For Malamute Owners: Questions

Just really interested as to whether you let your Malamutes off lead?

Does it depend on where you are?

There are two absolutely stunning Malamutes at our local park. I feel rather honoured as today one of them came running over to me to greet me and then kissed and licked me. Very enjoyable!


Can I also ask:

If a Malamute has blue eyes, does that mean it is a X? Someone mentioned to me at the park today that a 'Pure Malamute will only ever have brown eyes.'

Thanks very much

Yes - purebred Mals should never have blue eyes.

Thank you

Guess that means one of the Malamutes at our park is a X

He has huge blue eyes

Some malamutes are OK off lead as youngsters but that can change as they get to one or two years old.

A few may be OK all their lives but many get increasingly independent in terms of recall and exploration or hunting expeditions as they get older and some males particularly can get more competitive with other males as they get to social maturity and so need to be kept on lead to prevent that.

Sometimes people think their Malamute is one of the OK ones, as it has been up to that point, only to be taken by surprise when that, possibly quite suddenly, proves to no longer be the case.

That's interesting; one of the Malamutes I meet regularly was getting increasingly tense and aggressive around other dogs. The owner had him castrated and he did seem to calm down somewhat.

However, his recall is non existent and he goes charging around the park. He's knocked one person over; he's a very big boy, very beautiful and extremely friendly!

Many thanks for your answer

I'm certainly no expert on the breed, but the Mal my daughter had could be let off the lead safely, and two that we regularly see at the local park are also trustworthy off the lead.

We met one at a park in Norwich last night. It was stunning to look at but the owner was standing in one part of the park calling the dog for ages whilst it was obliviously walking round happily with my 2!

In the end I offered it a treat and slipped a lead on and walked him (well-he walked me really! ) back to the owner who said he was usually very good!

I've never seen one off lead.

Their breed club recommends that they are never let off lead.

I have 5 malamutes, and although they are good dogs I would not trust any of them off lead unless in an enclosed area, far too many times(in enclosed areas) they have all of a sudden chosen to totally ignor my commands to return, so if we had been letting them run around freely chances are I would have spent the day trying to catch up to them. sadly times are changing, even though all the experienced malamute and husky owners advise never to let their dogs off lead, many new people to the breed(and there are more and more of these all the time) try to prove the experienced people wrong, many times this is to the dogs detriment, I work in a rescue center, few years ago huskies and malamutes being brought in by the dog wardens was a rare event, and I would be called from my office to do breed identification because the staff were not used to making the decision as to what the breed was, nowadays we are getting them in on a regular basis, and they have to be kenneled til their owners turn up to claim them(if they do) the staff now have experience identifying the difference because of the increasing numbers arriving in the home. and when the owners turn up to claim them, without fail the owner will say things like, "he/she has never ran off before, or he/she is normally really good off lead, something must have distrated him/her, or even dont know how they ended up in here he/she was in my garden, " and when asked how high is there fence its usually something like hmmm you know the standard size about 4ft, which is not going to contain a husky/malamute that is determined to get out and have a wander about, or if a male has gotten the scent of a bitch in season, or a bitch in season determined to find a mate.

Malamutes should have brown eyes the darker the better

Mo

Thank you

With malamutes off lead seems to be a hit and miss, some can and some can't.

Mine spends most of her time onlead in park areas because she can be a bit iffy with other dogs there, yet fine in open and wooded areas so she gets free run. She comes back but she's very slow and I end up finding it easier to get to her.

Yes, a blue eyed malamute is highly likely to be a cross. I've heard of blue eyed malamutes but it's very rare and not as piercing blue as you see in sibes

Mine has been fine as a puppy, but is becoming selectively deaf now, so enclosed areas for us. I won't let her off where there could be horses or any livestock. She also likes to greet other dogs so I don't let her off where she might meet strange dogs. We do a long lead walk in the morning and she has a run on our hired field or on the beach most evenings.

Hi, im new to this site, i have 2 purebred malamutes and no they cant be let off lead we tryed when they were younger but no recall, so thought it best to just keep them on leads, they have big brown eyes and are brothers from the same litter and get on really well, they cant be seperated ever, they sleep on the sofa together at night, most nights.

Same with my family's 3-year-old Malamute/GSD mix female.
She got increasingly worse with age off-leash, unfortunately, but great in open vacant areas with no other people/dogs besides my family's 'pack' (2 Chocolate Labs, M & F + my puppy & her bff, a Springer Spaniel X).

It really just depends on the situation I guess. My Husky x Malamute wants to greet every one, and refuses to come back until doing so which as you can imagine is frustrating. So I tend to keep her on leash unless the park is empty or I am far away from other dogs.

She is bi-eyed. Hazel and Blue. I can't really vouch for purebreds having blue eyes or not.

Where as my low content hybrid has some Malamute in her - and she is less reluctant to say hello.

Mine stays on lead at all times. He’s a runner and if something catches his attention, he’s off. However, I do know many Mals that can go off lead with great success.

Hi.
It depends on your environment, and training, regarding the off-lead question. My Mal Balto is always off lead in our rural area and on the beach (except when prohibited from June-Sept) and does well. However, I always take a leash when he travels with me in the truck or we go somewhere away from home.
Brown Eyes in a Malamute are considered a "Breed Fault" according to the AKC. From a functional standpoint, for what they are bred for, light colored iris's in a sled dog make the animal prone to 'snow blindness' and limit visibliity in heavy weather conditions.
Stunningly beautiful though they are, Malamutes still require vigilance with behavior, especially with other male dogs. They do tend to be very good natured with people, however.
The attached pic shows what a Malamutes eyes should look like.
Have fun at the park!!
Mark and Balto

Ah yes our mals do tend to see themselves as the Alpha males and females. My girl gets let off lead a lot, I know it's the wrong thing to do but I put her on leash when approaching an unfamiliar female dog and any hyper dogs as she dislikes being jumped on.

All these huskies/mals were in enclose area on one of our local parks, I took some photos of them having fun.

Mi Malamute de Alaska es muy bonito:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Khaleesi/1398543197124187

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