The dream weavers who swarmed to the Klondike "wanted dogs," wrote Jack London in The Call of the Wild. "And the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost." Some fortune seekers brought dogs to the Klondike with them to haul sleds and supplies; others scrambled to put dog teams together on the scene. They all learned quickly that imported dogs weren't nearly as good at these tasks as were the Alaskan sled dogs living in Eskimo villages at some remove from the Klondike.
Gold-thirsty prospectors were not the first to be impressed by Eskimo dogs. In The Private Journal of Captain G.F. Lyon, published in 1824, Lyon describes dogs at his ship that "had no shelter, but lay alongside with the thermometer at 42-44 degrees (below zero), and with as little concern as if the weather had been mild." What's more, wrote Lyon, "three of my dogs could draw me on a sledge weighing 100 pounds, at a rate of one mile in six minutes; and as proof of the strength of a well-grown dog, my leader drew 196 pounds singly, and to the same distance in eight minutes."
Henry M. Bannister, who led an expedition to Alaska from 1865 to 1867, found the dogs there incredibly anxious to haul assorted burdens. "As soon as the sled is brought out," wrote Bannister in the Alaska Geographic Quarterly, "the dogs gather round and, fairly dancing with excitement, raise their voices in about a dozen unmelodious strains."
The Land Rover
The most celebrated of all Eskimo dogs was the malamute, a type bred by the Mahlemut tribe, which lived near Kotzebue Sound on the northwest coast of Alaska. (Kotzebue, ironically, was a German opera librettist and playwright noted for his superficial and often sensational melodramas and comedies.) The Mahlemuts' dogs, according to one observer, were less "wild" and more tractable than other arctic strains, and were capable of a variety of tasks from pulling sledges to hunting seals to chasing down polar bears.
Malamutes were further distinguished by their strength, reliability, wide-ranging colors and unique markings. Their ancestors are thought to have migrated from Siberia to Alaska across the Bering land bridge in the company of nomadic tribes. More than twice the size of Texas, the Bering land bridge connected Siberia and Alaska until rising seas dumped 800 feet of water over it 11,000 years ago, when summer temperatures in that part of the world were eight to 11 degrees warmer than they are now.
Such was the prowess of the malamute that Eskimos who lived inland traveled down the Kobuk and Noatak rivers to Kotzebue Sound to trade furs for dogs and supplies. Thus did malamutes find their way to other regions of Alaska and even to adjacent parts of the Yukon, where the gold diggers and some of the dogs that had accompanied them to the Yukon made the malamutes' acquaintance 100 years ago. (Additional testimony to the malamutes' hegemony was the use of the word malemute to indicate any freight-pulling dog.
After the Gold Rush
At the turn of the century sled-dog racing became popular in Alaska. If there was one activity for which the malamute was not ideally suited, racing was it. The powerful, heavy-boned malamute was capable of pulling great weights for great lengths, but it wasn't built for acceleration or speed. For this and for other expedient reasons malamutes were bred with a variety of lighter, faster dogs "and purebreds were almost lost."
We should observe that purebred did not mean then what it means today. Eskimos did not keep stud books, nor did the Mahlemuts have signs posted by their dwellings that read, "Stud service to approved, registered bitches only." Indeed, bitches in heat were sometimes staked out for wolves to breed, wrote one historian, "and the toughness and adaptability of the malamute stock was replenished." The notion that there were "purebred" malamutes in Alaska during the last century or the early years of the present one is a quaint, but imprecise, fantasy.
This did not discourage some admirers of Eskimo dogs from trying to (re)create the animals they fancied. Arthur T. Walden, an author, explorer, and inn keeper from the village of Wonalancet, New Hampshire, had freighted supplies for miners during the Yukon gold rush of 1897-98. While he was in the Yukon, Walden had worked with an Eskimo dog namedChinook, who made such an impression on him that Walden attempted to replicate Chinook after returning to the United States. He was successful, and decades later other breeders working with the descendants of Walden's "Chinook" dogs obtained breed recognition for them from the United Kennel Club.
Walden also worked with Alaskan malamutes and Siberian huskies at his Wonalancet kennel. When financial setbacks he encountered in the late 1920s left him unable to continue breeding dogs, he sold his malamute and husky stock to Milton and Eva B. Seeley. They corresponded with dog owners and breeders in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and the Yukon Territory, and obtained breeding stock that conformed to their idea of what an Alaskan malamute should look like -- a living ringer for the dogs the Mahlemuts had bred in the Kozebue Sound region.
Their efforts eventually produced a dog that was not only true to the malamute's original form but also retained its freighting abilities. In 1935, the same year the Alaskan Malamute Club of America was formed, the American Kennel Club (AKC) granted recognition to the Alaskan malamute. (In 1997 the AKC registered 4,409 malamutes, placing the breed 46th among the 145 breeds then recognized by the organization.)
If Looks Could Thrill
According to the AKC breed standard, the Alaskan malamute is a powerful and substantially built dog. Its head is broad; its eyes are almond-shaped and brown, not blue; its chest is deep and strong; its double coat comprises coarse guard hairs of sufficient length to protect a dense, woolly, oily undercoat that's one to two inches long; and its bushy tail, which is carried over its back, "has the appearance of a waving plume." The "desirable" size for malamute males is 25 inches at the shoulders and 85 pounds. Females should be 23 inches and 75 pounds.
Malamute colors "range from light gray through intermediate shadings to black" and from "sable and shadings of sable to red ... The only solid color allowable is all white. White is always the predominant color on [the] underbody, parts of legs, feet, and part of face markings ... The Malamute is mantled, and broken colors extending over the body or uneven splashing are undesirable."
Caveat Owners
Most people who ask long-time malamute breeder Kimberly Meredith if they should own a malamute are likely to be told "probably not." Meredith, who considers her dogs "a tough breed to live with," compares life with a malamute to life with an eternal teenager. She describes her dogs as no less hardheaded, independent or rebellious than human adolescents. Nevertheless, she said, "I love them all."
Malamute breeders Al and Mary Jane Holabach describe the ideal malamute owner as "patient and committed." The Holabachs believe that persons who are steady enough to cope with a growing malamute will be rewarded with a lifelong companion whose devotion is boundless; but, they caution, it takes commitment and determination to get through to the often-stubborn malamute puppy, whose ancestors were created to push on through ice, sleet, snow and impossible storms. Such tasks required an inbred determination that isn't something the malamute switches on and off at its owner's whim. You can guide a malamute in the direction you want it to go, but you can't push it there. Nor can you be heavy handed. A malamute will not tolerate abuse. If subjected to abusive treatment on a continuing basis, the most amiable youngster can become a neurotic and unpredictable adult.
The young malamute can pass through an adolescent stage where it attempts to assert itself by growling. Unless it's made to understand that this is unacceptable, the youngster can become a serious problem. In fact, between 1979 and 1994 only five breeds, the malamute among them, were responsible for more than one-third of all fatal dog bites sustained by humans. The pit pull led the parade with 57 kills, followed by Rottweilers with 19; German shepherds, 17; Siberian huskies, 12; and malamutes, 12.
The malamute's character is as unique as it is contradictory. The breed is extremely clean, and despite its size, makes a wonderful house dog. House training usually takes half the time that it does with other breeds, and only a major catastrophe -- or negligence on its owner's part -- can seduce an adult into transgression.
On the other hand, the breed has a stubborn streak big enough to drive a dog sled through sideways. The experienced malamute owner knows how quickly the average malamute understands what you are trying to teach it -- and how long it can be before the fully understanding malamute chooses to comply. Unlike most dogs, malamutes live with you, not for you; and despite their size and impressive appearance, they are not great guard dogs.
Malamutes can be a threat to livestock, however. "The ancestors of today's Malamute were sometimes forced to hunt, forage, and compete for food," warns one malamute rescue group. "Consequently, malamutes have a predatory streak, and, if allowed to run loose in rural areas, will reliably slaughter livestock and wild animals. In urban and suburban areas a loose malamute is a menace to cats. Swift, fearless, and powerful, malamutes have been known to catch songbirds on the wing and, if challenged, to deal harshly with other dogs ... Anyone unprepared to deal firmly and calmly with this wild streak should not own a malamute."
Finally, because they were bred to be such Herculean workers, malamutes need daily exercise on a leash or in an enclosed area. The person who cannot provide that exercise and the firm-but-fair discipline that enables the malamute to function best in society should look for a less demanding breed of dog.
Rough Sledding
Although the Alaskan malamute is the John Henry of working breeds, it is not altogether free of genetic frailties. Hemeralopia or day blindness, an inability to see in bright light, has been reported in the breed. Renal cortical hypoplasia, a congenital kidney condition resulting in complete kidney failure at an early age, has also been observed in malamutes. The breed is further prone to hip dysplasia and chondrodysplasia.
The latter is a genetic disorder that results in crippling deformities manifest in the abnormal shape and length of the limbs. In puppies fewer than six weeks old such deformities are often difficult, if not impossible, to detect without X-rays; but as affected puppies grow older, the deformity becomes more noticeable in the shape and length of the legs.
The Alaskan Malamute Club of America maintains a registry of dogs that have been certified free of chondrodysplasia. Unless the names of the parents of the puppy one is interested in buying are on that list, the prospective malamute owner should look elsewhere for a puppy.
The same advice is good for hip dysplasia, an inherited condition that results in the malformation of the hip joint. The latter is a ball-and-socket arrangement in which the ball (the head of the femur bone) fits into the socket (or acetabulum). Ideally, the fit is tight, like a tennis ball fits into a cup. When hip dysplasia occurs, the cup-tight fit deteriorates because the femoral head is too small or the hip socket is too shallow. Consequently the head of the femur bone slides around in the hip socket, to the dog's discomfort.
The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is a central clearing house for reading X-rays that evaluate a dog's hips. Dogs x-rayed at two years of age or older will be issued a serialized OFA certificate if they do not exhibit any sign of hip dysplasia. Unless both parents of the puppy one is interested in buying have their names of that kind of certificate -- which the puppy's breeder should be eager to produce -- prospective malamute owners should look elsewhere for a puppy.
Balto the Wonder Dog
Fans of the "Tonight Show" may recall host Johnny Carson occasionally referring to Balto the Wonder Dog in his monologues. The real Balto, however, was no joke. In 1925, Nome, Alaska, was ravaged by a diphtheria epidemic. Curtis Welch, the only physician in Nome, radioed an appeal for lifesaving anti-toxin serum. By the time he did, several children had died and others were ill with the highly contagious disease.
The hospital at Anchorage had fresh serum to spare, but the only dependable way of getting it to Nome in the heart of winter was by a dog-sled relay. The anchor leg of the relay was run by Gunnar Kaasen, who had a team of seven Siberian huskies led by a magnificent malamute namedBalto. After taking the serum from the dog-sled team, Kaasen traveled the final 100 miles to Nome, blinded by snow with nothing but his dogs' sure-footed instincts and courage to guide him. The serum arrived in time to halt the epidemic.
Two years later Balto and the rest of Kaasen's team were sold to the Cleveland Zoo. After Balto had died in 1933, he was stuffed, mounted and put on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He was also memorialized by a statue that stands in New York City's Central Park.
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