More Malamute info please! Questions

I like to be well prepared I'm the sort of person who thinks that they might like an animal, goes away and does a folder of research and then tries to make an informed choice. I have decided against so many pets (ferrets, various breeds of rabbit, bearded dragons, to name but a few) based on the research I've done, so please don't think this is something I would enter into lightly ;-)

My OH and I have been discussing what to do when my Mum decides to have Sam back. Long story short, my mum and step-father are divorcing and my mum moved out of the family house and into rented accommodation. Unfortunately, the rented house wouldn't allow pets, and my step-dad "couldn't cope" with her dog, Sam (Lab x Springer) so I offered to have him. Mum will be buying a new house once the current property is sold and the money split between herself and my step-father, and will be able to have Sam back at that point.

Amber was only ten weeks old when Sam moved in, and she adores him. My OH and I are both worried that she will miss him terribly when he goes, and we know we will miss him too. Because Amber is so young still, my OH takes Sam for long rambles in the woods at the weekend - they can be gone for three or more hours at a time - and has gotten very attached to him. (That's not to say that Amber doesn't get walked and adored as well ;-) but she goes for shorter "puppy walks").

I think we've pretty much decided, assuming our finances are a LOT better by then, that we are going to get a second dog when Sam goes. I have met a couple of Malamutes and thought they were incredible dogs, and my OH has expressed an interest in finding out more about them. I've read the breed profile, which was very interesting, but I hoped some Mal enthusiasts might be able to give me a few thoughts on life with a Malamute and point me towards some reference materials?
I have read that they often do not get along with another dog of the same sex, and I think we'd rather have a boy anyway, as Amber seems to play more with boys. She isn't nasty to other girls, but she seems to mix better with lads!

One other thing, do you think it's better to have this breed of dog as a puppy or an adult? I am really in two minds about whether I'd rather another puppy, or an adult dog, regardless of the breed we finally choose (if we get another dog at all).

Ohhh..

Well they are certainly challenging..but very rewarding aswell..

Love people but sometimes not dogs, I know a few who don't like either sex!!

They sometimes don't like small furries

They are very good at opening fridge doors (even with them taped shut!!)

I have had one from a puppy and one from a year old (she spent the first year in a general dog home!)

Cruiser is definately more laid back and his temprement is to die for (excellent breeding gave this all a good start)

Lola is a "loud mouth" but we love it, she is very talkative and somewhat hyper.. is wary of some people and barks at other dogs..

If you were to get a rescue then providing the introduction was done well then I don't forsee a problem... obviously from a puppy the intro to the older dog (Amber) would have to be done well too...and I would advise waiting until Amber is over a year before bringing a Mal pup in..

Please do all the research possible and then some.. There is some fabulous Mal breeders out there and some who only dream of being!!
Check HC/HD records and TALK to people in the breed.. there are lots of lines and tests that people will know about..

My main concern was temprement.. I have 2 kids and I needed to have a "nice" dog so this was my aim when I went hunting for breeders..I only ever found 2 possibly 3 that fitted my requirements who were breeding at that time...(of course the need for temprement went hand in hand with the fact that they also did all the relevant health tests)

With Malamutes, they are challenging at any age.

I've known some little devil of puppys but also angel older Rescues, so it really does depend on how they are reared and treated from the get to and also the temperaments of the parents too.

http://www.thealaskanmalamuteclub.co.uk/

Have a look here, it's the club site, which also leads to the rescue site, so you can get an idea of both.

Life with a Malamute.........well mine love to work, and when they do they have enormous amounts of energy, however when they are not working, they sleep, sleep and sleep some more ...lol (which goes back to their roots of preserving their energy for when they are working) Working doesnt have to be sledding though, they are just as happy hiking or backpacking

They go through several stages of maturing, and will challenge you again at each stage, pushing boundaries and tryin it on !

Consistency is the key with them, start as you mean to go on and never encourage a behaviour, you wouldnt want as a adult dog, one of the biggest mistakes owners make !! lol so don't encourage a pup to jump up or play tug, as you won't 'win' when they are adults !

IF you want to know anything specific, just ask, there are more of us on here too

What is their recall like?

I do know people that have managed a good recall, with lots of consistent training, which is still done regularly, to keep it up, but with me, the prey drive plays too big a part in that for me to personally risk it !

I also knew somene who lost a 100% recall Mal after years, when it chased a rabbit onto a road, so for me the risk is too high !

Thanks for your informative replies
Personally, I think a Mal sounds fabulous, but we do have small furries in the house (I say "small".. my Lops are bigger than most cats ) and while we were able to successfully introduce the dogs to the rabbits, and neither dog is fussed about them anymore, I appreciate that some dogs can simply not cope with the instinct to chase down the fuzzy! We never leave them alone together, but I can 90% trust the dogs while we are grooming the rabbits or anything like that.
I quite enjoy a pet that challenges me to keep them busy, but I wonder if my OH might find it a bit much. He is very good with dogs, but the last puppy he had grew up with him, so he has forgotten all the difficult parts and has found Amber's puppyhood very frustrating at times, although he adores her.

I will keep doing my research (thank you for the link) and see where the road takes us!

I have two Mals - one who arrived at 7 weeks and one who moved in at two years
Both are fab off lead and trained very easily, in addition to the Mals I also have a collie and a Lab and part time terrier - everyone gets on well
We also have 4 degus, 2 spinies, 3 hamsters and 2 rats oh and a grumpy guinea pig.

My boy Mal is petrified of the small furries but my girl loves them and often lies quietly and lets the degus groom her fur

To fit in with other pets and lifestyle I think a pup is easier but rescue quite often has youngsters in too .... may be worth considering

I have 4 malies and a cat, I agree with all that has already been said, mals have a way of capturing your heart, its hard to explain, all four of mine have different personalities, Bailey the oldest is by far the most annoying lol as far as being insistant in what he wants, he is like an old man in a nursing home waiting for his tablets lol its dinnertime feed me its walk time walk me are you getting the brush out brush me first that kind of thing lol Willow is the most laid back girl you could come across, and NEVER once challenged me about anything, she wont put up with any shinanigans from the others but never puts them in their place in an aggressive manner just a quick grumble and then goes to a quiet place to chill out I personally think she is head of the pack but she does it all so quietly and in a very unasuming way. Timber and Savannah are siblings from a litter I bred, Timber is the clown very bullish, does everything at top speed like a bull in a china shop, yet know his place with regards to Bailey he totally respects him, Timber is a little powerpack and has the lovliest low deep in the chest woo woo, Savannah is the sweetie of them all a little like Bailey in her insistance, but is the most submissive with people, (not dogs) if she is on her own she is fine with other dogs, if she has the back up of the other dogs she is a little madam and winds everyone up, non apart from willow are fantastic on recall, Bailey I wouldnt trust for one minute of lead, timber is not too bad but will take his time coming back to me, Savannah will run about us if the other dogs are with us on a walk and stay fairly close, I would not trust them all off lead together as I would never get them back. as you can see they are all very individual and thats what I love about them, each dog you learn something different, but I would say definately find a breeder that breeds good temperments, as they are quite a large breed of dog, (our Timber weighs 46 kilos) and no way would I like to handle a dog at that weight that has temperment issues, I have been bitten in the past by a mal that had issues totally non provoked and although at the time I had a thick coat, several fleeces and termal underclothes on that dog managed to still break my skin. do as much research as you can try to get hold of some backdated BRS and look at who is knocking out litters left right and center, check the health results, ie eye test and hip scoring, see what dogs are actually producing these problems and steer clear, it is a minefield looking for a good breeder and many fall into the trap of buying the most popular/most seen lines, go to big shows and and rallies when the owners are not preparing to go into the ring or getting ready to set off with their dogs in a rallie I am sure they would have the time to talk to you about their dogs.

There are quite a few books that you can read up about the breed, one of them being the Alaskan Malamute Yesterday and today although quite and expensive book it is very good.

Mo

Thanks for all the information

I wondered if anyone knew of a reputable breeder in my area (North East, near Middlesbrough)? I would love to be able to have a visit, see the dogs and ask questions about hip scoring, etc. My dogs have all been mongrels or rescue dogs, so I have never had to find a trust worthy breeder and, to be honest, I wouldn't know what I was looking for when it came to all the test results and everything!

Or is there anyone in our area who has Mal and wouldn't mind myself & OH (and possibly our two dogs if yours are good with others) coming for a walk with you so we can embarrass ourselves with our complete lack of knowledge

Sometimes you may have to travel to see a good breeder, I live in manchester but had to travel originally to kent to meet the breeder we got our Bailey and Willow from, it was well worth the journey, but my journey wasnt as far as lou had to make lol, I would suggest not to get from a breeder because they were "closer" to you this can sometimes be a big mistake. I will PM you with some breeders that IMO are ethical and breed good temperments I am sure other will let you know who they feel also fit in this catagory.

Mo

Thank you I'm perfectly happy to travel to find the right breeder and the perfect dog for us and our circumstances (I did a six hour round trip to collect one of my rabbits). However, if there were a good breeder nearby, it would make life easier! I don't cope with travelling as well as I used to.
I would love to visit a few different breeders / people who have experience with Malamutes, because I would want to be 110% that we were making the right decision.

I think we are definately not going to be able to have a Mal :-( and looking at various rescue sites as well, it seems that we may not be able to have a second dog at all, unless we go down the privately advertised route, which I wasn't very keen to do.

I have looked at several breeder sites, the Malamute rescue (and a few other dog rescues) and it would seem that according to many of the criterias that are posted for potential owners, we're not suitable for any dog

The critierias have stipulated about gardens with "secure fencing" (we have a very small yard, which has a 6ft wall on all sides that the dogs have access to through a large dogflap (the biggest we could get), but they are let out into the back alley regularly for toileting (Sam won't go in the yard, although Amber will), and Sam (lab x) gets walked for around an hour a day - either an hour on the beach in the morning, or two half hour walks. Obviously, this works for us and Sam, but we would be happy to adjust how long the dogs went out for once they were all full grown, if they required longer. On the weekend, my OH often takes Amber for a puppy walk, and then goes off into the woods with Sam for several hours at a time.

The other issue that keeps coming up is stating working hours. In order to afford another dog, sensibly, it would have to wait until my OH has a job. At the moment, while he is job-hunting, he is at home, but spends a lot of it at the computer upstairs where the dogs are not allowed. I currently work 8-4 and go home for lunch, and Amber and Sam have gradually got used to being left when it is necessary. I can happily leave them for around 4 hours now, although they have been left for longer when we went away overnight and couldn't take the dogs: we fed them and walked them before leaving, and a friend came to feed and check on them on the evening and the following morning. Normally, we are at home most of the time outside of work, and on the weekend, we always try to take the dogs with us if we go out anywhere, so it is really only during work hours that they will be by themselves.
All the sites, for breeders or rescues, seem to want potential homes to have someone at home for some or all of the day, and I don't just mean for Malamutes. Unless you are lucky enough to work at home, how to people manage to have dogs without going out to work?

So, unfortunately, I don't think we will be deemed suitable for any of the local rescues or the Malamute breeders I have looked at.

Well I work and have 4 malamutes? granted my dogs are now no longer puppies, four hours is the Max I would leave a very young malamute due to house training etc, but if the rest of the time is spent with them it shouldnt be a problem, not all mally owners have the luxury of being at home all day with their dogs, IMO if you are prepared to walk/train the dog on a daily basis, so that it dosnt get stir crazy then there shouldnt be a problem. but you have to be honest with yourself, will you definately be prepared to give this exercise in all weathers?

mo

So far, my OH has been more than happy to walk the dogs in all weathers, and I think he is pretty committed to them. The problem is that it's all well and good me saying "but of course we will do X, Y and Z", but it's my OH who has to do the exercising because of my disability.
I do enjoy, when it's not too cold, going to the beach with my OH and the dogs and taking my ball flinger so the dogs have a really good run, while I can stand still!

I suppose if we went and visited and had a chat with a breeder before we asked to be added to their waiting list and explain our circumstances, they might be more willing to consider us. I know most good breeders like to meet potential owners first, anyway.
I don't know if rescues would be a different kettle of fish :smt017

LOL...

Two trips from Edinburgh to Lincoln and back within 3weeks

30 hours travelling and 1165 miles in total

and worth EVERY mile and would do it again in a heartbeat

I'm glad this thread has been started, (obviously not yet as Icon is only 6 months old) but I have about 5 breeds of dog that I'm considering when I get my second dog and a Mal is most definitely one of them - can we have some pics guys? xx

Me and mine at the weekend




Noobie enjoying the festive season

Oh my goodness they're stunning!!!!!! Anymore for anymore?????

Noobie and her friend