Hi Naomi,

My sister is researching breeds and wants to know what a mal is really like to live with. Are they easy to train? Are they hard work? What are they like around other dogs, people etc?

Thanks
Helen

Hi Helen,
The person that you should ask is Jacquie Norman. She usually posts on this board. If she sees this i'm sure she will reply. She is currently living with ten mals I believe (mainly pups). Our Mal isn't quite text book. She is very quiet, sensible and likes other dogs (mals usually hate other dogs apparently). She is however still very young. We live next door to a small holding and she isn't even bothered by the ducks. It may be a different story if the fence wasn't there lol. Her grandfather apparently used to go with the farmer daily to feed the sheep. She is very independent and strong willed however (typical mal traits) and has selective hearing. She loves our GSD and thinks he's her mum. She is always dirty unlike our white GSD and always stinks. They are certainly not a first time dog owners breed and need to be treated in a firm but fair manner. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. They thrive in a family environment and love children. As for training, toilet training has been slower than with my GSD but I guess that varies dog to dog. She would sit, lie down, stay and give a paw at eight and a half weeks. Anything else??? I could talk about Kiera all day. As you can see, whatever faults they have i'm sold on mals.
Naomi.

Hi Helen,

Naomi has given you a good introduction to the breed (just one thing though Naomi, I think you must have meant to say Mals generally tend not to get on with other dogs of the same sex, dogs of the opposite sex they are more than happy to be with :) )

I've emailed you direct with lots of other info. Hope it's useful.

Regards
Jacquie (Myatuk Alaskan Malamutes).

Hi Jacquie,

Thank you very much for sending me the information. I don't think my sister is ready for a mal just yet. She will keep the information for future use though as she would love to own one of these beautiful dogs one day.

Thanks again.

Helen