We have just bought a 12 week old Malamute (a real cutie!). We are slowly adjusting to having another puppy bombing around the house. Our 4 year old Samoyed isn't so sure about him yet, she just crashes into him and see's how far she can push him. We picked him up yesterday and he howled all night....LOUDLY!! I am hoping tonight will be a better sleep for all of us. We were talking to the breeder this afternoon and he was basically saying that Malamutes are outside dogs and that's the type of environment they prefer. Well, our Sam is an indoor dog. She loves the home comforts of sleeping on the bed at night. The thing is, we don't want an outside dog, we want him to be in the house. Is this going to be a problem or would he prefer being outside the whole time? I would appreciate any advice any one has on this subject. Also, I take it that the way our Sam is acting towards him is just pack dog behaviour or could there be more to it? Our Mal growls at her when she gets to much.

Thanks!

Most of the people I know with Malamutes have them inside , the few who have them outisde generally have several Mals rather than just one or two :) Malamutes are quite vocal and at 12 weeks he is finding everything very strange so he WILL howl loudly at night ...our Mal didn't let us sleep for nearly 6 weeks ;) :)

Melody

Thanks Melody, So looks like I have a few more restless nights ahead!!! Oh man!! We were extremely lucky with our Sam. She whimpered a bit for the first night. I went and saw her once in the night and then after that I never heard a word!! Still all good fun!!

Charlene

Charlene ..if you need any help or advice , just email me ..I am in touch with a vast number of Mally owners ..most of whom are far more experienced than I am :)

Melody

Thanx again Melody,

Last night was a better night. He only howled a few times and each time he did I went and let him out to the toilet. I think that the first night he may have been hot. He is used to being outside. Where I live in Canada it is -12 at the moment and we have over a foot of snow and he's used to sleeping in that. I opened the window last night and it seemed to help. When I was getting ready this morning he howled the whole time. He really doesn't like to be left alone. I just hope he adjusts to being an inside Mal and not an outside one.

Charlene

They really are family dogs Charlene ..they LOVE their *people* :D Hudson doesn't like to be away from us for any length of time ;) I can't imagine what -12 feels like :D :D I bet the pooch LOVES it though ...H likes the cold weather and will go and lie down outside on the patio in frost , ice and snow given half a chance ...not that we GET much snow here ;)

Hope tonight is better for you both :)

Melody

Hi Charlene,

I am so glad your Sammy and your Mal pup are getting used to each other and I am sure she will put him in his place when neccessary.

We have four Mal's that live quite happily indoors as part of the family, in other words they are spoilt rotten. In my experience you must start as you mean to go on. If you want him to live indoors then fine he will soon get used to that and I find that Mal's are happier being part of the family or pack. Place him outside on his own may distress him but as Melodysk said if you have several dogs sometimes it's not practical to have them all indoors. Perhaps you could construct an outside kennel & run and try him for a few hours a day but my feelings are they do thrive best if included in family life.

As for night time try crate training by putting a blanket over and leave the door open, he will see it as his den and can access this at any time. Leave a part of the house cooler for him either a hallway or utility room and have a radio or TV on as background noise, it's when it's quiet they can panic.

Our four are quite couch potatoes and love lounging upside down waiting for their bellies to be tickled or claiming to sofa before you can. They are a very rewarding breed by the love they give back to you and hopefully with your Sam they will be company for each other.

Where abouts in Canada do you live as my male Mal's dad was a Canadian import?

Best regards,

Jenny and The Wintersperre Gang.

Hi Jenny,

Thanks for the advice. We are living in Calgary. We are actually from the UK but have been out here for the last year. The breeder is Ardistan and they are in Cochrane not far from Calgary. The mother's breeder is Taolan. The only concern I have at the moment is that Nanuk (Sam) seems to jump on Tundra (Mal) all the time. She doesn't show any aggression but she is continuosly 'in his face'. When they are in the garden together, Nanuk pushes Tundra to the floor quite roughly and sits on him. She runs up to him extremely fast and crashes into him. She is always grabbing his neck and he is starting to do the same. It doesn't seem like normal play to me. On a few occasions she has really hurt him. I'm not sure what she is doing but she basically wont let him have any space. We got him on Saturday and she has been doing this every day since. Do you have any idea what this could be? I have not seen this side to Nanuk before. She is normally so placid and laid back.

Kind regards,

Charlene