If you are thinking about getting a Malamute, there are several pieces of advice that we would give you. 

Can you provide what a Malamute needs?

You certainly need to consider your suitability as Malamute owners and be totally honest with yourselves about you ability to provide all of the things that a Malamute needs to be healthy, happy and safe.  A good honest review of the Malamute's breed characteristics can be found on the "Your Pure Bred Puppy" website.  We suggest you read this and ask yourself "Is that what I want?"  because that's what you could get, particularly if the following advice is not followed!

Do your homework - there are a range of books available on the breed and a wealth of information on the internet.  Some useful links can be found on our links page.  There are several very useful books on the breed which are listed on our recommended reading page.  Some are out of print and so can be expensive and very difficult to get hold of but those are the books which we would recommend most highly if you an get your hands on a copy.

Meet a Malamute - try and meet as many Malamutes and their owners as possible to help you to get a rounded picture of the Malamute as a breed and get advice about Malamute ownership.  Visit dog shows, either local Open shows where many now have Malamute classes scheduled, or the much bigger Championship Shows which happen throughout the year around the country.  Information on the date and venue for these shows can be found on the websites in the "showing links" section of our links page.  Go along to a rally during the winter months.  Again dates and venue can be found through the websites in the working links section. Visiting these events will give you the opportunity to see many Malamutes, talk to their owners and experience some of the fun that malamute owners have!!  Please just bear in mind that many people will be competing in their various activities so may be busy getting dogs ready at certain times.

Buying a Malamute

You have two choices here, well two sensible choices anyway.  You could find a reputable breeder and buy a puppy aged 8 weeks.  The other option is to offer a home to a needy rescue Malamute who has lost his or her home through no fault of their own.

 Reputable breeders

I would strongly recommend that you find a breeder who you are happy with and that meets the following criteria:

1. All puppies bred are registered with the UK Kennel Club and all registrations are endorsed with the requirements “not to be bred from” and “not to be exported”.  Some breeders will give you all kinds of excuses why their pups are not registered, why their registrations are not endorsed or why the "papers" are not currently available but I personally would not accept any excuse.  Some breeders may claim to register their pups with alternative registration schemes.  My advice is avoid these and ask yourself “WHY are they not registered with the KC?”  Endorsements are the means by which the breeder of a puppy remains in control of when, whether and by whom that puppy is, in turn, bred from.  This ensures that only standard-fitting, healthy and physically and mentally sound dogs are used for breeding in future.
2. All of the breeders dogs, not just “breeding stock”, are tested for the known health concerns within the breed – in Malamutes these are Hip Displasia and Hereditary Cataracts.  Details of the relevant tests can be found on our breed page.
3. Really good breeders are likely to have a waiting list for puppies although this is less the case now than it used to be just a couple of years ago.
4. You should expect to be vetted very carefully by a responsible breeder and asked lots of questions about you, your family, your circumstances, what you intend to do with the dog etc. to help the breeder to try and ascertain whether they think you are suitable for Malamute ownership.  If you do not get asked questions then chances are the breeder will sell to anyone and therefore will not care much what happens to the dogs once they have your money.  You can be sure that they will not care what they have bred either so health checks etc. are unlikely to have been carried out
5. Puppies are allowed to leave for new homes certainly not before 7 weeks and preferably after 8 weeks of age.
6. All puppies leave for their new homes with a pack of information including their registration papers, diet sheet, free insurance details and particularly a signed contract which outlines the conditions of the sale.  It should include a clause which clearly states that the breeder will take back any puppy, at any stage, if the new owner is unable to keep the dog for any reason.
7. You should be able to see the Dam (mother) of the puppies and at least see pictures of the Sire (father).  You should be able to see all of the puppies with their Mum.  You should be given access to the pedigree and hip / eye certificates of BOTH parents.
8. Membership of a breed club, preferably the Alaskan Malamute Club of the UK, is recommended and you may wish to use a breeder who is on the AMCUK breeders list .  Any AMCUK member is expected to abide by the AMCUK Code of Ethics. 
9. Some breeders may be members of the Kennel Club Accredited Breeders Scheme.  Again this does not guarantee the quality or sound health / temperament of any puppies produced.
10. Whether or not the breeder is a member of either or both of the above clubs / schemes, you should assure yourself that the breeders ethics are sound – How old is the Dam? She should be over 2 years old.  Has she been bred from before?  If so, how long ago?  She should not have a had a litter within the last 12 months and should have had at least one season in between litters.  Use the AMCUK Code of Ethics as a benchmark, even if they are not actually on the Club Breeders list.
11. I personally would only ever buy a puppy from a breeder who has proved their dogs’ value either in the show ring or on the trail, but preferably from one that has been relatively successful in both arenas.
12. Local Authority Licensed Breeders are, in our opinion, likely to be commercial dog breeders and are by their very nature, often in it for the money.   Do not accept a Local Authority License on it's own as any guarantee that these breeder will be breeding in accordance with the KC or Breed Club rules or ethics.
13. AVOID PUPPY FARMERS AT ALL COSTS.  This is not always as easy as you might think.  If you follow all of the above advice and ensure that you have satisfied yourself that the breeder is genuinely passionate about the breed and concerned with both the future of the breed in general and your puppy in particular, then you can't go too far wrong.

 Where to find a reputable breeder

My best advice is to visit a large dog show or rally event where you will find several breeders with their dogs all under one roof, so to speak.  Use the opportunity to talk to people.  Get recommendations from owners and most importantly look at dogs, lots and lots of dogs!  If this isn’t imminently possible, next stop is the AMCUK breeders list.  Champdogs website is also a fairly good source of breeders information and contact details.  At least on there any adverts are for KC registered dogs only.  All of the above advice should still be followed wherever you find your breeder though.  

Avoid classified ads and free ads.  Certain websites contain adverts for some very dubious breeders and are often used by puppy farmers.

Also be very wary of breeders who breed several different breeds and who deliberately cross-breed.  With Malamutes, you need to find a breeder who has an obvious passion for the breed and is concerned with the breeds future.

As you can see, all this extra research takes time and so you should be prepared to wait for the right puppy to come along.

Re-homing / Rescue

There are some really genuine cases of Malamutes needing re-homed which, after a change in circumstances in their long term home, have been taken back in by their breeder, sometimes years down the line.  These dogs will come with a lifetime of support from their breeder and full service history so to speak.  You will occasionally find such dogs on our re-homing page.

 Many of the dogs appearing in breed rescue, however, are largely due to some of the breeding activities of the less reputable breeders who produce puppies in abundance and sell to any unsuspecting buyers with money to spare, without any kind of check as to their suitability and prior knowledge of the breed.  Believe it or not many people who buy from these breeders are unprepared for the growing Malamute and are surprised at how big they grow, how hairy they are and how boisterous and challenging they can be!

 Unfortunately some of the dogs sold by puppy farmers and disreputable breeders and then given up by their new unprepared owners have become aggressive or unmanageable and are sadly unable to be re-homed.  I do not need to tell you what fate usually befalls these poor dogs.

 For those dogs that are lucky enough to be found by either Alaskan Malamute Rescue or by one of the welfare charities, they are spayed / neutered, assessed, offered training where required and then offered for re-homing.  Some of these dogs’ histories are somewhat vague, or perhaps non-existent and sometimes traumatic.  They all deserve a second chance.

Alaskan Malamute Rescue is the official Malamute rescue arm of the AMCUK.  Anyone offering a Malamute a home through rescue is vetted very carefully before being placed on a waiting list until a suitable dog comes in.  The rescue website contains details of dogs currently available and also some updates and good news stories of dogs who have been successfully re-homed.

www.malamuterescue.org.uk

 Cross-bred Malamutes

There are a growing number of breeders who are cross-breeding and producing dogs with a variety of names including Huskamutes, Northern Inuits, British Inuits, Tamaskan Dogs and Utonagan.  They are all essentially crossbreeds using a combination of German Shepherd Dogs, Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes, some first generation crosses, others 2^nd or 3^rd generation.  Some are sold with the claim that they are part wolf which, of course, is highly unlikely and certainly illegal in the UK.  Please do not be fooled into buying one of these dogs in the belief that it will become a recognised and KC registered breed in it’s own right.  They cannot be registered and therefore cannot be shown or entered into any other KC endorsed activity including working in harness!  

I am not necessarily against crossbreeds as such, however any potential owner should be sure of what they are buying and not pay over the odds.  They should certainly not be paying anywhere near the cost of a pure bred pedigree Malamute, let alone pay more because of it's fancy sounding name!  Owners of crossbreeds should also consider that, despite some claims on some cross-breeders websites, crossing two breeds does NOT mean that you are going to get the best of both breeds, in fact quite often the opposite!

 I have seen advertisements for Malamutes cross-bred with other large breed dogs which can be difficult enough in their own right.  I dread to think what a Malamute x Akita or a Malamute x Rottweiler could will turn out like but I do know I don’t want to be around when it hits adolescence!!