Did You Know Alaskan Malamutes Hide 7 Adorable Little Habits Most New Owners Never Expect
This fun science backed popular science essay shares real daily quirks of domestic Alaskan Malamutes that you have never read in common pet care guides
Most people who first meet a domestic Alaskan Malamute on the street immediately mistake it for an overly fluffy, oversized Husky, but anyone who has shared a home with one of these gentle giants will tell you the two breeds are nothing alike in daily behaviors. Unlike Siberian Huskies that were bred for long distance sled racing with light loads, Alaskan Malamutes trace their origin back more than 4000 years to the native Inuit tribes living in the northernmost edge of the Arctic Circle, where they were raised to pull heavy freight across frozen sea ice, hunt alongside tribal adults, and watch over small children when the whole group was out traveling for food. Almost every cute weird quirk modern pet Alaskans show at home can be traced back to those ancient survival traits that have been passed down across thousands of generations, and most of these little details are never mentioned in regular basic pet care manuals.
The first most noticeable quirk almost every new Alaskan owner will stumble on within their first week of bringing the puppy home is that these dogs almost never bark loudly the way most medium or large dog breeds do. Instead of sharp loud barks, they will make low, rumbling, cooing grunting sounds that sound exactly like a human chattering and murmuring nonstop. A large number of Alaskan owners share that the second they unlock their front door after a long day of work, their dog will waddle over to them and keep making these soft murmuring noises for 10 to 15 full minutes, seemingly updating their human on every tiny event that happened while they were gone. From the delivery person who stopped by the door for two minutes, to the stray orange cat that sat on the fence outside the balcony, to the half piece of cookie that fell under the coffee table, the dog seemingly has a whole detailed report ready to share the second their human steps inside. This quiet communication trait comes directly from their ancient working past, when loud sudden barks could echo across the frozen ice and trigger hidden cracks in the sea ice that could swallow the whole sled team, so tribes only allowed dogs that used low, non-echoing sounds to talk to humans and other pack members.
Another often mentioned funny habit of pet Alaskans is their weird obsession with hiding small pieces of food and favorite toys in every hidden corner of the house. A lot of owners joke that they never know what treasure they will pull out when they rearrange their couch cushions, dig through the gap between the refrigerator and the wall, or flip over the doormat on the balcony. Sometimes it is a half eaten piece of chicken strip the owner gave them three days earlier, sometimes it is their favorite crumpled plush moose toy, sometimes it is even a random sock they stole from the laundry basket. This hoarding habit does not come from the dog feeling hungry or mistreated at all, it is another ancient survival instinct. In the old Arctic days, long blizzards could trap the whole tribe inside their snow shelters for more than a week without any access to fresh food, so Malamutes were taught from puppyhood to hide extra high calorie food in secret snow holes around the shelter for emergency use. Even though there is no lack of food in modern family homes, this instinct is still deeply buried in their genes, and they are basically preparing an emergency supply stock for their whole family without anyone asking them to do it.
Most people know Alaskan Malamutes are extremely cold tolerant, but few new owners realize that their cold resistance does not only come from their thick double layer fur. There is a special layer of tough, dense keratin growing on the bottom of their paw pads that acts exactly like a pair of built in non slip ice boots, protecting their feet even when they walk across ice as cold as minus 30 degrees Celsius for hours without getting frostbite. The flip side of this trait is that these dogs are horrible at dealing with hot weather. When the summer temperature climbs above 28 degrees Celsius, they will turn into a completely different creature, ditching their usual energetic running around behavior to flop spread eagled on the cold tile floor like a melting pile of white and brown cotton. A lot of Alaskan owners share funny videos of their dogs standing with their whole body pressed against the closed fridge door trying to suck up all the cool air leaking out, or rolling on the wet grass right after the sprinkler turns off to cool their overheated fur down.
A lot of pet guides will tell you Alaskan Malamutes rank fairly low in dog intelligence lists, but that rating only comes from the fact that they almost never obey commands from strangers. They do not see themselves as a personal pet belonging to one single family member the way many other dog breeds do, they see themselves as the shared guardian of every single person living under their roof. They will greet every family member equally enthusiastically when they get home, they will sit outside the bathroom door waiting for whoever is inside, and they will even share their favorite treats with visiting guests they like. The only time they turn serious and alert is when a stranger tries to touch a small child in the house without permission, and they will immediately step between the child and the stranger to make sure no one gets hurt. For thousands of years, these dogs have been trusted by Arctic tribes to watch over all the children of the whole settlement, and that loyal protective instinct has never faded even after they moved into warm modern family homes thousands of miles away from their original Arctic home.