The exact origin of the Maltese Bulldog is not known.
The native Maltese name of this breed is Kelb Tal-Gliet, which means "fighting Dog". Accoring to sources at the Maltese Kennel Club the breed was created by crossings of Italian mastiffs, English Bulldogs and Mastiffs, Staffs and even Kelb tal-Fenek (Pharao Hound). The Maltese Bulldog that sprung from this mixture was used almost solely in dog-fights and as guarddogs for the house. Since there were no need for a farmdog for protecting the sheep, goats and cows, the breed was never used for this service.
We can read in "The Book of the Dog", written in 1948, the following; "Even to-day dogs of this old type may be found here and there, some recognized as distinct breeds and others lost in the obscurity of unorthodoxy; readily to mind, comes the Branchiero of Sicily, a now rare, short-faced cattle dog, and the so-called Maltese Bulldog, a type much nearer to the English Bulldog".
Since Malta was an English "colony" from 1814 to 1964 we can assume that the English dogs have had a certain influence on the Maltese Bulldog.

The native people in Malta are descendants of ancient Carthaginians and Phoenicians, but they also shows strong elements of Italian and other Mediterranean stock. We can therefore assume that the Italian dogs, and especially the Sicilian, also have had an influence in the development of the Maltese Bulldog.
There is not much written about the Maltese Bulldog, and any info is very hard to find.
Today the Maltese Bulldog is unknown in Malta, and no dogs is to be found. When the Maltese Bulldog became extinct is unsure, but probably before the middle of the 1900's.