In 1990 while a college student at the University of Texas at Austin, I bought my first Maltese show dog, Rufus. This was the birth of Rhapsody Maltese.

Rhapsody is a small maltese breeding program, based outside of Austin, TX. All of my dogs are raised and live in my house. My goal is to produce the best quality Maltese possible, with limited breeding. Health and temperament are of prime importance. The dogs in my breeding program are health screened for health issues common to Maltese. Once weaned my puppies are raised separately from my adult dogs, to promote better one-on-one bonding with people. They are socialized in a way to promote the happy, outgoing, friendly temperament that Maltese are known and bred for. This not only benefits the puppies for the show ring but also to be the best companion possible. Of course, I also strive to breed Maltese that best adhere to AKC standard. I breed to have Maltese that have a definite "Rhapsody" look, with heavy silk coats, great pigmentation, pretty correct expressions, elegant outlines with flowing movement.

I show dogs for other people as my profession, so my entire schedule is set up around my dogs. I attend around 40-45 weekends of dog shows a year and show many toys breeds for others in addition to showing maltese. To date, here at Rhapsody, I have personally shown 307 dogs on their way to attaining a champion title (195 Maltese, 73 Yorkshire Terriers, 21 Shih Tzus, 4 Chihuahuas, 4 Papillons, 4 Havanese, 4 Lhasa Apsos, 1 Japanese Chin and 1 Miniature Dachshund). I have owned and/or bred 85 Maltese champions. I have shown and bred Top Winning, Multiple All-Breed Best in Show winning, National Specialty Winning, Multiple Best in Specialty Show winning and Multiple Group winning dogs.(5/11/08)

With producing high quality Maltese in mind, you will find not only many champion maltese in my puppies predigrees, but also many top champion producing (ROM) and top winning BIS Maltese in my dogs' pedigrees. I have owned and/or bred several top champion producing Maltese. I have shown 6 top winning Maltese. Some of these are commonly in my dogs and puppies' pedigrees:

Multiple BIS/BISS CH Divine's Indecent Desparado ROM*
* Producer of 7 champions,
* #1 Maltese Breed System, #2 Maltese All-Breed System and #14 toy in 2001,
* #1 Maltese All Systems and #9 Toy dog in 2002,
* owned by Barbara Davis
* bred by Angie and Larry Stanberry.

Mutliple BIS/BISS Am/Can CH Marcris Thrill of Victory ROMX*
* Producer of 43 champions including a BIS Winner,
* #1 Maltese All Systems and #9 Toy in 2003,
* #1 Maltese All Systems and #5 Toy in 2004,
* 2003 Westminister Kennel Club BOB Winner,
* 2004 Westminister Kennel Club BOB Winner,
* 2003 AKC Eukanuba Invitational BOB & Toy Group 2nd Winner,
* 2005 AKC Eukanuba Invitational BOB Winner,
* 2004 American Maltese Association National Specialty BOB Winner,
* owned by Tonia Holibaugh and Barbara Davis
* bred by Joyce Watkins.

Multiple BIS/BISS Am/Eng/Can CH Divine's Marc of Friendship ROMX*
* Producer of 9 US champions including a BIS Winner,
* #1 Maltese All Systems and #6 Toy in 2005,
* 2006 AKC Invitational BOB & Group 3rd Winner,
* 2006 Crufts Dog Show BOB & Group 3rd Winner,
* 2007 Crufts Dog Show BOB & Toy Group 1st Winner,
* owned by A Stanberry, S Meyers, B Davis and L Nelson while Marc was campaigned,
* now owned by Chritine Gillies of Scotland,
* bred by Angela Stanberry and Shiela Riley.


Multiple Group Winning CH Rhapsody's Holier Than Thou
* #1 Maltese Breed System & #3 Maltese All-Breed System in 2006,
* owned by M Barnes
* bred by Tonia Holibaugh.

Multiple BIS/BISS CH Chrisman-Rhapsody Chills-N-Thrills
* #1 Maltese All-Systems Systems and #9 Toy in 2007,
* owned by M Comitini, C Vicari, C Filson, M Singe and T Holibaugh,
* bred by T Holibaugh, M Comitini and C Vicari.

BIS CH Rhapsody's Smart Remark
* #1 Maltese All-Systems and #15 Toy so far for 2008,
* owned by Anja Mali
* and owned/bred/handled by Tonia Holibaugh.

To ensure that my dogs have plenty of one on one attention, I place many of my champion and non-champion girls and boys in retirement homes once they are spayed/neutered. This gives my older adult dogs new families to spoil them and the dogs in my care more of my constant attention.

I contribute a lot of my success as a breeder to my good friends who have supported me along the way: Barbara Davis of "Veranda", Ron Stonke "Baybreeze", Bill Hinds "Riverwalk", Sheila Riley "Malta Angels", Charlotte and Steve Ampelas "My Hearts Desire" and Larry and Angela Stanberry "Divine".

Because I am gone so much showing dogs I only have a few litters a year. Occassionally, I have pets available for good homes. After careful screening, all pets are placed with limited registration and a spay/neuter agreement. If you are interested in contacting me, please email me at RhapsodyMalt@aol.com. I will answer you as soon as I can. I travel most weekends so the replies might be delayed. Thank you for visiting my site.