Home / Maltese vs Havanese
Maltese usually wins on sheer small size and the purest low-shedding coat, no undercoat at all. Havanese usually wins on easier house-training and a sturdier build around young kids. Here is the honest, numbers-first breakdown.
Short answer: pick the Maltese if the smallest possible dog and the least amount of loose hair matter most to you. Pick the Havanese if you want an easier dog to house-train and a build that holds up a little better around younger kids. Longer answer: these two breeds get compared constantly, both are toy-sized, both are low-shedding, both are devoted companions with long silky coats, but the real differences show up in size, coat structure, and trainability, not in some vague "better breed" verdict. Here is the honest side by side.
Our take
The Maltese is capped under 7 pounds by its own AKC standard, with 4 to 6 pounds preferred, and its single-layer coat carries no undercoat at all, part of why it shows up so often in allergy-conscious breed searches. What that size buys you is a dog that is genuinely fragile as a puppy and, by most trainers' accounts, a bit more stubborn to house-train. The Havanese runs 7 to 13 pounds under its own AKC standard, a sturdier build that holds up better around young kids, and the breed's temperament, described in its own AKC standard as "friendly, playful, alert and intelligent with a sweet, non-quarrelsome disposition," tends to make house-training and general obedience noticeably easier. Both breeds are low-shedding, both are devoted lap companions, and both live well into their teens. If you are choosing on size and coat purity, lean Maltese. If you are choosing on ease of training and a sturdier build for a young family, lean Havanese.
Thirteen points that actually matter when you are choosing between the two, not just breed-standard trivia.
Swipe sideways on a phone to see the Havanese column.
| What matters | Maltese | Havanese |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | Under 7 lbs by AKC standard, 4 to 6 lbs preferred | 7 to 13 lbs by AKC standard |
| Height at shoulder | 7 to 9 in | 8.5 to 11.5 in, 9 to 10.5 in preferred |
| Coat structure | Single-layer coat, no undercoat at all, pure white by breed standard | Soft double coat, silky topcoat over some undercoat, many colors allowed |
| Shedding | Very low, often the lowest of the low-shedding toy breeds since there is no undercoat to blow out | Also low and a common allergy-conscious pick, though the double coat sheds a bit more than the Maltese's |
| Temperament | Bred purely as a companion, no herding or hunting drive, affectionate but can run independent-minded | Friendly, playful, alert, and sweet-natured per its own AKC standard, rarely defensive with strangers |
| With young kids | Fragile at under 7 lbs; many breeders are cautious placing puppies with very young kids | Sturdier build, widely described as patient and tolerant of children, still needs supervision |
| Trainability | Intelligent but independent-minded, a long-standing reputation as one of the harder toy breeds to house-train | Eager to please, quick to learn, typically house-trains easily with positive reinforcement |
| Exercise needs | Short daily walks plus indoor play | Short daily walks plus indoor play, about the same |
| Grooming | Daily brushing for a long show coat, or 2 to 3 brushings a week in a shorter puppy cut | 2 to 3 brushings a week; many pet Havanese are trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks to manage the extra coat volume |
| Health testing to ask for | Patella, congenital heart (OFA), annual eye exam (ACVO), bile-acid liver-shunt screening | OFA hip, OFA patella, and an annual OFA-CAER eye exam, the Havanese Club of America's three required CHIC tests; cardiac evaluation is recommended, not required |
| Average lifespan | 12 to 15 years | 13 to 16 years per Havanese Club of America-linked longevity data |
| AKC recognition | 1888 | 1996, more than a century later |
| Typical price | $1,500 to $4,000 | Roughly $1,500 to $3,500 |
If you have only ever seen a Havanese trotting around a dog park, the breed's actual history explains a lot about its temperament and why it trains so easily.
The Havanese is Cuba's national dog, and its path to the AKC was not smooth. When Cuban families fled into exile after the 1959 revolution, only a handful, most documented as the Perez, Fantasio, and Barba families, managed to bring their dogs with them, leaving the US gene pool at around 11 Havanese. American breeders spent decades rebuilding the breed from that small foundation before the AKC recognized it in 1996, more than a century after the Maltese's 1888 recognition.
A Havanese's coat is a soft double layer, a silky topcoat over some undercoat, and it comes in far more colors than the Maltese's solid-white-only standard: cream, chocolate, black, gold, and parti-color combinations are all recognized. It still needs 2 to 3 brushings a week to stay tangle-free, and many pet Havanese wear a shorter trim to manage the extra coat volume.
The honest part
It would be easy for a Maltese site to only tell you what is good about a Maltese. Here is where the Havanese is genuinely the better fit for some households, not a consolation prize.
Still deciding
The Maltese's temperament isn't an accident. It traces to a specific place and a specific job, or rather, the lack of one. Read the full story on why the Maltese is a Mediterranean breed for the context behind the coat, the size, and the personality this comparison is built on.
Both are low-shedding, and plenty of allergy-sensitive owners do fine with either breed. The Maltese has a true single-layer coat with no undercoat at all, so it often sheds even less than the Havanese's soft double coat, which does carry some undercoat. Neither breed is allergy-free, and reactions vary person to person and dog to dog. If allergies are a real concern, spend time with an adult dog of the specific breed, more than once, before you commit.
The Havanese, generally. The AKC breed standard itself describes the Havanese as friendly, playful, and eager to please, and the breed is widely known for taking to house training quickly with positive reinforcement. The Maltese is just as intelligent but more independent-minded, with a long-standing reputation as one of the harder toy breeds to house-train.
The Havanese tends to be the steadier pick for young kids. It runs sturdier at 7 to 13 pounds and is widely described as patient and tolerant with children, though play should always be supervised at this size either way. The Maltese tops out under 7 pounds and is more physically fragile, which is part of why many breeders are cautious about placing a puppy with very young kids.
Both are near the low end for shedding, but the coats work differently. The Maltese has a single coat with no undercoat at all, closer to human hair than typical dog fur. The Havanese has a soft double coat that still carries some undercoat underneath the silky topcoat. Both need regular brushing to prevent matting either way, and neither is allergy-free.
The Maltese, clearly. The AKC standard caps a Maltese under 7 pounds, with 4 to 6 pounds preferred. A Havanese standard runs 7 to 13 pounds, roughly double the Maltese at the top end. If the goal is the smallest realistic toy dog, the Maltese wins outright.
Close, with a slight edge to the Havanese. Havanese average 13 to 16 years in longevity surveys tied to the Havanese Club of America. The Maltese averages 12 to 15 years. The ranges overlap for most of their length, and general care, weight management, and dental health matter more to an individual dog's lifespan than this small a gap between breed averages.
Leaning Maltese? See what to look for before you buy and what day-to-day life with the coat and the fragility of a toy breed actually looks like. Leaning Havanese? See Havanese puppies at Havanese Finder, a family-owned site in the same network.
Read the breeder checklist