Mountain Shadows Malamute Kennel

Rose and puppies, playing outside together for the first time

Mama Rose was very excited to join the puppies for their very first trip outside this morning. After some hesitation and a little crying, the puppies took to their new surroundings and began exploring!

Rose and the puppies had their first vet visit since birth on Thursday. Rose is in perfect health, as is each puppy! The vet found them all healthy and sound and CUTE!

All the puppies were dewormed and received their first vaccinations Thursday as well.

We’d like to introduce Grace, girl #11′s new name and Tundra, boy #9′s new name. We’re very excited that their new families have chosen their names, as we can now start teaching the puppies who they are!

There are still two males and two females available, but there’s also a lot of interest, so reserve your puppy fast!

To view available puppies, visit our Available Alaskan Malamute page.

To find out how you can reserve your Mountains Shadows Malamute puppy, visit our Purchase Policy.

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The puppies got their first meal from somewhere other than their mother and their first baths today! Last year, our litter screamed and cried during their first bath so we were expecting the same from these pups; we couldn’t have been more mistaken. They were all calm and quiet for their first bath, which they needed, since they’d almost all crawled in their first meal!

I want to take a few moments to address safety for your new Malamute puppy. Malamutes are intelligent and naturally curious. This is even more true with puppies than older dogs. Curiosity can lead to mischief, destruction or worse.

When you’re preparing for your new puppy, you must puppy-proof your house. Just like with a new child, anything that can be of harm to the pup needs to come up where they can’t reach it.

Puppies chew. They chew things like electrical cords – a good sour apple spray or a spray called “Phooie!” are necessary for all the things like the lamp power cord which you can’t pick up out of the way. You can usually use these sprays on furniture, too, without damaging it. You’ll have to spray no-chew items down at least weekly. Beware, though, some Malamute puppies like the flavor!

Books on the lower shelves, corners of table legs, ottomans, these are all targets for puppy teeth. Gently remove the puppy from what it is chewing on and give it an acceptable substitute, like a rope chew toy. You can train a lot of chewing out pretty quickly.

You’ll need to be aware of wires outdoors, too. One of the pups we sold, Dexter, discovered the coaxial able for his parents’ television and internet running through the back yard. He chewed through it twice before they got it placed where he couldn’t get to it. A lot of times, boredom is a factor in chewing, too – make sure your pup has toys it knows are just for him!

Small pieces of clothing are targets for Malamute teeth as well – even adults. Socks are a favorite. A Malamute is capable of swallowing a sock whole. This could go one of three ways: the dog could throw up the sock., the dog could poop out the sock, or, worst case scenario, the sock could cause a very painful and life-threatening blockage that has to be surgically removed. We had this happen to another puppy we sold; she managed to swallow a sock and a pair of thong underwear, which had to be removed surgically. As your Malamute grows, make sure things like these are not where he can get his mouth on them! Again, take the object away and replace it with an acceptable chew toy. Training goes a long way here.

Malamute puppies are curious, especially when they smell something that could be food. The saddest result we’ve ever seen of Malamute curiosity happened to a pup we sold named Cheyenne. This was something you absolutely would never ever think could happen, but after a little research, we found out it happens more than you think. Cheyenne figured out how to open the lazy Susan in the corner cabinet in the kitchen. She figured out that there was people food there. She got hold of a box of cereal, got it open and got her head stuck in the box, where she suffocated and died. This was absolutely shocking to her owners, and to us. We’d never heard of a puppy suffocating by getting its head stuck in a cereal box, but that is exactly what happened. It was a terrible tragedy, and a scenario you’d never think of, which is why we share the story as a word of warning to our new owners.

Think ahead of your Malamute puppy – they’re curious, they’re smart and you’d swear sometimes that they actually have fingers. Plan and prepare to puppy-proof your home so tragedy does not strike your Malamute and your family! A little forethough on your part will spare you from many troubles with your Malamute puppy.

Our puppies sure are becoming active! Their eyes are all open and they are walking more and more strongly every day! They all weigh more than 2 lbs. a piece, and gain weight and size every day.

A lot of questions are coming our way about how Malamutes are with children and how well they train. First, Malamutes love kids, after all, a child is a person who is the dog’s size! What’s not to like?

Malamutes is are very pack oriented. That means that they need to understand the order of dominance in the pack. It is up to you as the adult and leader of the pack to establish that pecking order. You do this by teaching the puppy things like how to “soft mouth” when playing – yelp when the puppy chews on you and bites too hard. After a few repetitions, the puppy will learn its limits with playing rough. You’ll also have to reign in the enthusiastic jumping up – this is done similarly, yelping and turning your back to the puppy when it tries this. You have to teach the children to do this, too, because an enthusiastic Malamute puppy can easily knock a child over.

The biggest step to this training is to sternly correct the puppy when it takes liberties with its limits with children. It’s up to you to establish the puppy’s limits, and stay consistent. I use the same correction method the mother Malamute uses to teach the puppy his or her limits – grab the puppy’s thick neck fur, “take the puppy down” and hold it to the ground while growling in its face. Do this briefly, don’t drag it out or make a big production of it. The puppy will realize its mistake and will ingratiate itself to you. Immediately let the puppy up and reassure it you still love it – you’ll find that this builds trust in your puppy for you; your puppy will grow to be an extremely close and loyal dog.

Your puppy will go through “adolescence.” Just like a 15-year-old, at around 8-10 months, you’ll have to “retrain” your dog. During this time, the puppy is a teen-ager – they test all their boundaries again until they’re about 15-months old. You have to stay consistent with the rules you’ve already established, and if you see new behaviors, you must correct them instantly, especially if they are acting out of the puppy’s place in the pecking order.

Digging and chewing are not the kinds of behaviors I am talking about during this time. Those kinds of behaviors are more related to the puppy being bored, not testing its limits. I’m talking about things like “counter surfing,” marking in the house and other types of testing behavior. Instant, firm and consistent correction are the key to working through these issues – don’t over react and don’t give up. Your Malamute will “get it” and understand it can not continue these behaviors.

Don’t discount using professional dog trainers. Take obedience classes with your Malamute as soon as you can. Figure out what motivates your puppy – usually food, with Malamutes. With a Malamute, you really do catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. They respond extremely well to positive reinforcement. Again, consistency is the key.

Your Malamute will be your best friend, and I’ve heard many people say their Malamute was “the best dog I ever had.” It’s up to you to invest the time and training needed to develop a wonderful pet. The reward is worth every minute of effort made to train your dog. We wouldn’t trade out Malamutes for any other dog in the world!