Link to: The UK Kennel Club Alaskan Malamute Breed Standard

Overview

The Alaskan Malamute is the largest of the sled dog breeds. Males are sized at 25 inches and females at 23 inches. They generally weigh between 60 and 100lbs. They are an impressive looking dog, quite beautiful and dignified.

The Alaskan Malamute has a double coat. This coat consists of a woolly undercoat and longer guard hairs. Twice a year, Malamutes "blow" or "moult" their undercoats completely. The hair comes out in large clumps and means lots of vacuuming and brushing are needed. The Malamute is a very clean and odour free dog requiring only minimal bathing and generally at times other than during a moult, the Malamute requires grooming a couple of times a week to keep it in good order. The Malamute is a natural breed and requires no trimming of the coat.

Alaskan Malamutes are a very people friendly breed and demand a lot of attention. They are certainly not suited to guarding and Malamutes used as such tend to be unpredictable. They are very pack-oriented and do best when included as a member of the family. Malamutes are not "one-man" dogs and will generally like everyone. They are an extremely intelligent breed that can be very stubborn and easily bored, so require a lot of mental and physical stimulation to avoid destructive behaviour. They can be a challenge to train, teaching them to do something is easy but to get them to repeat something consistently is challenging. They tend to question why they are doing it. The Malamute isn't a breed for the first time dog owner due to their challenging nature, need for firm, consistent handling and their size. Many Malamutes end up in rescue or put down because the owners fell in love with a cute puppy and had no idea of the size and strength of the adult.

Malamutes can be more dog aggressive than other breeds. It's important that the owner socializes their Malamute puppy as much as possible with other dogs and continues that socialisation through adulthood.

Malamutes can be noisy. They are well known for howling and multi-Malamute households can be rather noisy at times. Malamutes tend to howl if left alone for long periods as well. They tend not to bark but instead they "talk" in a soft woo-woo.

Malamutes are very fuel efficient and eat little for their size in comparison to other breeds. They do well on either good quality complete foods or many owners feed them on BARF, a mixture of bones and raw meat.

This breed is happy living inside or outside. As an arctic breed, they are never cold and as long as they have a secure area with cover from the wind and rain, they will happily spend the whole year outside. However, it must be said that Malamutes like to be where the family is, so they are also perfectly happy laying at your feet in the house.

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