As a Maltese breeder, I have always had a struggle to find quality breeding stock. The many Maltese I have looked at in numerous states seem to share the same breed standard deviation. A head that is too narrow, and a nose that is too long. I was discussing this with Stacy Mason from AKC, and so she stopped in and looked at my stock. Comparing them to the breed standard, she agreed that it is a common theme she sees in commercial kennels. Their owners were chasing things like black points, icy white coats, or some other traits, while losing the overall typy look. She felt that the show breeders held a lot of the key genetics that we needed to make improvements. She gave me a list of names and numbers and some suggestions. 

I started calling some of these show people and soon discovered that the show dog world is a close-knit group. The chance of selling puppies to a breeder that they never heard of before, and who they did not know would even show the puppies they were buying, was unheard of. I soon had my list exhausted with no prospects in sight.

A few months later I heard that my friend from Daviess County had imported 2 Maltese from Ukraine. I had never considered that angle, so I called him to find out more. After talking to him, I discovered that there are people who search for and import dogs for a living. He was really happy with his two males, one was a 6-month-old puppy, and the other was a year old. They had the wide faces, short noses, and black points that breeders look for. He was actually looking at another litter with two males in it, and he wanted oner of them. We made an agreement that I would take one, if he tool care of the arrangements. 

A few weeks later, a nanny showed up outside our house at 2:00 AM with two little fluff balls, and we were in business. A few weeks after that, I got a call from a lady named Patricia who was looking for some Maltese females. I had some that she was interested in, so we set up an appointment. She picked out two females and we agreed on a pickup date. She loved to talk, and I soon discovered that she had been a show breeder! She knew a lot of people in the show world. I told her how I had to import a male because we were unable to get any show breeders to sell to us. 

She was surprised to hear that, and offered to get a puppy for us if we wanted her to. I was intrigued at the thought, and before she left, she made a few phone calls and lined up a breeder who had puppies for sale. I couldn’t believe my luck! Even though I had never met her before, she seemed to be excited to be of assistance and introduced me to the breeder as a friend who was looking for a good quality male puppy. I spoke with the breeder and we talked about what I was looking for in a puppy. She agreed to send Patricia some pictures. 

When Patricia picked up her puppies, she showed me the pictures the breeder had sent her. I was impressed with one of the puppies and we agreed on a price. When the puppy was ready to go, I paid the breeder through cash app and Patricia met her halfway to pick up the puppy. I called the breeder a few days later to discuss the puppy and to tell her we are very happy with him. I thanked her for the opportunity to purchase him, and then asked if she knew we were Amish commercial breeders. She admitted that she had suspected we might be, but she knew Patricia and trusted that any of her friends would be ok to sell to as well. We ended the conversation on a good note. She invited us to reach out if we ever need another puppy, and she would do her best to help us. She has been true to her word and we have bought several puppies from her in the years since. I realize that most breeds have an excellent gene pool among our plain circles. In these cases top quality stock can be obtained, by visiting different operations and picking out stock to meet your goals. However, if you can’t find the quality you’re looking for, check into importing, or maybe with a little luck, you might be able to connect with a show breeder as well!