Maltese training · Houston
Maltese training in Houston: house training and separation for a companion breed
Families with a Maltese usually tell us two things on the first call: it still has accidents, and it screams when they leave. The two problems have the same root, a dog that has never had a routine because it was small enough not to need one. This page covers the breed, the fix and the price.
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
The breed
What a Maltese is like to train: gentle, clever and unused to being told no.
The Maltese is a toy breed with a long, silky white coat and no undercoat, known around the Mediterranean as a lap companion for thousands of years. The AKC describes it as gentle, playful and charming, and it is a genuinely sweet dog. It is also clever enough to notice that whining brings a person and that an accident on the rug brings a cuddle rather than a trip outside.
Between eight and eighteen months the puppy pads are still down, the accidents have moved to the guest room, and the dog has decided that being alone is unacceptable. It cries when the front door closes and is still crying when the neighbor texts. Some Maltese add barking at every sound in an apartment hallway, and a few add a snap when a stranger reaches for them.
- An ancient lap breed with a silky single coat
- Accidents that never stopped because the pads never left
- Crying that starts when the door closes and does not stop
- Hallway barking and a snap at strangers in some dogs
Lessons and the stay
How we fix a Maltese's two problems: the schedule at your house, the alone time at ours.
House training a Maltese is a schedule, and the schedule is at your house, so the honest first step is an in-home lesson. Our trainer sets the crate, the meal times, the water cutoff and the potty spot, removes the pads, and shows you how to read the dog and reward it in the grass. Most Maltese are not hard to house train; they have simply never been held to a routine for two straight weeks.
Alone time is a board and train problem, because it needs repetitions your day cannot give it. In our Cypress home the Maltese learns a crate that is calm, a place bed with duration and absences that start at seconds and grow by the day, with the door opening before the dog gets worried. Updates arrive Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the go-home session hands you a departure routine you can actually follow.
In-home lesson: crate placement, fixed meals, water cutoff, one potty spot, pads gone.
A reward in the grass the moment the dog finishes, every time, for two weeks.
In the stay: crate calm at meals and at night, with the door open first.
Place with duration while a person leaves the room and comes back.
Absences timed from seconds to minutes to an hour, always ending before the crying starts.
Leash walking on Cypress sidewalks and calm around strangers in the stores on Fry Road.
Go-home session: you run the departure and the potty routine while our trainer watches.
Houston
Houston specifics for a Maltese: a white coat in the heat, apartments, and storm-season regressions.
A Maltese has no undercoat, so it handles heat better than a Pomeranian, but it is still a small dog inches from the pavement. From May through September our outdoor sessions run at dawn and after sunset, with the pavement tested first and the coat kept in a short cut. Wet grass and mosquito season, which in Houston never really ends, mean feet and belly get checked after walks.
Most Maltese we see live in apartments and townhomes in the Galleria area, Upper Kirby and Montrose, or in suburban houses in Katy and Cypress. An apartment Maltese needs a potty plan that survives an elevator ride and a hallway that echoes; a suburban one needs the yard and the front door. Hurricane season from June 1 to November 30 and July 4 fireworks push a lot of small dogs into indoor accidents and panic, so the crate is built as a refuge early. Fire ant mounds are checked near the potty spot before every yard session.
- No undercoat, but still dawn and dusk from May through September
- Elevator and hallway plans for apartment dogs
- Storm season and fireworks cause potty regressions
- Fire ants checked at the potty spot
Program and price
A $220 in-home lesson for the potty, Gold at $2,500 for alone time, Platinum at $3,750 for true separation anxiety.
House training alone is an in-home private lesson at $220, or $160 if you bring the dog to Cypress, though the rug is where the work is. The two-week Gold Board & Train at $2,500 builds crate calm, place with duration, door boundaries, loose leash walking and the first calm absences, with a go-home session, one more lesson and lifelong support. A Maltese that howls for hours, destroys the door or hurts itself when left needs the three-week Platinum at $3,750, because that is behavior modification with a slower plan.
A Maltese puppy under four months belongs in the Puppy Development Bundle, four sessions for $550 in Cypress or $750 in your home, where the crate and the potty routine are set before the pads become permanent. Door-to-door transport is $250 and includes the first lesson at your house.
- In-home lesson, $220: the potty schedule where the rug is
- Gold, $2,500: crate, place, first calm absences
- Platinum, $3,750: howling, destruction, panic when left
- Puppy bundle, $550 or $750: routine before habits
The programs
The programs a Maltese goes home from.
A lesson at your house for the schedule, a Cypress stay for the alone time, and a bundle for the puppy.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
How much does Maltese training cost in Houston?
House training a Maltese with Best Dog University is usually one or two in-home lessons at $220 each. The two-week Gold Board & Train for alone time and manners is $2,500, the three-week Platinum for true separation anxiety is $3,750, and the Puppy Development Bundle for a puppy under four months is $550 in Cypress or $750 in-home.
Is my Maltese's crying separation anxiety or just a habit?
Whining for a few minutes that stops is a habit and a Gold case. Howling for the whole absence, scratching the door, drooling, refusing food or having accidents only when alone is separation anxiety and needs Platinum. Tell our team what a camera shows during the first thirty minutes you are gone; it decides the program.
Why is my Maltese still not house trained at two?
Usually because the puppy pads never left and the accidents were small enough to forgive. A Maltese trained to pee indoors on a pad has been taught that indoors is fine. The in-home lesson removes the pads, sets a schedule everyone follows and rewards the dog in the grass. Most families see the change within a few weeks if nobody cheats.
Will a board and train make my Maltese less attached to me?
No. It will make the dog able to be attached to you and also able to be alone, which is the healthy version. Maltese come home just as affectionate and a lot calmer. The go-home session shows you how to keep the departure routine, and Gold's extra lesson and lifelong support cover the questions that come up afterward.
Can you house train a Maltese during a board and train?
The stay holds the dog to a strict routine and it comes home with clean habits, but house training lives or dies at your house, so we pair it with the go-home session and an in-home lesson if you use transport. A Maltese is house trained by the family that follows the schedule, and we set that schedule up with you.
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Tell our team about your Maltese.
Book the free consultation and describe the accidents and the crying. Our trainers will say lessons, Gold or Platinum on the call, and the $250 reservation deposit holds the dates.