Sport work and fun

We wanted to make this small introduction for the work of our Alaskan Malamute in order to encourage people to have fun with their Malamute, without necessarily be bound to competition events that often bring stress to humans and dogs, but just to enjoy the life in the outdoors. I would like to thank my friend Patrizia Corte Metto of Paty’s Amarock’s Kennel for letting us use this simple manual and foremost for letting us discover the most beautiful side of our Malamutes.

In the picture Patrizia Corte Metto (Paty’s Amarock Kennel), Fabrizio Calì (Starring Maat Kennel) ad Anita Muspach (President of AMBC- Alaskan Malamute Club of  Belgium) during the World Sleddog Championship in Auronzo di Cadore.

The Malamute is defined as the snow locomotive. Work ethic, stamina and intelligence combined with its beauty make up for an all round dog. In this small writing I’ll be describing in short some insights for having fun while working with our Malamute.

Walks, hiking, bicycle, these are activities we can do with our Malamute that will be beneficial for us and for him.

Tools
The dog  will be wearing a sleddog harness which will allow him to spread the effort harmoniously all over his body, avoiding muscle and joints traumas.
On top of the harness we’ll leave a collar on, which will become handy in several situations (stops at mountain shelters, steep climbings, going through crowd). We’ll be wearing a dog trekking belt, tight to our waist. The belt will be worn high on our  back, this way we won’t risk traumas when the dog suddenly pulls strong. We’ll be tethered to him by a line hooked to the harness and the belt by two snap hooks (these tools are not expensive and can be easily purchased from sleddog tools stores).

A Small Advice
As far as we are concerned, it’s suggestable that we wear clothes that can suit the type of activity we’ll be doing: you may find it stupid for me to tell you this, but let’s try and avoid hiking on mountains with flip flops on. We’ll be bringing water and a bowl, a change of clothes for ourselves if we forsee of being out on our excursion for a prolonged period of time.

The importance of working
Working with our Malamute leads him to mature not only physically, but he’ll also develop a great feeling with us. This way we’ll both learn to know, respect and cooperate with each other better.
You’ll find out how many great resources your dog has, and his intelligence will make him the leader on your hiking or bike excursions.

At what age to start and what method to use
The puppy is like a baby, his muscle and bone needs time to develop and we must respect that. We can start on leash walks when he’s about 3 months old. Around 5-6 months of age we can start to make him understand what is it that he’s wearing, the harness. We should be careful in making him associate the harness with hiking in the woods and bicycle excursions: HARNESS=FUN.

When working, our Malamute must be ahead of us, not heeling. We must teach him this habit in conjunction with the harness use. It’s not difficult to teach. As soon as we are ready to go let’s use the command “Go” (go or any other command word that suits you), let’s keep still till your malamute will be the first to move, and we will just follow him. If he stops to sniff or mark, let’s not reproach him, let’s give him all the time he needs and then let’s start allover as at the beginning. You’ll find out he’ll learn to lead very easily. Let’s try and limit  his efforts till he’s at least one year old, hiking and bike excursions should be at very easy pace.
Since the beginning these excursions will have to be a fun moment, WORK=JOY, let’s try and avoid reproaches for no reason. When working you’ll notice our friend’s ears will be alert, let’s praise him, he’ll love that and he will feel at ease on his leading role.

Let’s start teaching him to make turns: gee, hah, whoa, hike (or any other word command you may pick). This will be extremely useful on bike training. Remember the dog is leading, but he needs to know your command in order to please you. Twenty meters before the turn start giving him the command for the direction he’s got to go, and if you see he’s going the opposite direction say “No” till he goes where he’s supposed to, and then give him a lot of praise. This is the most important rule to follow, and shortly after you’ll find out he’ll slow down awaiting for your command.

You can use this method even with adult dogs with no working experience. Remeber, the intelligence of the Alaskan Malamute has no limit. Try and avoid screaming when working, Malamutes can hear very well, screaming will only cause distraction.

Be careful with temperatures: if it’s too hot leave him at home resting, the ideal temperature for working must not exceed 20° Celsius.

Psychological Pledge
During our exits our Malamute will send out important signal that we must be very aware of if we’re hiking or biking. He’s got a 360° vision, so we must be fully aware of any change in his body language. Let’s not forget Malamutes usually have a very strong prey drive and that they love cuddles (in case we run into other people on our path), therefore we must be extremely cautious, especially while biking

The End
Always remember working must be fun and joy, this must be the basic for the harmony between you and your friend. Simply “Enjoy!!"