Are Malshi Dogs barkers? Do Malshi Dogs bark a lot?

Our Malshi is a quiet dog, not very vocal at all, and definitely not a barker. She does bark to defend her home, if an unknown person or another animal enters the property our Malshi will bark.

She won’t just bark at the whole neighborhood but that is because of training. When she was a puppy if a number of dogs in the neighborhood started barking she would eventually join in. Now that our Malshi is older she reacts to other dogs barking, she gets very excited and normally runs out to the backyard to check on whats happening but she never barks back at the other dogs.

When on a walk she would never actively bark at other dogs or people.

Our Malshi dog is a barker when we leave the house without her. She will bark at us, it seems to be her way of telling us that we forgot to take her, or more likely barking is her way of telling us she feels that we are not safe outside without her. But all is forgiven when we get home safely, she will always greet us with excitement.

 Are Malshis easy to train?

She loves to play games and is willing to be trained but the Malshi isn’t one of the easiest dogs to train. It takes time and a load of praise but they can be trained. Malshi Dogs tend to form an extremely close bond with their owners, so they naturally want to please us which makes dog training possible. But they are also capable of being stubborn, if they decide learning something new doesn’t meld with what they want then it can be an uphill battle. An example would be that our Malshi does play fetch, she’s very smart and learned the game at an early age but she likes being chased more. So she will play fetch a few times and then quickly decides to turn the game into a chasing game, if we aren’t willing to join in then she decides that game time is over.

Are Malshis Smart page

Do Malshi Dogs like to cuddle

After a long day, our Malshi is more than happy to settle down and is a good lap dog. She is slightly big for it, but that’s okay as she really does enjoy the time spent on your lap getting pats at night. Malshi Dogs have a suitably sized frame for laying on your lap. Mid-morning and then late at night she will often ask permission to jump up on our laps.

Are Malshis aggressive?

Our WookiDog is rather scared of larger dogs or dogs that are overly hyper. As mentioned she has been attacked a few times by much bigger dogs than her. So she might seem that she has a slightly aggressive temperament when other dogs can approach her but she is just nervous. In no way is she an aggressive dog and I’ve met other Malshi owners who share the same story.

Are Malshi Dogs hypoallergenic? Do Malshi dogs shed?

Now yes, the Malshi can be thought of as a Hypoallergenic dog but it will still drop a little hair and dander just like us humans. The Malshi doesn’t shed hair in a massive yearly burst like dog breeds with a double layer coat.

If the hair is kept short by giving the Malshi a shave every two months then grooming can be massively reduced or nearly totally eliminated. But it’s the cute hair that gives the breed so much of its character, letting the hair fully grow out is such an adorable look. We typically keep the body hair fairly short by shaving every two months and then let her facial hair grow out. The hair does tend to irritate the eyes so it best to trim around the eyes.

Hypoallergenic Dog page

Grooming Malshi’s is a must, you have to at least brush their coat once a week if you want the hair to stay matt free. They can smell, but only if it has been a number of weeks since a wash. So nothing overly bad or unacceptable.

Malshi dogs can be trained with a bit of work, so with grooming, a Malshi will learn to settle down during grooming if treated well. We provide treats and loads of nice scratches to help calm our WookiDog. She has now learned to settle down and wait out the grooming process.

Malshi Dog Pros and Cons

I didn’t really end up providing much information on the negatives of owning a Malshi. To be honest they are all massively outweighed by the positives. I guess a slight negative for some owners is that they want attention, just like a young child and our Malshi does tend to get under our feet a bit. She knows not too, but does it anyway and figures she can just jump out of the way if or when it’s needed. The Malshi Dog tends to form such a strong bond with their adopted parents and family that some form of separation anxiety has to expected but this can be addressed with behavioral training.

The other negative would be the grooming, but that is going to be a thing for any long hair dog breed. If the Malshi Dog is an indoors dog then tangles and knots are less of an issue but will still happen. I find that taking our WookiDog out for early morning walks when there is dew on the grass will quickly lead to knots around her legs and belly. So I tend to only walk her later in the day.

The Malshi Dog does tend to grow hair on the inside of their ear, all the way back in towards the eardrum. This has caused some health issues for WookiDog, the only health issue that she has experienced from our perspective. She tends to get a build-up of ear wax which can then lead to yeast infections in her ear. For Wookie Dog this has been treated by a trip to the vet, they squeeze in a medical gell that fills her ear canal and is left for a week. This ear treatment works extremely well. Some owners have the hair plucked from the ear but going off our vet’s advice we have not removed the hair.

The teeth of Malshi Dogs are said to be problematic, we have not experienced any problems at this point. We feed dry kibble each day to try and help break up any plaque around the teeth. We also provide numerous soft chew toys for our Malshi Dog to play with. When bored she spends some of her time chewing on the toys which would have to slightly clean the teeth. We recently took Wookie Dog into the vet to have her teeth cleaned, this involves a general anesthetic, and Wookie slept through the cleaning process. The vet suggested coming back after 18 months for another full clean.

When selecting food and treats for your Malshi Dog be sure to inspect the ingredients for added sugars. A healthy diet will also contribute to better oral health.