The Maltese has been favored for thousands of years. It was the European answer to Oriental lapdogs. Sailors and explorers brought back tales of tiny dogs that fit into the large sleeves or sat in the laps of the aristocrat Chinese, presumably to keep their owners warm!

The Maltese is almost undoubtedly one of the most ancient lap dogs of the Western World, but there has long been dispute over the actual origin of this charming breed. Charles Darwin placed the breed as having existed around 6000 BC, although a model of such a dog, some 2,000 years older, has since been found. This is presumed to have been a child’s toy. The Emperor Claudius (10 BC–AD 54) had such a dog, and it seems likely that they were taken to Asia by the Romans. Eventually they reached China, where it is believed that dogs of Maltese type contributed to the ancestral breeding of the Pekingese dog known today.

The breed has had numerous names during the course of history, including “Melitae Dog,” “Ye Ancient Dogge of Malta,” “Comforter,” “Spaniel Gentle,” “Shock Dog” and “Maltese Lion Dog.” The latter name most probably alludes to the fact that several of the early toy breeds had their coats styled into a “lion trim.” This caused some confusion among the breeds, especially with the breed now known for this cut, called the Löwchen (Little Lion Dog).

Many pre-Christian objects of art are adorned with the image of the Maltese, and in the courts of Imperial Rome, the Maltese was a favorite among the ladies, once being known as the “Roman Ladies’ Dog.” It was written of these dogs, “When his favorite dies he deposits the remains in a tomb and erects a monument over the grave with the inscription, ‘Offspring of the stock of Malta’.” Certainly Maltese were closely involved in Egyptian culture between 600 and 300 BC, at which time they were effectively worshipped as members of royal families.

The rare Löwchen, or Little Lion Dog, an early European lap dog, is known for his traditional “lion clip.”

In Greece, the first known written history of the breed was recorded around 350 BC by the philosopher-poet Aristotle, who attributed the origin of the breed to Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea. However, images of the Maltese have been found on Greek vases dating back to 500 BC.

Many of the early Italian painters included dogs in their paintings, and these dogs appear to have been Maltese. To throw further confusion upon the geographic origin of the breed, in AD 25 there was a town in Sicily called Melitia. Here beautiful little dogs calledCanis Melitei were found. Confusion understandably could have arisen because the island of Malta was earlier known as the Island of Melita. Writing in 1851, Youatt tells us that they were found not only in Malta but in other islands of the Mediterranean, where they “maintained the same character of being devotedly affectionate