Alaskan Malamutes?

Just wondering how many owners frequent these boards.

I've got Dodge, my current Mal. He's grey&white with an open face. High energy. My first Mal with a finicky appetite.

Last Mal was Wahoo. He was named for a sneeze. He was my buddy. He had a huge tongue and a clownish personality in an overgrown body.

Before him there was Tuffy. Ever the gentleman. He inspired my love of the breed.

Life without a Mal is so...silent. I prefer to have one "arctic draft dog" in my home because I love their sounds. If you have one, you know what I'm talking about. :)

I have one purebred malamute, Heyoka. He's about six now, a wolf grey with an open mask. He's a big doofus! He missed out on the malamute working gene, but he's a sweetie.

I also have two female malamute mixes, Goldie and Kayleigh.

There is a pet therapy mal who works with a psychologist in Providence. Midnight is a HUGE mal, even by Mal standards. He is GORGEOUS and I love seeing him when I go in that building (my dentist is in there).

There is also a murder mystery series based in Cambridge Mass. in which the investigator (non police; she is supposed to be a dog trainer) owns Mals. What wonderful stories, the author owns several and shares so much about the breed. (It is amazing how many murders take place at conformations, agility, obedience and meets in that series, he he he.)

Susan Conant's Holly Winter! I own them all. Hilarious books! I love the first one where she get's Rowdy- murder weapon was a leash. Or the one with the A frame?...I still get a good giggle out of those.

I also read Sue Henry- her books are dog sled race themed. Similiar. Not quite as good but very close.

Heyoka sounds a bit like Wahoo- no work ethic, all sense of humor. Don'tcha love the goofballs? Are Goldie and Kayleigh "ladies"? (Dignified and regal?)

Wahoo was 160lbs on the vets scale. A "bit" oversize.

There is a person with a Mal named Rien who sometimes posts. She's usually on different forums though.

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Originally Posted by Wahoo

Heyoka sounds a bit like Wahoo- no work ethic, all sense of humor. Don'tcha love the goofballs? Are Goldie and Kayleigh "ladies"? (Dignified and regal?)

Wahoo was 160lbs on the vets scale. A "bit" oversize.

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Heyoka is a goofball. I gave his harness away last winter since there was just no point in even trying to get him to work anymore. He weighs 130 so he's a bit oversized too!

Goldie and Kayleigh have their dignified moments. Goldie goes a little silly for her giant tennis ball. Kayleigh loves to dig massive holes. They both had very rough starts in life so they have some issues!

Ahhh- massive holes. I know this- we refer to them as "tank traps". One of the joys of having a Malamute landscape designer.

How does that giant tennis ball hold up under enthusiastic play? Always looking for sturdy toys for the Dodgemonster...

I don't own one, but they are one of my favorite dogs! So big and beautiful and friendly dogs!

My parents used to breed Alaskan Malamutes years ago. I love the breed, but they are a bit too much for me to handle. (too high of a pray drive). So now I stick with Siberian Huskies ;) I would love to see pics of your Malamute!

Hi! I love the Northern breeds. I don't have mals, but I have two purebred sibes. They're quite enough for me to handle. They're also excellent landscapers, lol!
I'm always surprised at how much bigger mals are. 130 lbs? 160 lbs? That's a lot of dog! The ones I've met seem to have pretty mellow temperments too. Pictures are deifinitley in order.
BTW, is that you sculpting in your avatar?

I've got one, my first, and will never live without one from now on. Wonderful dogs. My boy's name is *technically* Orien, but unless he's in BIG BIG BIG trouble, it's just Rien. I've always been kind of a one syllable girl ... and o-ry-an suddenly switches it to THREE. How that works, I'll never know.

The landscaping Ri does in our backyard is referred to based on size: either Tiger or Elephant traps. We stopped him digging at our foundation with chicken wire and tent stakes.

As for his size, he's only about 65 pounds or so on a good day because he had an awful run in with a cat toy when he was 5 months old, right smack dab in the middle of his big growth period. He was sick for a good month until he finally threw up the fabric mousey... He's fine, but stunted and had only one testicle. We had him neutered at one year old: if not for his incident, I swear he would've finished within three or four weekends. He's a gorgeous open faced grey and white with EFFORTLESS movement. Perfect amount of reach and PLENTY of drive.

But I'll stop bragging. ;) Rien will turn four on July 14th and he's in his summer-mellow-mood right now anyway, so it's hard to tell if he's growing up and settling down or just plain hot. He's still plenty noisey when he's awake, though. I've lived with a lab, a farm collie, and a few small dogs and Malamutes are quite possibly the best dogs I've ever met. IMHO, there are dogs and there are Malamutes.