Good
Sound Training Could Be
The
Difference Between Life & Death
For Your Malamute
Now, did that get your
attention? The death part, that is? Good, because we're not exaggerating.
Malamutes are terrific dogs, but they have special needs when it
comes to training. You can meet these needs very easily and humanely
at an early age, or you can choose to neglect them and end up with
an unmanageable, potentially aggressive dog, who nobody will want
to live with. And because nobody will want the dog, he or she will
stand an excellent chance of being euthanized. So, if we still have
your attention... In order to train a mal successfully, you must
understand what makes these magnificent animals tick. Along with
being affectionate, playful companions, malamutes are intelligent,
independent, stubborn, energetic and dominant creatures with a very
highly developed sense of pack hierarchy. These traits were essential
for survival in the harsh and unforgiving environment which mals
first inhabited, and they continue to be the essence of malamute
temperament. If you cherish and respect these characteristics, and
are able to work with them in training your pet, you will end up
with a malamute who is a pleasure to live with. If, however, you
ignore your mals special training needs, or have expectations which
are simply not within a mals capabilities, you and your pet will
face failure.
We all understand
the terms intelligent, independent, stubborn and energetic. But
what about dominance and pack hierarchy? Well, dogs are pack animals,
just like wolves. Our modern breeds demonstrate varying degrees
of pack behaviour and malamutes (along with the rest of the northern
breeds) retain a very high level of these behaviours, along with
a strong sense of pack hierarchy. In a pack, there is always a hierarchy,
or pecking order. Pack members each have their own place in the
hierarchy, with the most dominant member, generally a male, assuming
the alpha or leader role. A strong, confident leader is necessary
to ensure a stable, secure pack. Malamutes, as a breed, tend to
possess a very high natural level of dominance, and will be happy
to assume the alpha role in any pack to which they belong.
When you bring
a malamute into your family, she will regard your family as her
pack. It is absolutely imperative that you teach your pet, from
day one, that her place is at the bottom of the pecking order; that
she is the least dominant member of your pack. This is a relatively
easy task, especially with a young pup, accomplished using simple,
humane techniques which mimic the way in which your pet interacted
with the members of her first pack - her mom, littermates and other
adult dogs in her moms pack/kennel. Every member of your family,
children and adults alike, must apply these methods with love, affection,
respect, firmness and consistency.
Your pup will
return that love, affection and respect ten-fold, will learn to
trust all of you, and will feel absolutely secure with her place
at the bottom of the hierarchy. Together, you will have laid the
foundation for a successful relationship. Training your malamute
will be a labour of love, continuing throughout your pets lifetime.
It will be done on two levels. She must learn to accept the human
members of her pack as caring, benevolent leaders. As well, she
must learn the day to day obedience skills which will make her a
welcome member of your family and community. The two levels of training
are interdependent, and many skills will be used in both - for example,
learning to respond to down is a basic obedience skill, but learning
to hold a long down is both an obedience skill, and an exercise
in pack hierarchy.
While the focus
of this brochure is to help you learn how to establish yourself
as alpha in your mals eyes, we would also like to offer a bit of
advice to help you get started with basic obedience training. We
have provided a list of resources at the end of the brochure, all
of which provide sane, intelligent information. We also hope (dare
we say, insist) that you take some formal obedience classes with
your pet.
There are many
different approaches to obedience training, ranging from the more
old fashioned methods, which were often very heavy-handed, to newer
techniques, which can rely almost entirely on food rewards or on
other rewards which the dog has learned to associate with food (i.e.
conditioned reinforcers, for example, clickers). We believe that
the best approach for mals is one falling somewhere in the middle.
You must be firm with your mal, showing them clearly what you want
to them to do, and then issuing commands, as opposed to requests,
to perform specificbehaviours. But, except for a well-timed correction
with a properly fitted choke collar (or, in extremely difficult
situations and under professional guidance, a pinch collar), physical
punishment has no place in obedience training. And, while food rewards
are very useful, particularly while you are introducing a new behaviour
or trying to help your pet conquer a task or situation which she
finds frightening or stressful, we believe that it is far more useful
and productive to reward your pet with praise and positive attention
from you.
Obedience training
is about having a stable, happy, well-mannered dog who is welcome
in your community. It is also about having a dog who will respond
to you in an emergency (for example, if her collar breaks and she
darts out into the street), because she respects and trusts you,
and values your praise. Over-reliance on food or a conditioned reinforcer
often produces a dog who responds only to that reward - in other
words, it develops a relationship between the dog and food instead
of between the dog and her family.
An experienced,
professional trainer is an invaluable resource in learning to enjoy
life with your malamute. Ideally, you will be able to find a trainer
who has extensive experience with northern breeds. Failing that,
look for someone who is open-minded, and takes a fairly middle-of-the-road
approach to training. Avoid extremes in training methods - although
short term results can be impressive, over the long term very regimented,
militaristic style classes, or classes where excessive use is made
of food rewards, tend not to bring out the best in malamutes. Also
avoid trainers who say that their method is the only acceptable
method, and that it works for all dogs. If such a beast existed,
the inventor would be wealthier than Bill Gates! Some trainers have
extensive training, while others simply draw on their years of hands-on
experience and on-the-job learning. Either can be excellent... or
a disaster... Try to meet with the trainer before you enrol in a
class, and, ideally, watch one or two of their classes. Class size
should be reasonable for the amount of space and number of instructors,
and adequate to allow plenty of one-on-one attention for each student.
The general mood
should be calm and light - dogs should be under control, and enjoying
themselves. Your vet may be able to recommend some trainers in your
area. A local all-breed kennel or obedience club, or local malamute
people may also have some suggestions. Now, for the big question.
How do we teach our malamutes that we are alpha? Its easy, especially
if we start when they're puppies. And while these techniques were
designed for puppies, they can certainly form the basis for a mild
attitude adjustment with an older dog, as long as you are working
with a professional trainer, and are very careful to not push the
adult mal too far, too fast. Although we will list these as separate
exercises or techniques, over time they will become second nature
to you, and simply be the way in which you communicate with and
handle your pet.
Gently hold your
puppy on her back, on the floor. Pet her, rub her tummy, talk to
her and tell her how wonderful she is. She may struggle at first,
but persist and don't let her up until she has been quiet for a
short time (at first, just a second or two; gradually increase to
a couple of minutes). By doing this, you are placing your puppy
in a very submissive posture, while you assume the dominant position.
But, you are doing it in a gentle, loving, firm and positive way,
so she will learn to associate your dominance with friendly, positive
attention. In other words, when she submits to your requests, she
is rewarded with positive attention. This is also the beginning
of teaching your pet to do things simply because you ask her to
and because it will make you happy (not a concept which comes naturally
to most malamutes).
Carry your puppy
around on her back, cradling her in your arms as you would a baby.
Again, talk to her and tell her how wonderful she is. This is an
extension of the previous exercise, and places the pup in an even
more submissive position than being held gently on the floor. It
won't be long before your pup is too heavy to pick up, but all members
of the household who are strong enough to do this exercise safely
should practice it until the pup becomes too big.
Please note: Young
children who are too small to pick up your pup easily should learn
that they must never try to pick her up, to avoid injury to either
child or puppy. Your pet will soon be too big for most people to
pick up and, in any case, most malamute pups are far too busy to
enjoy being carried around like a doll.
When your pup
is sitting, crouch behind her and give her a big bear hug. Use your
whole body to cover her head and shoulders. As usual, pet her and
fuss over her while you're doing this, so that she will learn to
associate your dominant posture with good things. While your pup
is standing, bend down from your waist and give her another bear
hug, with your body right over her shoulders and head. (Okay, this
is really bad for your back, but whats more important - your back
or your dog?) Like the other postures, this stance mimics the posture
a dominant dog will assume over a less dominant dog. While you're
doing it, rub your pups chest, scratch her chin and tell her you
love her. Again, she will learn that you are a kind, benevolent
dictator.
With your open
hand, gently stroke your mals head, starting with her skull, above
her ears, and coming down over her face to her muzzle, gently holding
her muzzle for a few seconds. A strange dog could interpret this
gesture as being very dominant and threatening (which is why we
approach strange, non-aggressive dogs with a hand extended, under
their chin), but your own pet should accept it happily. As always,
your happy chatter and gentle touch will tell her that she has nothing
to fear by accepting this dominant gesture.
These first five
exercises can begin within the first days that your pup is with
you. Use common sense and don't overwhelm her with too much at once,
but within a fairly short time these steps should no longer be exercises,
but rather ways in which you handle your dog, and demonstrate your
affection for her. And of course, you'll also be doing housebreaking,
leash and collar training, and some very basic obedience work during
her first weeks with you - definitely a busy time!
Meal times provide
a wonderful opportunity to reinforce these early lessons about your
pups place in her pack. In a wolf pack, the dominant animal eats
first, gets the choicest morsels, and then says when, what and how
much the other animals may have. Its very simple to translate this
into dog/human pack terms. First, your pups mealtimes should be
separate from or after your meal time. Never feed your pet immediately
before or during your meal times. When its chow time for the little
vacuum cleaner, bring her to the designated dining area, where her
food dish is ready on the counter. Tell her to sit, and then, while
helping her to hold her sit with one hand, place the food bowl on
the floor with your other hand and tell her to wait. After she has
waited tell her okay and let her start eating. At first, this will
be pretty chaotic, with the wait period measured in milliseconds,
and a bit of a struggle to hold the starving beast in her sit while
you place the food on the floor. Just persist, and be consistent,
and within a couple of weeks your little angel should be sitting
and waiting all by herself. Once she has mastered sitting and waiting,
add the next step. Halfway through the meal (which for some mals
means after the first two seconds), tell puppy to sit again (helping
her with one hand if necessary), and put the food bowl back on the
counter. Then, make her go through the sit, wait and okay routine
all over again before you let her finish her meal. The first time
you try this, the food may go flying all over the kitchen. Don't
worry - just be patient, firm and consistent, and in another couple
of weeks she should have it down pat. And, she will have learned
that you control the food, and that no matter what sort of strange
ideas you may have about how and when she can eat, she will always
get her dinner, as long as she follows your instructions. Try starting
this exercise a couple of weeks after your pup comes home. Some
trainers may suggest that you return your pups food with a special
treat added. This is not necessary and may even backfire, if your
pup gets the idea that shes training you to add the treat. This
exercise is about exercising arbitrary control while being gentle
and fair about it.
Some trainers
also suggest sitting beside your pet while she eats, putting your
hand in her bowl and even hand-feeding some of her kibble. In moderation,
this is a good idea, especially if there are children in your family
- your mal must learn that any human may do anything they want with
her food, at any time. Just be careful not to overdo it - some dogs
may decide that a human who hand feeds her is a subordinate, there
to wait on her hand and paw. The best solution is to have the adults
teach your pet the sit, wait and okay exercise, temporarily taking
food away part way through the meal, and then have everyone in the
family take turns practising the exercise with her.
One more thing,
while we're discussing mealtime. Your pup should not get any (well,
at least hardly any...) people food. There are good reasons for
this. Too many tasty treats can create a very fussy eater - a pet
who will take great delight in learning to control your actions
by refusing to eat whats put in front of her, and who will turn
mealtimes into a real power struggle. As well, too many extras can
upset the balance in your pets diet and dramatically increase her
calorie intake. If your pet is receiving a good quality dry food
(she is, isn't she??), then her diet is complete and balanced. Food
treats can take the form of small dog biscuits and healthy, low-cal
things like bits of fresh fruit and vegetables, ice cubes (yup -
really!) and tiny amounts of cheese or lean meat scraps. Just make
sure that these food treats do not come from your plate, or during
your mealtime. Dogs who beg at the table are a nuisance, and more
importantly, the pack leader (thats you!) does not share their meal
with the underlings.
The tone of voice
we use when speaking to our dogs is very important. We often tend
to talk to our pets as if they were babies, using high pitched voices
and baby-talk. This is a big mistake! At best, baby-talk makes us
sound like equals to our pets, at worst, they will think we are
subordinates. Talk to your mal as you would to an intelligent person,
using a normal, confident tone. If you are pleased with your dog,
go overboard in making your voice sound happy and positive (you'll
feel like a fool at first, but theres bound to be a certain element
of foolishness in living with a mal!). Conversely, when you are
displeased with your dog, you should use a very distinctive, unquestionably
angry voice - your voice of doom. Keep it as low pitched as possible
(no shrieking or screaming) and incorporate a growly component.
There should be a real contrast between your happy and angry voices,
and they, along with all your other voices (calm, loving, conversational)
will be very valuable tools as you train your malamute.
Eye contact is
also extremely important. It can run the full range from warm and
loving to the look of death. Combine your friendly, affectionate
gaze with your happy voice and words of praise, and use the look
of death with your voice of doom - both will make very effective
statements, in the same way that your pups mom communicated with
her. Further, when your pup has done something really bad, stare
very hard into her eyes until she looks away - the doggy equivalent
of saying uncle. Never, never be the first one to look away. Even
if it takes two days...
Take a few seconds
several times each day to teach your mal to watch me. Tell her watch
me, point to your eyes, and reward her with a small treat and lots
of praise as soon as she responds. Gradually increase the amount
of time she must remain focused on you before receiving her reward.
And, of course, as soon as she knows what the words mean, concentrate
on rewarding her with praise, and give her a food treat only rarely.
This exercise is particularly useful with malamutes, because one
of the greatest difficulties in doing basic obedience work with
these independent thinkers is getting them to focus on and pay attention
to their humans.
Nothing good in
life is free. Every time your pet wants anything from you, be it
a treat, her meal, some playtime, a walk, a hug or a philosophical
discussion, make her earn it. It takes very little effort and even
less time to ask her to sit or lie down or shake a paw before she
gets something. This is a quick, easy way to sneak a bit of obedience
work into everyday life, and it also reinforces your position as
alpha.
The long down
is a really useful tool. Try introducing it when your pup is between
four and six months old. The first few times you try this you will
probably curse us, but stick with it - the end result is well worth
the effort. By the time you try your first long down your mal will
know what the words down and stay mean, but she probably won't be
accustomed to holding either command for any length of time. Your
first attempt at a long down will be for 30 minutes - no pussyfooting
around! Of course, your mal won't do it - not at first. So just
park yourselves in front of the idiot box, tell her majesty to down
and stay beside you, and be prepared to spend the next half hour
telling your incredibly restless creature no, stay and replacing
her in exactly the same spot where she started the exercise. When
you're not reminding and/or replacing her, pay attention to the
scintillating entertainment on the TV, and don't fuss over the dog.
After half an hour and after shes been lying quietly for at least
a couple of minutes, release her with an okay and praise her. Now,
both of you can get up and do something else. Try doing this exercise
once every two or three days. It will take a while, but eventually
you will be rewarded with a dog who will lie quietly for a reasonable
amount of time (e.g., through your meal), until you tell her she
can get up. This exercise is about benevolent, arbitrary (to the
dog, that is!) control, and gives a very strong message to your
pet about whos in charge. Its also really useful to have a dog who
can hold a long down. She'll be a lot more welcome when you're visiting
friends and family who may not be quite as enamoured of your pet
as you are. And the more places she can visit with you, the more
interesting her life will be!
Games are fun,
and having fun is one of the reasons we share our lives with dogs.
Just be sure that you control playtime - you establish the rules
and duration of the games, and if the game has a winner, its always
you. Its fine to respond to your pets invitation to play, but remember
to remind her that you're still in charge by making her earn your
attention by doing a trick or responding to a quick command first.
A word of caution
- avoid games which involve chasing, tug-of-war and excessive roughhousing,
especially if there are children in your family. This type of game
has clear winners and losers, and children (and most adults...)
simply don't have the size or strength to win a physical contest
with a malamute.
Provide lots of
safe toys for your mal. These will allow her to entertain herself
and will help prevent boredom, and all of the destructive behaviours
which accompany it. Do not allow your pet to become protective or
possessive of her toys, though. Anyone in the family should be able
to remove anything from her mouth, at any time. If the object in
question is something forbidden (e.g. shoe, clothing, garbage, roadkill,
a roast turkey...), replace it with an acceptable toy. If its a
toy, return it after a few seconds, unless there is a specific reason
why she should not have that toy at that time.
Do not allow your
mal to jump up on people, unless invited. Teach your malamute to
sit in front of people when she greets them. You can also teach
her to jump up to give you a hug, on invitation only. And make very
sure that your exuberant pet is never allowed to jump up on children
- shes simply too big and powerful to do this.
Crates are a valuable
training tool. Dogs are den animals - they like to have a cosy place
to curl up in and call their own. Used properly, your mals crate
will be her den. It will be a valuable aid in housetraining, a safe
haven where children and other pets are not permitted to bother
her, and a safe place for your pup to rest and perhaps enjoy a good
chew while you're busy with other things. Halters are another worthwhile
training tool. These are devices similar to the halters used to
handle livestock, and are used when walking your dog in place of
a choke collar. They exert gentle pressure around the base of the
muzzle and behind the head, allowing you to control your pets head
very easily. The pressure also helps to communicate your alpha status
to the dog. A properly used halter will reduce pulling on leash
significantly - a real benefit with our natural-born pullers!
As a rule, malamutes
should never be allowed off leash, or left unsupervised in an unfenced
area. They are natural roamers, and given the opportunity and/or
incentive (say, for example, a plump squirrel or the neighbour's
cat), they will be gone in an instant. The potential for problems
is enormous. Malamutes will harass, attack and kill neighbouring
pets and/or livestock, as well as wildlife. A loose malamute is
also at considerable risk herself - from road traffic, irate (possibly
justifiably so...) neighbours and from predators more efficient
than she is. Two of the best gifts you can give to your malamute
are a safe, fenced area to call her own, and a retractable leash.
The fencing will provide protection both to your pet and your community.
The retractable leash will give her a large measure of freedom while
you are walking, while allowing you to retain sufficient physical
control in case of emergency.
There are a few
more issues you should consider when you add a malamute to your
family. One of the most important is malamutes and children. Most
mals love kids. They are not, however, a childs pet. Mals are just
too much dog for a child to handle - kids simply lack the stature,
presence and tone of voice to be perceived by your malamute as being
alpha. And, of course, they do not have the physical strength to
manage such a powerful dog. However, it is vital that kids, working
under their parents supervision, take an active role in training
your pet, so she will learn that although not alpha, children do
rank above her in the family social order.
Start early, and
have your children do as many different training exercises with
the dog as possible, being sure to choose only exercises which the
child can complete successfully. Moderate use of food rewards is
appropriate, but remember that the best response rate is always
achieved with an intermittent reward schedule. In other words, once
a behaviour has been learned, your children will reward with food
randomly, only once in awhile. This will remind your mal that the
child is in control of the reward, and avoid the common pitfall
of having the dog think that she has trained the child (or, for
that matter, any trainer) to give her a reward each time she performs
a given behaviour.
One final note
about children and dogs - all dogs. Young children must never be
left unsupervised with any puppy or dog - yours or anyone elses!
In spite of the childs and dogs affection for each other, it still
takes a lot of learning on both sides for them to understand how
to behave towards each other. The vast majority of problems involving
children and dogs are a result of children behaving like children,
dogs behaving like dogs, and parents or other responsible adults
failing to provide proper supervision and education.
All dogs go through
a teenage phase. In malamutes, this generally happens sometime between
eight months and two years of age. Suddenly your agreeable little
pup will start to develop a mind of her own, and will challenge
your every wish, seemingly forgetting all those hard-earned obedience
skills. This is a normal part of growth, and is the time when each
breeds adult temperament emerges. If you have laid a good foundation
during your pups first months, you should both survive this stage
with your sanity intact. Just be prepared, and respond with absolute
confidence, firmness and consistency to all attempts at insurrection.
It shouldn't be too long before your bratty teenager realises that
all of the rules she learned as a puppy still apply, and begins
to mature into a happy, confident, well-mannered adult.
Malamutes have
long had a reputation for being aggressive with other dogs. Because
of their high natural levels of dominance and sense of pack hierarchy,
there is an element of truth in this belief. Many mals, especially
those who have been poorly socialised with other dogs, feel that
they must establish a pecking order with each strange dog they meet.
If the new dog is submissive there may not be any problem, but if
they challenge the malamute, or refuse to accept her dominance,
a confrontation, possibly including a major fight, is certainly
possible. And while there are many mals who don't go looking for
trouble, there are very, very few who will back away from a direct
challenge from another dog.
Proper socialisation
and training, which must be ongoing processes throughout your pets
life, will go a long way towards preventing problems. Your pup should
be introduced to friends, familys and neighbours dogs, with the
goal of establishing friendships, or at least mutual tolerance,
early in life. Obedience classes are also essential - as well as
helping you to train your dog, they will provide an opportunity
for your malamute to learn to be around, and perhaps even interact
with, strange dogs while behaving in a civilised manner. Finally,
one of the strongest tools in preventing confrontations with other
dogs will be your mals acceptance of you as leader of her pack.
If you meet a strange dog, she will be far less likely to feel that
she must take charge of the situation if she knows that you are
in control.
One of the most
controversial issues in dog training is the use of physical discipline.
Certainly, we only have to watch a mother dog with her pups to know
that dominant dogs do indeed use physical discipline when their
subordinates step out of line. The question is whether or not humans
should mimic this type of behaviour, and if they should, when. There
is no doubt that the safest means of dealing with our pets occasional
challenges to our authority are non-confrontational - e.g. timeouts,
temporary withdrawal of affection and attention, dramatic use of
voice and facial expression. If, however, you are interested in
learning more about the rare instances when physical discipline
may be appropriate, and how to apply it in a sane, controlled manner
which will not, repeat not, result in any harm to owner or dog,
please refer to the book How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend, by the
Monks of New Skete (full reference follows). One final note: unless
you are defending yourself or another person, or an animal, from
attack, it is never, absolutely never, appropriate to hit, kick,
throw or otherwise manhandle a dog. They have a very strong sense
of what is and isn't fair, and they know that such behaviour is
not fair. At best, they will lose respect for you; at worst, one
or both of you will be injured.
So, there you
have it - the basics of malamute training. Now, what are reasonable
goals to set for you and your pet? Many people believe mals to be
untrainable, but that simply isn't true. Granted, they do not respond
with the speed and accuracy of some other breeds, and they are not
ones for slavish devotion to their families. But if you are firm,
patient and consistent, and make training an ongoing part of life,
rather than just a series of boring exercises, you should enjoy
reasonable success. If you deal early and successfully with the
dominance issues which confront every malamute owner, you should
have little difficulty in teaching your mal to be a happy, well-adjusted
member of your family and community.
Choosing activities
which are suited to your mals temperament and physical abilities
will also help to ensure success. Keep in mind her original function
- hauling freight for long distances, day in and day out, under
harsh conditions. Anything involving pulling (including sledding,
weight pulling and skijoring), hiking, running (with you running,
on a bike, or on rollerblades) and agility training are generally
good choices. Some mals learn to enjoy swimming, if introduced to
it early in life, but they're not water dogs so don't be disappointed
if yours doesn't want to get her feet wet. Obviously winter sports
are great fun, but your northern pet will prefer less strenuous
activities (like napping in the shade...) during the heat of summer.
Mals love to hunt - as long as they're doing it for themselves!
But as for flushing out game for you, or worse still, retrieving
it - forget it! These are instincts and behaviours which were simply
not developed in this breed - heck, most mals aren't even interested
in retrieving balls or Frisbees for you! Mals are also terrible
protectors of home and hearth. They are far more likely to invite
burglars into the house, offer them a drink, show them where the
good stuff is and make sure they're gone before you get home. Or,
sleep through the whole thing... Of course, its a different story
if an unknown dog dares set paw on their turf. Finally, although
a well-exercised mal is happy to curl up with you in the evening,
mals are neither lap dogs nor couch potatoes by nature - most find
too much inactivity very stressful. In fact, lack of exercise is
a leading cause of destructive, inappropriate and generally difficult-to-live-with
behaviours in dogs.
So, arm yourself
with as much information as you can. This brochure and the following
list of references will provide a starting point. Talk with your
veterinarian and experienced malamute owners. And above all, get
yourself and your mal to obedience class. Find an instructor with
whose methods you are comfortable, ideally one who has had some
experience with northern dogs. Start with puppy kindergarten, and
progress through the different levels as your mal matures. If you
run into any problems, or just have some questions (remember, the
only dumb question is the one you don't ask!), please contact us.
Its almost inevitable that you'll run into a few minor difficulties,
and its so much easier to resolve them as soon as they occur, rather
than waiting until you have a full-blown crisis. We will do whatever
we can to help you find a solution or, if need be, refer you to
professional help.