Breed Information

     The Alaskan Malamute is a very large dog and incredibly strong breed. It is a recognized breed by the America Kennel Club under working breeds. These dogs were initially breed to haul large amounts of weight over a long and harsh distance.

 

     A Malamute is a very solidly built dog designed for power. They are not as fast as other northern breeds but they are one of the strongest. Weight pulls are a favorite activity for a malamute. Training for weight pulling should not begin early than one year old, because this give the dog to fully develop all of there muscles and joints.  

 

Feet - The nails should be trimmed on a regular basis and on the occasion the hair between the paw pads may need to be shaved (clipping may be done but shaving is safer) to prevent slipping on harder surfaces.

Coat - The Malamute has a double coat, which is a woolly undercoat and longer guard hair. They shed relatively light with the exception of twice a year when they “Blow” their entire undercoats. The amount of hair that is blown is incredible, but it’s only twice a year. The coarse guard hair help to keep a Malamute fairly clean and dry. The double coat provides excellent protection in the northern climates. During the summer months care must be giving to ensure that a dog is not over taxed because of the heaver coat. We live in Wisconsin and when the temperature is near zero our girl just loves to play and go for walks. When the temperature reaches the nineties you can’t get her away from the air conditioner.

 

Intelligence - An Alaskan Malamute is a very intelligent dog that gets bored with reputation quickly. It’s best to keep a variety of stimulation both physically and mentally, unless you want a dog that may miss behave because of boredom. Mals can be a handful to train but it’s well worth the effort. It’s best if you can find a trainer that has experience with a larger dominate breed. A malamute will do very good in a class if they feel like it, if they don’t try to end class on a good note and call it a day. Because of their sheer size and dominance many novice owners have had to give up their dogs because they grew up from the cute puppy stage to a full size adult with its own personality (Please see the Link to the Alaskan Malamute Rescue for a older Malamute that could use a good home), a lot of research must done before a malamute or any dog is brought into a family’s life.

 

Socialization - Malamutes can be aggressive towards other dogs  because of there dominance behavior. Unless a Malamute is socialized with other dogs or animals at the puppy stage it can be very difficult to train them as a adult. A malamute can be very predatory towards smaller animals that it may regard as prey. Even with this behavior malamutes make lousy watch dogs. A malamute is too friendly in nature to people to make a effective watch dog.  Even though the appearance of a Malamute makes a imposing sight the malamute is just to friendly.