Alaskan Malamutes

Breed specific discussion of your favorite breed.

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Stu
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2010 5:05 pm

Alaskan Malamutes

Post by Stu »

Hi Folks.

We have a 5 year old Malamute ***** and a 10 week old male. There has been some discussion about whether for Mal's its a good idea to let the dogs off a lead and I'm curious to hear what other peoples' experience is. Some people say you should never, under any circumstances let a Malamute run free, others are more keen to let the dogs off their leads. With our girl she gets a free run at our local beach and is generally good at coming back (eventually). Are we just lucky with her or are the 'Always Keep a Mal on a Lead' crowd just being over cautious?

Cheers,


Stu
josie1918
Posts: 435
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:57 am
Location: nebraska, United States
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Re: Alaskan Malamutes

Post by josie1918 »

Years ago I owned a gorgeous malamute, he trained easily, and was absolutely perfect until he got off his lead. My own experiences with any breed have been that females simply try harder to please their owners than male dogs do, the males always seem to have their own agenda. This is only my opinion and I am sure there are exceptions. If it were me, I would keep the little "guy" on a leash :D
wvvdiup1
Posts: 3397
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:31 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Alaskan Malamutes

Post by wvvdiup1 »

Mattie has a good advice on Recall training somewhere under the dog training (off hand, I can't think exactly where it is at this time) you might want to check out.
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"Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius." -author unknown
wvvdiup1
Posts: 3397
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:31 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Alaskan Malamutes

Post by wvvdiup1 »

I think I've found it! :D

See "Dog Training Advice"-"Running away, unable to recall" posted on May 02, 2010. You'll have to scroll to it, though, but you'll get some answers! :D
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"Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius." -author unknown
jacksdad
Posts: 4887
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:48 pm

Re: Alaskan Malamutes

Post by jacksdad »

I don't know about malamutes in specific, but in general IF you have a safe place to let your dogs run free where they can do so safely, off leash time is a good thing for dogs.

A part of being able to do this is a good re call. here is a direct link to the thread wvvdiup1 is talking about viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6364&p=43684&hilit= ... way#p43684

However, IF there is any doubt about the area being safe for your dog to be off lead and that he/she does will come when called regardless of breed you should keep your dog on a lead. a way to have a "compromise" is to use long leads such as 15 or 30 foot leads and just let them drag while you hold your end and your dog does it's thing at the to other end. If you want to (and you should) use this time as training. try not to let your dog find the end of the lead. work on your recall while on these walks with the long lead. this is something I have started with my dog. for a variety of reasons, weak recall just being one, I do not let my dog off lead. but I have gotten him to the point I feel ok with him running "free" on a long lead. then during the walk I will randomly call him back to me and reward him and let him go on his way. I am doing this mostly with a 15 ft lead right now, but do have a 30 foot I break out. which I use has to do more with safety then anything.

Just remember, no recall is 100% because there is always going to be something out there more interesting for your dog. some dogs it's other dogs, some it squirrels, some it is rabbits, or cats... and that is why you should choose your off leash places carefully. this way if your dog doesn't respond to recall and keeps going it won't run off into traffic for example.

So, what I would recommend is, using the link to get started. and if you don't get any response to your other question about Malamutes and always being on lead, re post your question into the training forum. cross posting is generally considered bad "internet manners", but this post probably should have gone there anyway as it gets more attention and it is more of a training question anyway.
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