TEMPERAMENT
Malamutes are friendly towards people and thrive best if they live amongst them.Do not put your mal on its own in kennel. They love people and need to be with them as much as possible. Because of this friendly temperament they are unlikely to make good guard dogs. In the unfortunate event of a burglary you can guarantee that a malamute will do absolutely nothing to halt the proceedings. Even barking at the door when someone knocks will be far too much trouble for your average mal. But be warned they are very unlikely to show the same 'bon ami' to others dogs of the same sex. If you have a resident male, of whatever breed, we would not recommend getting a male malamute. The same applies to bitches...if you have a bitch life will be a lot easier with a male mal.It will save a lot of tension and aggression later on.This inter-dog tension is not suprising when you think of this breeds history. When they were thrown dinner after a days work sledding on the ice, it would be the dog that fought the most that got the food.Submissive dogs probably went to sleep with an empty stomach.

CHARACTER
The malamute character is generally driven by dominance, especially but not exclusively in males. It seems every malamute is pre-programmed from birth to be top dog in its pack.When the pup moves in with you, you become its pack. It is vital that you become top dog and remain in that position.Also other members of the family must be of a higher position than the dog. There will only ever be one 'alpha wolf' in the family but the dog must realize that its position is at the bottom below everyone.This of course is not where the dog wants to be, so it is an ongoing process, reinforcing constantly, that this is how it is going to be. This must be done without force. Kind but firm handling is what these dogs require. This together with their stubborness and sometimes blatant refusal to do what is wanted of them does not always make them an easy breed to own. They are certainly not a breed for everyone and careful consideration is needed before one is purchased. A dominant, self important Yorkshire Terrier can be laughed at...a 7 stone malamute can not. Because of this first time dog owners are not advised to have a malamute. This is not all bad news however because once mastered, these facets of their character will give rise to amusement as they strive to ignore your demands. Just make sure they fail to do so.

CATS
As far as cats are concerned Mals will generally get along with any cats that are in residence when they arrive as a pup bearing in mind the malamute prey drive.We do not recommend introducing a cat to a home with resident mals. Any other cats taking a short cut through the garden will be promptly chased. This behaviour is not exclusive to Mals though and is common to most dogs.

With many thanks to Jayne Hood for allowing us to use this material.

Jayne Hood - Windberg Malamutes