Alaskan Malamute

The Alaskan Malamute, also called the Alaskan Dog, is one of the oldest polar sled dogs. Its name is taken from a tribe of the Inuit tribe called Malamute. This tribe lives on a shore called Kotzebue in western Alaska. Adult Alaskan dogs have a quiet, elegant temperament and are very loyal to their owners.

Introduction

The Alaskan Malamute is strong, powerful, muscular, and has a deep chest. When they stand, their heads are upright, their eyes look alert and curious, and they feel energetic and very arrogant. The head is broad and the ears are triangular in shape. Keep erect when alert.

The muzzle is large, and the width gradually narrows from the root to the tip of the nose. The muzzle does not appear long and prominent, nor does it appear stubby. The coat is dense and the coat is long enough to protect the soft undercoat of the inner layer. Alaskan Malamutes come in various colors, such as gray, black and white, and red-brown. The purpose of cultivating it is for endurance rather than speed because their main purpose is to pull sleds.

Development History

In the records of the first North American immigrants, records of Alaskan malamutes can be found. Before Alaska became part of the United States, this area was called Alashak or Alyeska, which translates to “broad land”, which is the name given to it by the Russians who discovered this area. This dog is different from other dog breeds in Alaska. It has strong limbs and muscularity. The purpose of cultivating it is for endurance rather than speed because their main purpose is to pull sleds.

Due to the mutual mating with imported dog breeds, the original native dog breeds were mixed with the genes of various foreign dogs, and the purebred Alaskan Malamutes in the traditional sense were almost completely extinct. In the first 20 years of the twentieth century, with the popularity of the sport of sled dog racing in North America, Americans realized that it was necessary to retrieve the native sled dog, the Alaskan malamute, in 1926. In 1988, American sled dog enthusiasts began to devote themselves to systematically breeding purebred Alaskan malamutes based on native sled dogs and huskies. After nearly ten years of breeding and development, in 1935, the American Kennel Club (AKC) officially recognized the Alaskan Malamute.

In 1996, it was recognized by the World Dog Federation (FCI) and became the FCI’s Alaskan Malamute Standard

Morphological characteristics

The head is broad and the ears are triangular in shape, kept erect when alert. The distance between the two ears is wide, the erect ears are turned back, brown, and the size is moderate. Apricot kernel eyes, oblique. The muzzle does not appear long and prominent, nor does it appear short and thick. Thick chest

Feeding method

Alaskan Malamutes have high requirements for the environment. Because they originate from the frigid zone, they are not very heat-resistant and need to maintain a relatively cool environment for a long time. This dog has very strong mobility, so its living environment needs to be more spacious, and more importantly, to ensure that it has sufficient exercise.

Alaskan Malamutes are born with poor gastrointestinal function, especially puppies, they are more likely to suffer from gastrointestinal diseases. The mild ones have no appetite, and the severe ones vomit and diarrhea.

The coat must be combed regularly from an early age. Common tools include scraping brushes, needle brushes, coarse-tooth combs, and rake combs. The main point is to regularly comb the hairs on both sides of the abdomen.

Grooming dog hair

The hair should be combed once in the morning and evening for 5 minutes each time.

Pay attention to the sequence of combing: starting from the neck, from front to back, and from top to bottom in sequence, that is, from the neck to the shoulders, then back, chest, waist, abdomen, hindquarters, and then comb the head, and finally, It is the limbs and tail. During the combing process, you should comb one side before combing the other side.

Combing method: Combing hair should be combed and pulled quickly in the direction of the hair. When grooming long-haired dogs, many people only comb the long hair on the surface and neglect the combing of the fine hair below. The undercoat of a dog is soft and dense. If it is not combed for a long time, it will form tangles and even cause eczema, ringworm, or other skin diseases. Therefore, when combing a long-haired dog, you should comb layer by layer, turn the long hair up, and then comb the undercoat.

Types of combs: brushes, elastic wire brushes, and long and sparse metal combs. The brush can only make the ends of the long hair fluffy, but fine hair cannot be combed. When grooming long-haired dogs, brushes, elastic wire brushes, and long and sparse metal combs should be used together.

Pros and cons

Compared with other dog breeds, the Alaskan Malamute has the relatively poor discipline and is more free and undisciplined. The strength of this dog is stronger than the Siberian Husky, not only can carry heavy objects, but also carry heavy objects and walk extremely long distances.

Precautions

The dog’s emotions are generally calm, or dull, but external stimuli can make the dog’s emotions excited or particularly excited. The dog’s emotions are generally nothing more than joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, and fear. The careful owner will recognize it from usual observations. It is just a trained dog that has just been bought. It can also understand its different emotions during the 15-day feeding observation. There are two main ways for dogs to express emotions: one is to express it with action behavior, and the other is to express it with barking “language”. Action expressions and barking “verbal” expressions are often combined and expressed at the same time, which is difficult to separate.

For the sake of illustration, an example is as follows: almost all dogs, when they see familiar relatives in the owner’s home, they often wag their tails while sniffing them, and then follow closely, showing an affectionate look; seeing them for a few days When the owner is missing, the degree of intimacy increases. Not only do they sniff and wave their tails greatly, in most cases they will suddenly stand on their hind feet, put a pair of the forefoot on the owner’s chest, sniff the owner’s face, and even lick with their tongues. The master’s face and hands sometimes make a “whoop” sound, a particularly affectionate expression, just like an occasional meeting of a close relative or a close friend who has not seen you for many years. Even the master’s command to blast it can’t be heard, and he waggles his tail. Follow the owner closely.

When the hunting dog sees the owner carrying the shotgun, he often follows the owner’s side with excitement and keeps wagging his tail, staring at the owner with piercing eyes. This is the excitement that it is going to go out hunting with the owner. Often squatting in front of the owner and watching the owner’s meat peeling of the prey intently, this inch of dog tail sticks to the ground will gently and constantly beg the owner to give it meat, and the owner throws the unwanted prey meat at When it eats, it wags its tail and sometimes makes an excited “whoop” sound. After the hound eats the meat thrown to it by the factory owner, it will still return to the owner to squat and beg. Due to the excitement, the tail shakes. Often more frequently.

Breeding and breeding

Selection

The use of elite breed dogs for mating and breeding will consolidate and develop the excellent qualities of dogs in their offspring, and make people’s undesirable shortcomings gradually disappear in their offspring. This is the purpose of selection.

When male dogs and female dogs of the same breed with the same excellent traits mate and breed, they can not only ensure that the breeds of their offspring are pure, but they can also consolidate and develop the excellent qualities of their parents in their offspring. This kind of mating and breeding is called purebred Reproduction.

Use a male dog of a good breed to mate with a female dog of another breed. Because they have different good traits, they can get offspring with different good qualities from their parents. This kind of breeding is called interbreeding. The use of two different species of male animals to mate with female animals to breed new breeds or offspring with new traits. This kind of breeding is called mixed hybridization. For example, using male wolves to cross excellent female dogs can breed fierce enemies. A new breed of dog that is docile to the owner.

The best age for breeding dogs to mate for the first time

Animals all have a specific time of sexual maturity, which is not the best age to give birth to offspring. This is also true of dogs. Take medium-sized dogs as an example. They begin to mature sexually at the age of 7-8 months after birth. Although both male and female dogs have the ability to give birth to offspring, their physical development is not sound. At this time, the reproductive offspring are also won’t be too good.

For black backs, wolf blues, gorillas, Kunming dogs, etc., the best dog age for their offspring for the first time: bitches should start at 18 or 20 months after birth when their bodies are fully developed, Also has the ability to breed suckling dogs, so female dogs should be bred in the third estrus; male dogs develop and stereotype later than female dogs, therefore, the best dog age for the first breeding should start at the age of two.

The breeding age of male dogs can be extended from two years old to seven or eight years old. To obtain good offspring from elite breed dogs, the nutrition of male dogs and female dogs must be strengthened before breeding. Pay attention to proper training and exercise for them. Keep their bodies healthy and keep them motivated to work.

Estrus and estrus

Sexually mature dogs are in heat twice a year. The estrus period in spring is from March to May, and the estrus period in autumn is from September to November. The interval between the two estruses is about 6 months. In the case of female dogs, estrus in female dogs is marked by vaginal bleeding in female dogs: vaginal bleeding generally lasts for about 21 days, but vaginal bleeding in estrus in older female dogs maybe a little shorter for one or two days:

The main characteristics of female dogs during estrus:

1. The labia of the estrus bitch is swollen, hypertrophied, protruding, and initially pink, with obvious congestion and a small amount of mucus with blood flowing out of the bitch’s vagina. As the estrus period continues, the amount of blood flowing out increases day by day, and the color of the blood also changes from pink to deep red: on the 8th day of estrus, the blood volume is the thickest, and the darkest. After the 9th day, the blood volume gradually decreased, the concentration gradually became thinner, and the labia gradually turned dark red. As the swelling of the labia gradually disappeared and wrinkles began to appear, the female dog in estrus entered the ovulation period. The ovulation period lasts about 5-6 days when the female dog in estrus is willing to accept the male dog to climb across. With the extension of the ovulation period, the courtship of the female dog in estrus became more intense. Until the 16th day of the estrus, the female dog began to hate the entanglement of the male dog. At this time, the vagina of the female dog in the estrus still had blood flowing out. By the 21st day, the vagina bleeding stopped, the labia swelling subsided, and the female dog’s estrus ended.

2. The bitch looks excited during estrus. As the estrus period continued, the bitch’s excitement increased, her expression was more drowsy than usual, her bark was louder, and her eyes brightened. In hot estrus, the bitch sits restlessly and loses her appetite sharply. The tied bitch keeps barking in courtship. At this time, if the dog breeder presses the bitch’s waist with his hand or strokes the dog’s tail, the bitch will standstill. , Or tilt the tail of the dog to one side, the dog’s labia is constantly twitching, and the vagina frequently opens and closes. At this time, as with a sexually mature male dog, the hind limbs of the female dog in estrus are spread apart and the dog is actively accepting mating. During the estrus period of the dog, the dog breeder must closely observe the above-mentioned changes and expressions of the estrus bitch, and must remember the day when the bitch begins to estrus (the first day of vaginal bleeding) to calculate the best bitch The mating day: Only bred on the best mating day can the female dog’s conception rate and litter size be improved.

Best mating day and mating

According to observational research and dog-raising practice, it is proved that the estrus period of a normally developed bitch is 21 days, and the 10th to 13th day of estrus is the best mating day. Breeding bitches are most susceptible to conception. Therefore, the first mating is generally carried out on the 10th day of the female dog’s estrus, and then one mating every day for 4 consecutive matings. The last mating is the 13th day of the female’s estrus; or the first mating on the 10th day of the female’s estrus. Mate once every other day, and mate twice on the best mating day.

Regarding the changes in the external genitals of the female dog in estrus, the swollen labia of the female dog in estrus had obviously disappeared on the 10th day of the best breeding day, the color was dark red, and wrinkles appeared around the labia. The dog breeder used his fingers to stimulate estrus In the labia of a bitch, the labia nerve of the dog is very sensitive, and there will be rhythmic contractions. The bitch will instinctively open the hind limbs and appear to accept mating.

Regarding the physiological condition of the female dog in heat at this time, when the female dog receives the male dog to mate and the uterus is stimulated by the sperm, ovulation begins 12 to 14 hours, and the ovulation lasts for 12 to 48 hours. The sperm injected into the female dog’s body by the male dog survives for about 48 hours in the female dog’s womb. Continuous mating or mating at Et intervals during the ovulation period from the 10th to the 13th day of the female dog’s estrus will achieve the best conception effect.

Feeding and management of pregnant dogs

The pregnancy period of female dogs is 58 to 65 days, with an average of 62 days. Among them, the gestation period of large dogs and medium-sized dogs is about 63 days, and the gestation period of small dogs such as pugs is about 60 days. To ensure that the offspring breeds are pure, in the first few days after mating, the bitch is not allowed to approach the male dogs of other breeds, to avoid impure offspring.

The bitch should be carefully fed during pregnancy, and the feed should be rich in nutrition and sufficient in quantity, allowing it to feed freely. You must also feed some cartilage, fresh green vegetables, cod liver oil, etc. Pregnant dogs must have appropriate activities. Female dogs in the first month of pregnancy can carry out professional training activities every day; from the second month of pregnancy, pregnant dogs should stop training, and are not allowed to jump or participate in professional activities, but every day the owner must take it for a two-hour walk. Improper activity is very harmful to pregnant dogs.

Self-protection

Dogs are animals. Therefore, when training police dogs to learn how to arrest, trainers must wear protective clothing. When raising dogs and training dogs, they must also pay attention to their own safety protection at all times, so as not to be bitten or injured by dogs. Some dogs will attack their owners or bite neighbors and pedestrians due to temporary wild attacks. Those well-trained healthy dogs will occasionally hurt their owners’ hands or legs.

If you are bitten by a dog or bitten by a dog to the extent of bleeding for whatever reason, in addition to routine treatment of the wound, you should immediately go to the local epidemic prevention station for subcutaneous injection of rabies vaccine within 24 hours to prevent the problem.

Don’t take it lightly. Keepers in kennels should be vaccinated against rabies regularly. Children in the dog’s house should not approach the dog or kennel easily to prevent the dog’s animal behavior from hurting people.