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Breed guide · Dogs
She answers every no with a low woo-woo. I've stopped winning the argument.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
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At home
A fresh hole in the flowerbed, or a scrape at the tiles in the shade.
What's going onMalamutes dig down to cooler ground. In a Dubai garden that is the flowerbed. Give them a tiled corner in the air conditioning instead, and from May to September, keep their walks to before sunrise and after dark.
At home
Every walk starts with you being towed to the end of the road.
What's going onBecause they are a sled dog, bred to haul heavy loads. Start lead training while they are small, and use a harness that fits well. At full size a Malamute is stronger than many of the people walking them.
At home
They hear the cue, look at you, and decide whether it is worth it.
What's going onMalamutes were bred to make their own choices on the trail. They listen when it pays. Keep sessions short, reward what you want, and never repeat a cue they have ignored.
At home
A low woo-woo every time you say no, and a full howl when the door closes.
What's going onThey are talking, and they usually want something: a walk, company, dinner, the door open. Work out what the noise is for before you try to stop it, and do not reward the howl with the thing it asked for.
At home
Tufts of undercoat on the sofa, the rug and your clothes, all year.
What's going onA Malamute sheds all year and heavily once or twice a year, when the woolly undercoat comes out. Brush it out down to the skin, and never clip or shave it.
At home
Locked on to the cats by the bins, and nothing you say gets through.
What's going onMany Malamutes chase small animals hard. It is an old hunting instinct, not bad temper. Keep them on a lead where street cats live, and take introductions to small pets at home slowly.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their work
Built for: Hauling heavy loads across the Arctic.
In Dubai: Little to pull.
Their climate
Built for: Sleeping in the snow.
In Dubai: 45-degree summers, with nowhere cold to dig.
Their day
Built for: Working steadily for hours.
In Dubai: Indoors for most of the day.
The digging, the pulling on the lead and the arguments mostly come from that gap.
You cannot give them a sled and a winter. You can give them a cool home and a steady job, and the ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around their breed: the hips, thyroid, eyes and stomach a Malamute is prone to, at every age.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
Their coat was made for Arctic winters. Here, air conditioning and cool-hour walks are essential.
Every age, most of all puppies and from 7 years
Why
Their coat was made for Arctic winters. Here, air conditioning and cool-hour walks are essential.
What to do
Keep them in air conditioning through the day, with a cool tiled floor to lie on. From May to September, walk before sunrise and after dark, and check the pavement with the back of your hand first. Never leave them on a balcony, in a garden or in a car in the heat. If they pant hard, drool thickly or wobble, move them into shade or air conditioning straight away, wet their coat and skin with cool water, not ice-cold, and contact your vet now. Keep cooling them on the way, with the air conditioning on in the car.
A Malamute who objects to being handled is very hard to groom or examine at full size.
Every age, starting the day they come home
Why
A Malamute who objects to being handled is very hard to groom or examine at full size.
What to do
Every day, touch their paws, ears and mouth for a few seconds and give a treat. Practise standing still for the brush. Once they accept a toothbrush, brush their teeth every day. Build it up before they outgrow you.
They are big, bright and sure of their own mind, and the house rules are easier to agree while you can still lift them.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
They are big, bright and sure of their own mind, and the house rules are easier to agree while you can still lift them.
What to do
Two or three five-minute sessions a day, paid with food or the thing they want most at that moment. Stop while they are still keen. Say a cue once, and reward them when they get it right. Keep the same rules for everyone in the house.
Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (GDV, bloat, a twisted stomach) is a risk for Malamutes as prime adults.
Every age, most of all from 4 years
Why
Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (GDV, bloat, a twisted stomach) is a risk for Malamutes as prime adults.
What to do
Two or three smaller meals a day rather than one big one, and no running or rough play for an hour after eating. If they retch with nothing coming up, or their belly swells, it is an emergency: contact your vet now.
An underactive thyroid and gradual loss of sight are both risks for a Malamute, and both can show at home before anything else.
Every age
Why
An underactive thyroid and gradual loss of sight are both risks for a Malamute, and both can show at home before anything else.
What to do
Once a week, as you brush, look at their coat and skin, and at their eyes in dim light. Weigh them once a month. A slower, heavier Malamute with a thinner coat is worth showing your vet.
They shed all year, and dead undercoat left in holds heat against the skin and mats.
Every age, more as the adult coat comes in
Why
They shed all year, and dead undercoat left in holds heat against the skin and mats.
What to do
Brush them through to the skin several times a week with an undercoat rake and a slicker brush, and every day when they shed. Do not clip or shave the undercoat. De-shed and de-mat with the right tools, and keep up the brushing and bathing, so the coat stays clear and skin problems are easier to spot.
They were bred for steady work all day, and summer keeps them inside.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
They were bred for steady work all day, and summer keeps them inside.
What to do
Scatter part of their food, hide treats for them to find, and give them a stuffed chew to work at. Keep games calm after meals, because of the bloat risk. Arrange a midday visit if they are alone for most of the day.
They pull with the strength of a freight dog, and many Malamutes chase cats.
Every age, for life
Why
They pull with the strength of a freight dog, and many Malamutes chase cats.
What to do
Use a well-fitted harness. Teach loose-lead walking from puppyhood. In open spaces, use a long line of 5 to 10 metres so they can explore safely.
They are strong, clever and bred to cover ground, and they will find a gap or a weak latch.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
They are strong, clever and bred to cover ground, and they will find a gap or a weak latch.
What to do
Check the gate, the wall, the balcony rails and any spot they could dig under. Keep a baby gate inside the front door for deliveries.
Hip Dysplasia (a poorly fitting hip joint) is one of their first health risks, from puppyhood, and arthritis follows with age.
Every age, hip evaluation before 2 years
Why
Hip Dysplasia (a poorly fitting hip joint) is one of their first health risks, from puppyhood, and arthritis follows with age.
What to do
Keep them lean. Put rugs where they turn on marble, and lift them or use a ramp for the car. No repeated jumping while a puppy's joints are forming. Book their hip evaluation before they are two.
Two of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
6 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 4 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
4 to 7 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
10 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
One breed, a range of sizes
The Malamute is the heaviest and strongest of the northern sled dogs, bred to pull loads rather than to run fast. There is one Alaskan Malamute, with a natural range in size, so the dogs some people call giant Malamutes are simply bigger dogs of the same breed.
Alaskan Malamute colours
No two Malamute faces are quite the same: a cap, a bar or a full mask, on a coat anywhere from light grey to black, sable or red, with white underneath. Some Malamutes are white all over.
The first six months
Their full vaccination course, microchip and Dubai Municipality registration come first. Keep time outside short in summer, because puppies overheat quickly. Start the lead, the brush and gentle handling while they are still small enough to lift.
Puppy health, 0 to 6 months
Getting the home ready
Give them a tiled floor in an air-conditioned room, and rugs where they turn on marble. Check the gate, the wall and anywhere they could dig under, and put a baby gate inside the front door.
Ten things that make their life better
Before you commit
Ask the breeder whether both parents have had their hips and elbows scored and their eyes tested, and whether the line has been tested for chondrodysplasia (dwarfism). Hip Dysplasia and eye disease are among the first risks for a young Malamute.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
For a new puppy: First 30 days with a new puppy · Puppy vaccinations in the UAE · Heatstroke in dogs
When it is not behaviour.
They'll keep winning the argument. If they stop arguing, call your vet.
Before they were yours.
The beginning
The Alaskan Malamute takes its name from the Mahlemut, an Inupiat people on the shores of Kotzebue Sound in north-west Alaska. Their dogs hauled heavy loads across the ice and lived close to the family.
What they still carryThe power, the coat, and a dog who wants to live with their people.
Late 1800s
The gold rush brought a huge demand for sled dogs, and dogs of every kind were crossed with the native dogs to meet it. The breed nearly disappeared.
What they still carrySome variety between lines, from a breed rebuilt from the few dogs of the old type.
1920s
Breeders in New England gathered dogs of the old freighting type and bred them back.
What they still carryThe heavy build and a steady temperament.
1935
The American Kennel Club recognised the Alaskan Malamute in 1935, and the breed's first championship was awarded the same year.
What they still carryA big, strong dog, calm with family and firm about what they want.
Today
Here most Malamutes are family dogs, in villas and flats.
What they still carryThe heaviest sled dog of the northern breeds, built for Arctic hauling, living through a 45-degree summer.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Malamute suits you, so might these.
SamoyedThe same kind of dog: an Arctic spitz, this one from Siberia, smaller, friendlier with strangers, in a white coat.
Siberian HuskyAnother sled dog from the far north, lighter, and even more vocal.
AkitaThe same strong, independent temperament and steady energy, in a guardian breed from Japan that is warier of strangers.
Chow ChowA similar thick double coat that needs regular brushing and cool indoor summers, in a calmer, smaller dog.
