Malamute Books General Chat

Our boy is just over a year old and has fantastic recall (for a mal) at the moment. He is very dog tolerant off the lead and just wants to play.

However he is still a puppy in that respect and this may all change as he matures. All we can do is continue to work with him to try to ensure this continues.

I agree with all the previous comments from the more experienced mal owners (most of whom have helped us loads over our first year). The first step is to make sure you get a mal from a breeder whose lines are dog tolerant and less assertive.

I have met some beautiful mals who are stunning looking dogs, but are extremely dominant and feel the need to assert themselves over every dog they meet. While they are not "aggressive" in the conventional dog sense, things would get very difficult if a dog they met didn't want to submit to them.

With such a strong pack instinct mals tend to quickly want to know where they fit in a pack structure.

My other experience is other dogs reactions to mals. The pricked ears and upright stance, with erect tails is like a walking challenge to some dogs. We have experienced a few times dogs literally launching themselves at Ranger while he is walking along on the lead minding his own business. A lot of these I believe were triggered fear responses from smaller dogs (though not all). Fortunately our boy seems to find it quite funny and has never actually been hurt, in this respect though he is very much the exception to the rule.

While we enjoy our off lead walks at the mo, the places we can do it and the frequency of it is an ever decreasing circle. We also never walk where the majority of dog walkers go in our area as it would be just too difficult even on lead.

Being the owner of 4 malamutes two male two female all entire, I find that each dog has different levels of obedience/recall etc. my oldest male was my first challenge, he was approx 7 months old when I got him, after his previous owners returned him to his breeder, he had had no training whatsoever, and was starting to go into the terrible teens stage, he had no recall at all and so this set a president with me. I could not trust him off lead whatsoever, he would run off sniff other dogs and if they challenged him then he would retaliate, so he was only allowed off lead in an enclosed are when no other dogs were around. willow came along then(female) Bailey loved her they got on fine, if I walked her on her own she would come back when called up to approx the 18months to 2 years of age, when she had got bolder and the selective deaf ears came into play, if I was walking her with Bailey I could not let her off lead because Bailey was not allowed off lead and he would kick up a fuss, and so it ended up both dogs not being allowed off lead unless in and enclosed area. then the younger two came along male and female from my same litter, they were well socialised taken to training, met other dogs had no issues, I could take them for a walk and they would come back they are now 2 years of age and the selective hearing is once again raising its ugly head, but now if I let them off lead and they go charging about if they run up to other dogs it looks quite intimidating even if they are only going to say hello, the other dogs owners would basically s**t themselves and panic, which goes down the lead and the dog will kick off and as malamutes rarely ignor a challenge would retaliate(up to now I have gotten them back on lead before anything has really happened) I now only walk them on a lead, and allow them off in an enclosed area. it how it sometimes progresses especially in multiple dog packs, I know many malamute owners that their dogs are fine with other dogs. all of mine individually are fine with other dogs(I suppose with the exception of Bailey) but now they are a real pack and they tend to wind each other up more when other dogs are about. its not a big deal only allowing them off lead in enclosed areas just something you need to adapt too, and in one way its responsible too many dogs running round without the owners control anyway. my dogs get walked regulary on lead (two by two) run along side my bike one on one basis or sometimes two at a time, a couple of times a week, and also they run together in harness with me on the rig. as I do all the walking, biking,running them with the rig by myself, I cannot take the risk of taking all four to a busy dog area, as if anything happens I personally would not be able to control all four dogs (there is a lot of power and weight to hold back if required) so I run the dogs with the rig in a private area where there are no other dogs. with regards to malamutes being sled dogs and should be able to work alongside each other, well this is true, they may work fine alongside other dogs and out of the team lineup not be able to stand the same dogs. most "teams" are owned by the same people so the dogs are probably from the same "pack" so do work well together. it should not IMO be taken for granted that malamutes are sled dogs so should automatically get on with every other dog around, this is not realistic. having said that some lines are more accepting of other dogs than others. sorry so long a post lol.

Mo