The Alaskan Malamute is a powerful dog originally bred to pull heavy weigh over the harshest of Arctic conditions. As one of the oldest of the Arctic sled dogs and known best as a member of a sled dog team.

History

The Malamute is a descendant of dogs of the Mahlemuts tribe of upper western Alaska. These dogs had a prominent role with their human companions – working, hunting, and living alongside them. The interdependent relationship between the Mahlemut and their dogs fostered prosperity among both and enabled them to flourish in the inhospitable land above the Arctic Circle. For a brief period during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896, the Malamute and other sled dogs became extremely valuable to recently landed prospectors and settlers, and were frequently crossbred with imported breeds. This was often an attempt to improve the type, or to make up for how few true Malamutes were up for sale. This seems to have had no long standing effect on the modern Malamute, and recent DNA analysis shows that Malamutes are one of the oldest breeds of dog, genetically distinct from other dog breeds.[8] The Malamute dog has had a distinguished history; Aiding Rear Admiral Richard Byrd to the South Pole, and the miners who came to Alaska during the Gold Rush of 1896. This dog was never destined to be a racing sled dog; instead, it was used for heavy freighting, pulling hundreds (maybe thousands) of pounds of supplies to villages and camps in groups of at least 4 dogs for heavy loads. The Alaskan Malamute is a member of the Spitz group of dogs, traced back 2,000 to 3,000 years ago to the Mahlemuits tribe of Alaska.

Appearance and Size

The coat is a dense double northern dog coat, somewhat "harsher" (in a certain sense) than that of the Siberian Husky. The usual colors are various shades of gray and white, sable and white, black and white, red and white, or pure white. Eyes are almond-shaped and are always various shades of brown (from dark to light, honey or hazel brown); blue eyes will disqualify the dog in shows. The physical build of the Malamute is compact with heavy bone, in most (but not all) cases.. In this context 'compact' means that their height to length ratio is slightly longer than tall, unlike dogs like Great Danes which are longer and lankier in their ratios. The American Kennel Club (AKC) breed standard calls for a natural range of size, with a desired freighting weight of 75 to 85 pounds (34–39 kg) and a height of 23 to 26 inches (58–64 cm).

Personality

The majority of Malamutes are fairly quiet dogs, seldom barking like most other dog breeds. When it does vocalize, more often than not they tend to "talk" by vocalizing a "woo woo" sound. They may howl like wolves or coyotes, and for the same reasons. When they howl, the howl is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish from the wolf.

Wikipedia and GNU

The content of this entry is from the Wikipedia article "Alaskan Malamute" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.