Alaskan Malamutes
The
Alaskan Malamute is the oldest native sled dog of Alaska. Reports tell of
bone and Ivory carvings dated at 12 to 20
thousand years old showing the
malamute basically as it is today. The breed was named after the native
Inuit Tribe - "The Mahlemut". The dogs were
an essential part of the Inuit life and the affection felt for them by the
tribe meant that they were very hard to get hold of by early white man.
Reports and pictures show the puppies and children playing together and
even of Inuit babies nursing from mother dogs.
The appearance of the Malamute is of a powerful and substantially built dog. It has a thick course guard coat to protect a dense woolly undercoat from 1-2 inches in depth when the dog is in full coat. The coat is completely waterproof. As the coat sheds year round and requires substantial grooming at moulting periods, you should not be concerned about your home being covered in dog hair. Colours range from shades of Gray/White, Black/White and Red/White. The only solid colour allowed is white. The tail of the Malamute is well furred and carried over it's back like a plume.
The ideal height and weight for a Malamute to enable it to do the job for which it is intended is 25 inches at the shoulder 85 pounds for a male and 23 inches at the shoulder and 75 pounds for a female.
The Alaskan Malamute is an affectionate and friendly dog with people. They are not a "one man" dog and although they will love you, they will not be loyal to you, they are not in any way a guarding breed. They can be dominant with other dogs and care should be taken to socialise them at a very early age. Whilst they can be trained to accept family cats and other small animals, care should still be taken at all times and it should be noted that all others animals and wildlife are considered fair game. They are an ancient breed and the hunting and survival instinct is still very strong, even a well trained Malamute will chase game if it gets the chance. Don’t be fooled by their laid back attitude, Malamutes can be destructive if bored and are excellent escape artists.
There is a saying that “an active dog is a happy dog” and this is certainly true of the Malamute. They are said to be thick and hard to train, this is not true, the Malamute is highly intelligent and learns quickly, but there must be a point to it. They use their intelligence for their own purpose, not to please us. Care should be taken with early training as the Malamute that learns a bad habit is hard to re-train out of it, especially if it likes the bad habit. Activities that you can do with your Malamute to keep it fit and happy include Sledding, Scootering, Ski-joring, Weight Pulling, Back-packing, Agility and Obedience.
This page was last updated 14-09-2007