The Teacup Maltipoo (or the Teacup Maltese Poodle mix), one of the most sought after mixed dogs known to mankind because of how furry and adorable it is, is cross breed dog that is a product of a Poodle and toy/miniature/teacup Maltese.
However, and according to the American Kennel Club (AKC), the Teacup Maltipoo is not an officially recognized breed.
What Is A Teacup Maltipoo?
Teacup is nothing but a term that’s used by breeders to describe dogs that are much smaller in size than their average breed standards.
The AKC [1] also goes on to state that the practice of breeding solely to produce dogs that turn out to be of a much smaller size than natural (which is what many unethical Toy Maltipoo dog breeders do nowadays) can have very dangerous and detrimental effects on the dog’s health and life.
Now, given that Maltipoos are not purebred dogs but are hybrid/designer dogs, the AKC doesn’t have a set height and weight standard for this crossbreed.
Maltipoos, however, are recognized as a hybrid dog breed by the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) [2], the National Maltipoo Club, and the Maltipoo Club of America, although not recognized as a separate dog breed.
The National Maltipoo Club and the Maltipoo Club of America state that a normal-sized adult Maltipoo should weigh not less than 5 lbs and not more than 12 lbs.
So, in our case, a Teacup Maltipoo would be one with a small or tiny size relative to the normal-sized Maltipoo and would stand less than 5 lbs in weight when an adult.
Teacup Maltipoo Appearance
Size: The Teacup Maltipoo usually weighs less than 5 lbs as a fully grown adult (and less than 2 lbs before the age of 2 months most of the times), as opposed to the weight of a normal-sized Maltipoo which would be between 5-12 lbs as a fully grown adult.
Much of its small size is thanks to its Teacup Maltese parent.
Color: The Teacup Maltipoo comes in all sorts of colors, most common of which are white, black cream, grey, silver, black, and light brown.
Coat: The Teacup Maltipoo is widely known for its wavy fur and for its heavy shedding, with the majority of the thanks going to its parents which are both very hairy dogs, meaning you’re going to have a lot of work to do when it comes to brushing and grooming this dog on a regular basis.
If you tend to get allergies around dogs who shed excessively, then you might want to reconsider getting this specific dog.
Teacup Maltipoo Temperament & Character
The Teacup Maltipoo has a temperament and character that takes many things from both its parents.
Socialization: The Teacup Maltipoo is an extremely friendly dog, both to humans and other animals as well, meaning that this dog will be a perfect fit to your home if you have other animals at your household and are always afraid about bringing in a dog because you don’t how they will get along.
However, and unlike other cross dog breeds such as the German Shepherd Husky Mix, the Teacup Maltipoo isn’t your best choice if you’re looking for a guard dog for your home because of how friendly they are with everyone they meet, even complete strangers.
Beware, if left alone for extended periods of time, the Teacup Maltipoo can easily develop separation anxiety and become miserable.
Exercise: Teacup Maltipoos strive on living an active lifestyle and have to get adequate amounts of exercise in their daily routine, day in day out.
The good news is that unlike other crossbreeds like the Labrador Pit Bull Mix which require large enough yard space to roam around freely in, the Teacup Maltipoo can get all the exercise they need roaming around an apartment just fine because of how small and tiny it is.
With that said, you still have to take this dog out for walks and proper exercise in somewhere like the dog park for many other reasons.
The last thing you want to do is not properly give your Teacup Maltipoo the exercise it needs each and every day, because then it will start to bark, whine, dig and chew on everything and anything it can find to release all the energy building up inside.
Exercising with them yourself is ideal as well because that will strengthen the love, loyalty, and affection it holds towards you.
The exercise you give your Teacup Maltipoo doesn’t have to be anything too extensive or demanding, because it doesn’t need a whole lot since it’s a tiny dog.
A short walk a day should prove to be more than enough for this crossbreed.
Intelligence: The Maltipoo dog breed is further up on the list when it comes to intelligence levels among different dog breeds.
This is excellent news for anyone who has somewhat of a not-so-pleasant experience training another dog in the past or someone who is just afraid of the whole procedure, as this dog breed is a real fast learner when it comes to learning specific things like potty training.
Of-course, this fast learning advantage only comes to those who know how to get the best out of puppies during training with methods like positive reinforcement techniques that keep the puppy motivated and ready to go.
You’re going to need these methods when training this dog to cut down a bit on its excessive barking so your neighbors don’t hate you!
Teacup Maltipoo Health
The crossbreed between a Teacup Maltese and a Poodle often results in a healthy Teacup Maltipoo, provided that it’s done by high quality and ethical breeder.
Ethical breeders will tend to get an occasional puppy that’s significantly smaller than the rest of the puppies as part of a litter.
This puppy will go on to grow and remain less than 4 pounds, which means it falls under the Teacup Maltipoo category.
This sometimes happens by chance and there’s nothing the breeder can do about it.
However, unethical breeders will go out of their way and try everything possible to make sure that they are only breeding for puppies that will grow up to weigh far less than the breed standard weight, which will allow them to label all these puppies as “Teacup Maltipoos” and make a huge profit off of them.
With that out of the way, there are some health issues that affect both parent breeds which are passed down to the Teacup Maltipoo, even when ethical breeders are selling you these Teacup Maltipoos, including:
- Eye disease
- Skin disease
- Respiratory problems
- Easily breakable bones
- Luxating patella [3]
- Hip dysplasia
- Collapsed trachea
- Hypoglycemia (which can oftentimes lead to coma and death). Sometimes, a little bit of syrup will do the trick, but other times it’s much more serious and the Teacup Maltipoo has to be taken to emergency care.
- White shaker syndrome [4]
Teacup Maltipoo Care
Because of its extremely small size, there are some things you have to be very aware of when you get a Teacup Maltipoo.
Weather: Teacup Maltipoos should be protected from extreme weather conditions at all times because their tiny bodies can’t cope with the harshness.
So during wintertime, make sure that your Teacup Maltipoo has a cozy sweater, coat, or vest on and is dressed by any other accessory needed to fight back the cold.
Food: You want to make sure that you consult with your veterinarian about what an ideal diet for your Teacup Maltipoo would be, which would lessen the risks of your puppy developing bad breath, gum infections, and tooth loss.
You should also make sure that you strictly stick to the ideal diet for your Teacup Maltipoo because the last thing you want is this dog losing or gaining any weight without you properly noticing it and taking action to reverse things back to normal.
Remember, Teacup Maltipoos are often less than 4 pounds, so even the slightest of weight gain or weight loss by just 1 pound means a 25% weight gain or weight loss.
Likewise, overweight dogs can develop a host of health issues.
Placement: Again, since this is a very tiny dog in size, it’s so easy to just not notice it right there in front of you at many times.
That means if your Teacup Maltipoo is lying on the couch or sleeping on your bed and you don’t notice it for some reason, there’s a big risk that any contact you or anyone else makes with this tiny puppy in such a situation will be too much for its fragile bones to handle.
And, believe it or not, sometimes it’s even very hard to notice the Teacup Maltipoo right under your feet if you’re not actively looking around.
And yes, in many situations these incidents may even mean death.
Kids: Due to the very vulnerable bone nature of these Teacup Maltipoos, it’s best if you don’t let the kids come into any kind of direct contact with them.
A kid might want to show the Teacup Maltipoo how much they love it, might pick it up and hug it real tight, which may result in multiple bone fractures and even prove to be fatal to the puppy.
Or, a kid might want to innocently play with the puppy, get a little bit too rough with it after getting too excited and, bad things might happen.
So, since young kids can’t really differentiate between right and wrong in these situations, and since mistakes can happen very easily, keep these puppies away from children.
Leash: Opt for putting a harness on your Teacup Maltipoo instead of a collar, simply because a collar on this tiny dog’s neck can easily lead to the collapse of the cartilage rings of its neck.
If you enjoyed reading this article on the Maltipoo you might be interested in this one we wrote about Maltese Chihuahua Mixes
Resources
1. Smallest Dog Breeds https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/smallest-dog-breeds/
2. Canadian Kennel Club https://www.ckc.ca/en
3. Luxating patella https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/patellar-luxations
4. White Shaker Disease Syndrome https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fbe7/845429c07adaa489ae7d6d97aa9072486e8f.pdf