Alaskan Malamute
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN North America (Alaska).
MOST SUITED AS Sledge dog and family pet.
SIZE
The shoulder-height is about 64cm (25 1/2in) for dogs and about 58cm (22 1/2in) for bitches.
COAT
The Alaskan Malamute has a thick, coarse outer-coat with a greasy and woolly under-coat. The normal colours are wolf-grey, or black with white - always with white on the stomach and a white face or top of the head. Other colours are permitted but white is the only plain colour which is accepted. The jury remains divided on shaving Malamutes in hot climates - we recommend doing it at least once to see how your dog's happiness is effected by it.
CARE REQUIRED
This breed's coat does not need much in the way of grooming. During moulting it is best to use a coarse comb with a double row of teeth to remove loose and dead hairs.
CHARACTER
This is an affectionate dog which is intelligent, friendly, loyal, and noble, but can have a mind of its own and be dominant and certainly never slavishly following your whims.The Alaskan Malamute learns quite quickly and has tremendous stamina.
TRAINING
Despite its friendly nature, this dog needs a firm hand in its training. The Malamute therefore calls for a handler with plenty of confidence who can understand the character of this dog. With such a handler they can learn a great deal - even including agility skills, although it will be outperformed in competition by one of the sheepdog breeds.
SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Alaskan Malamutes generally get on well with children - they are actually friendly with everyone - which makes them quite unsuitable as watchdogs. With other dogs of the same sex as themselves, they can display dominant behaviour - but this is more the exception than the rule. Cats are not really suitable companions in the same house unless you have accustomed the dog to cats when it was young. In this case there should be no problem.
EXERCISE
Exercise is probably the most important aspect in an Alaskan Malamute's upbringing. This breed needs copious amounts of exercise and if you know that you cannot face, say, an hour each day of hard exercise with the dog, it is best to avoid this breed. In many countries there are sledge dog organizations which arrange competitions - with a wheeled cart in place of a sledge where there is no snow. Malamutes are happy whether they are indoors or out of doors but they do not like to be alone. Keep this dog on the lead whenever it is taken out unless you have it firmly under your control because it is liable to run off.
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