I don’t know about your maltepoo, but my baby thinks every dog he sees will love and play with him. The bigger the better. When I walk him and see any large dogs- especially pit bulls- approach, I pick him up above my head( if necessary). Once I picked him up by his harness so fast he was swinging in the air( he weighs 9 lbs). Any dog would have to go through me to get to him- and any dog that attacked him would have me go Katrina on them. I would make Mel Gibson-in Braveheart with the blood all over him- look like a harmless fuzzball.
You are smart to pick up your little dog when a pit bull comes near, especially if it’s (what I call a `yapper’) a terrier. Terriers are a doughty, aggressive breed, pound-for-pound, especially the Fox, Airedale and Bedlingtons, and Cairn/Scottie types, and the pit bull breed was bred to fight other dogs, while terriers were ratters.
I had an English bulldog and she was safe around other dogs, but my American bull will remain on a leash and harness until he’s socialized. They used this dog down south as it was brought over from England to fight, and maybe still do, while it was also a general use farm dog, and a good dog around people, even people it doesn’t know that well, unlike some smaller breeds.
(lecture over)