Hi to all malamute owners!!!!! General Chat

Hi,
I am the proud owner of a 13 week old male fluffy malamute called Valdeez, named after the Alaskan fishing harbour.
Any stories, photos and connections with other mal owners warmly received.
I already own a samoyed and her personality is wonderful.
This puppy is very, very intelligent. He is different from other dogs I have owned - he works things out and steals and opens doors. He is facinating. I am really, really training him to try and get rid of all of the negative traits people speak about, such as 'elective deafness', running off, stubborness, food possessiveness.
I hope I can give him a great future because of this!!!
Love Arcticwolf xxx

Hi and welcome

Your pup looks very cute as is your Sammy!!! Where is your Mallie from?

I have 2 Mals, Noobie and North aged 2 and 3 - both fantastic dogs!! Also have a BC, a Terrier and a Lab LOL - overly dogged at the moment!



Here are Noobie, Bridget and North.
Do you plan to work your Mal at all?

.<< I am really, really training him to try and get rid of all of the negative traits people speak about, such as 'elective deafness', running off, stubborness, food possessiveness.>>



I did the same although I was always prepared that I may well in spite of my best efforts still have a stubborn dog who did what it wanted LOL BUT so far so good - my girl who I have had from a pup is fabulous, very responsive, easiest dog I have trained - she competes in obedience and agility
I have only had North since new year but he too is very very good, enjoys his training and has received his first rosette in obedience ....

Dog clubs are so important - I hope you have found a good one nearby, and don't just do a ten week course - you need to go long term to work on socialisation all the time

Equally avoid bad experiences - don't let unknown dogs "say hello" it isn't worth it - many dogs dislike Mals on sight

Hi, funny you should say that. Even though he is a puppy, I have found that some adult males have gone to snap at him and the owners have remarked "oh, that's weird, he never does that to a dog". I came home and commented that it was strange that so many adult dogs got on guard with him, where as they all ignore my other dogs.

That is a handsome dog Articwolf....the last pic of Valdeez, he almost doesn't look real.

Method

Hello and welcome to Dogsey

Here are Hudson, Maddy and Delta

Muddiwarx, I know Mals can be quite dog dominant but do you believe there is a reason other than this?

I don't have mals but NI (northern breed ancestory) and have encountered the same.

Gorgeous puppy btw arcticwolf

This is Cruiser


And Lola

Oh Cruiser is just so yummy!!!!!!
Here are some shots we took today of Valdeez x
He was so well behaved in the park, with some very promising body language - very respectful to older dogs and submissive. Very playful to dogs and puppies which give him the signals that it is OK to play with them

I think it is the high tail carriage, the striking facial features and the high on paws movement .... my girl is NOT dominant at all and has been attacked over 8 times now with the last attack (by a Yorkie) requiring vet treatment.

Agreed

Pricked ears, high tail carriage and gait all go towards giving other dogs the wrong impression. They see Mals as being challenging whereas they are just being Mals

Ooh Louise, you got a woolly pup then? He looks very cuddly

You may have a point there - about the tail carriage etc, beacuse when the two adults went for poor Valdeez at just 11 weeks of age, he was doing nothing but looking over at them (with sopey eyes and soppy tongue) - they just lunged at him, teeth bared, all defensive. The dogs that went for him were a Shiba Inu and a Spinger Spaniel (both males) They knocked him over, gave him no warning they were going to do it and the sad part was he hadn't even gotten over to sniff them yet - it was almost a 'distance' attack - in other words 'I can see you and don't like you and haven't even sniffed you yet!'
I have become more cautious since and introduce him well leashed up, so I can assess the 'other' dog first. There are too many dog walkers around who let there dogs run loose and way ahead of them in the distance, so if their dog attacks another one, they are too far away to control their dog.:?

Well that depends on what you class as wooly.. he is longER coated.. but not LONG coated..Time will tell how his coat turns out..There are a few longER coated dogs in the ring being placed at the moment too, I think his coat might be similar to theirs. He was the only non standard coated pup in the litter and I CHOSE him which makes him even more special. Oh and he's VERY cuddly

However as I started out wanting a pup with a FANTASTIC temprement and by going to a reputable breeder, I got what I wanted.. the coat is irrelevant to me..He also is perfectly constructed and has fantastic tail set, which again is sadly lacking in the ring!

But of course I am a little bias

Thought you would have seen his picture before now on the other forum we are both members of.. I have had him for nearly 2 months and there have been LOADS of pics on there!

Valdeez is a woolly and has just sprung 5 inch long guard hairs all over. I could never show him, but I chose him because of his temperament as well as his coat. I have been after a long coat for months and his mum has more fur than my samoyed!!

Nope, thats the first time I have seen him, he is very cute

Is Valdeez wearing a spray collar?

Hi, yes he is wearing one in the photo. Unfortunately the samoyed is very vocal and got out of her habbit of solid barking before the malamute arrived. The funny thing is the malamute was very quiet until he got with the samoyed and now they face one another having barking matches which last hours. I am trying to break the habit now before it's with me for the rest of my life. It worked with the samoyed until her fur grew too long. The thing is..................I think he likes lemon Whenever I spray anti-chew lemon around the house on chewed bits, he goes and licks it off....oh dear!

Im just a bit curious here - as a fellow malamute owner, why would you actively search for a dog with something that is highly undesirable according to the breed standard?

And I am also wondering, why would you want to train out some of the characteristics that make a malamute a malamute?

Hi and Welcome, lovely pups, I must say I have 4 malamutes, and had samoyeds for over 20 years before the mals came along, and I never resorted to spray collars during all that time on any of the dogs, I think using one of these on a 13 week old pup inappropriate, you should be teaching the pup, if your samoyed and mal pup are getting into barking at each other the moment they start you tell them No then you should seperate for a time out let them know its not what you want, as soon as they go quiet re introduce them to each other tell them good quiet. a breed like a malamute have strong traits that make them malamutes, you can train them, but you cannot train out the traits that is like saying you are going to train a fish not to swim, all pups sould be on lead when they first meet other dogs IMO, some dogs take offense at puppies getting into their face when they may have not learnt good manners with other dogs, also I agree with the other posters about a mals body language being taken the wrong way by other dogs,
here are my 4