brushing down to something a normal household can sustain. The mistake owners regret is keeping the long coat because it is beautiful, falling behind on the brushing, and arriving at the groomer with a matted dog that has to be shaved anyway. Choosing the puppy cut up front is not lazy, it is kind. Pick the coat length you will actually maintain, and everything else in this guide gets easier.

Here is the fact that explains the whole routine: a Maltese has a single, silky coat with no undercoat, and it grows continuously like human hair. With no undercoat to give it structure, the fine hair tangles at any friction and, because it is so soft, a surface tangle compacts down to the skin fast. That is why brushing only the top of the coat fails, and why the worst mats hide under the collar, behind the ears, in the armpits, and around the sanitary area.

The technique that works is line brushing. Part the coat in a horizontal line, hold the hair above it out of the way, and brush the exposed layer from the skin outward with a soft slicker brush, then move the line down and repeat. Finish by running a stainless-steel comb through each section. If the comb will not pass cleanly to the skin, that section is not brushed out, full stop. Never brush a bone-dry coat, since it snaps and breaks; a light mist of detangling spray first lets everything glide. And crucially, do not try to rip a mat out, because torn coat often grows back thin or not at all.

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The number one bathing mistake is washing a matted dog. Water shrinks and tightens any tangle that is already there, setting a loose mat into felt that is nearly impossible to comb out. So brush the coat completely mat-free first, then bathe. Because there is no undercoat, resist the urge to over-bathe: every one to three weeks suits most Maltese, and washing more often strips the oils and dries the exposed skin.

For the white coat, a gentle whitening or brightening shampoo, the kind that uses optical brighteners rather than bleach, keeps the coat looking clean and bright without harming the skin. Rinse thoroughly, since residue can dull and irritate. Then dry to the skin with a dryer on low heat while you brush, working in sections so the coat dries straight. A well-brushed coat that is left to air-dry will still mat as it dries, so the drying is genuinely half the job.

Tear staining is the defining cosmetic issue of the breed, because the reddish-brown marks under the eyes stand out against a white face. The colour comes from porphyrin, an iron pigment excreted in tears that darkens in sunlight, plus yeast growing in the constantly damp hair below the eyes. The Maltese is predisposed because of its short muzzle and narrow tear ducts. Genetics play a role too, which is why littermates can stain differently.

The important move is to separate the stain from the cause. The American Maltese Association is explicit that new or heavy tearing should be checked by a vet first, since blocked ducts, ingrown lashes, infection, and allergies are all fixable medical causes. Day to day, keep the hair at the inner eye corners trimmed short so it does not wick tears across the face, wipe the area gently every day, and try filtered water in a stainless or ceramic bowl. Be wary of antibiotic tear-stain supplements: the original tylosin-based products were pulled by the FDA and are not approved for this use, and feeding antibiotics for a cosmetic stain is not something to do outside veterinary guidance. Clean, dry, trimmed face plus a vet for anything sudden is the honest protocol.

On a coat kept long around the face, the topknot is not just decorative. The hair grows continuously and falls into the eyes, causing irritation and worsening the tear wicking, so a topknot lifts it clear. Use soft latex grooming bands rather than household rubber bands, which snap and break the coat, and change the band daily without tying it tight. During the awkward too-short-for-a-topknot stage, small clips or a face trim do the same job. If you keep a puppy cut, a simple trim above the eyes handles it and the topknot becomes optional.

Keep nails short with a nail grinder or small-dog clipper, taking a little at a time to avoid the quick, and keep styptic powder on hand in case you go too short. Ears and the hair in the ear canal need routine attention to prevent trapped moisture and infection. Ear plucking and nail quicks are the two tasks owners most often botch at home, so it is worth having a groomer or vet show you the first time.

A Maltese is a standing grooming commitment. Professional grooms commonly run in the range of $60 to $100 or more per visit in Canada, higher in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, every four to six weeks. Canadian grooming cost surveys such as Dogster's give a sense of the ranges, though the price swings a lot with coat condition on arrival. A matted coat draws a de-matting surcharge or a shave-down.

A Maltese costs more than a plain small dog because the white coat, the tear-stain face work, and the hand-scissoring of the face and topknot are all skilled, time-consuming labour. Grooming at home cuts the bill, and a starter kit, a soft slicker, a steel comb, a whitening shampoo, detangler, a low-heat dryer, a nail grinder, and topknot bands, is a modest one-time spend that pays back fast. Even committed home groomers usually keep periodic professional visits for the scissoring and sanitary work, and the honest caveat is the familiar one: the tools only help if you brush daily.