Should You Own an Alaskan Malamute?

The Alaskan Malamute is not a breed for everyone. There is much misunderstanding of the breed that unfortunately leads to many malamutes ending up in rescue.

First and foremost, malamutes are pack animals. That is, they are best when they have a social structure in which they know their place. What this means is, in general, they do not like to be alone, and most often will be destructive if left alone for a length of time they feel is too long. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but more often than not, if you adopt a malamute and leave him loose and alone for 8 hours a day, you will likely come home to some form of destruction, whether it be a yard that looks like the lunar landscape, or a chewed up TV remote. 

What being a pack animal also means is they need/want a leader. If they do not feel they have a leader in you, they will take that role. This leads to many malamutes in rescue who have learned to guard anything they deem as “theirs” and are surrendered because they do not obey and appear threatening.

Malamutes need a job. This could take the form of following commands for anything they desire (“sit” for a treat or toy,  “down” for a pat or belly rub) or it could take the form of running on a team, or pulling you on a bicycle or scooter (with the proper equipment), hiking with a pack, agility, and or obedience classes. Malamutes love to work and this in turn increases the bond with their owner as leader.

Children need to be supervised and taught how to interact with a malamute. Therefore, these dogs are best with older children who are capable of learning and understanding the way to work with a malamute.  As long as the malamute understands who the leader of the pack is, he can also learn that he is lower on the hierarchy than any human in the family, but the children need to understand fair treatment and respect (appropriate leadership) and the way to reinforce the idea that the malamute is lower than they are in the family unit.

Because malamutes crave a social structure, they are usually not good doggie daycare or dog-park participants. They often get the earned reputation of not playing well with others. Malamute adopters should not expect to exercise their dogs in dog parks but should rather be involved as part of the “team” – walking, running, hiking, agility , obedience classes, etc. Again, left to their own devices, malamutes will most often quickly try to establish a hierarchy within the playgroup, and that usually means they want to be the leader and will work to establish that, often by becoming dominant aggressive with the other dogs.

Malamutes tend to have a very high prey drive. That is, they may see small animals, including small dogs and cats, as prey. This is very instinctual and is not something they “decide” to do, but rather is often something that just “clicks” if they see a small animal, especially one that is running. This can have dire consequences and is NOT the fault of the malamute, as it is basic instinct, but of the owner who has failed to keep their malamute on a leash, or has “expected” them to be OK with their other animals. They can appear to be tolerant of small animals and then something will “click”. Malamutes, in general are not recommended for families with cats or small dogs. Again, there are exceptions, but even those can lose it at some point so families should always watch interactions carefully and never leave a malamute alone and unsupervised with cats or small animals.

Malamutes are incredibly engaging and endearing and can be very entertaining with their vocalizations. They can also cause rifts with neighbors if left alone in the yard to howl all day and night. Malamutes need a ton of attention. It can simply be in the form of your leader-like company a good part of the time, as they don’t need constant exercise as some would suggest. They do need to feel part of the pack, first and foremost. Exercise is definitely required, but they need less than your average lab or German shepherd. Mostly they need “you”, present and confident.

Owning a malamute can be one of the most rewarding experiences of pet ownership, as they truly do feel like a family member, with their opinions and their loving personalities. But you need to go into malamute ownership with the proper expectations. If you do, you will always have a mal in your life.

Cindy Neely

WAMAL president & founder