7 Adorable Weird Habits Of Domestic Pet Alaskan Malamutes Every Owner Adores But Rarely Talks About
This lighthearted fun guide breaks down the lesser known, silly quirks of the giant fluffy Alaskan Malamute that every pet parent will immediately recognize in their daily interactions with their furry companion.
Most new Alaskan Malamute owners get a pleasant surprise within the first two weeks of bringing their puppy home, when they realize the popular internet stereotype that these dogs are just bigger, more destructive versions of Siberian huskies could not be further from the truth. Unlike many smaller high energy dog breeds that chew apart furniture legs and tear open couch cushions out of boredom, domestic Alaskan Malamutes almost never waste their energy on destroying hard household items. Instead, they will quietly sneak every soft, small object they can find across the house back to their own bed, and tuck them neatly under their soft sleeping mat. Socks, knit hair ties, children’s tiny stuffed toys, even the warm wool scarf you left draped over the dining chair will disappear without a trace, and you will find all of them later perfectly arranged on their nest, not a single hole or scratch in sight. This odd little quirk is not a sign of mischief, but a leftover instinct carved deep into their genetic code from thousands of years of living alongside indigenous Arctic tribes, where sled dogs would collect every scrap of soft moss and fur scrap they could find to line their snow cave resting spots, to keep their bellies from freezing against the thick winter ice.
Another habit that confuses new owners who raise their Alaskan Malamutes in mild southern climates is their wild, uncontrollable excitement the first time a tiny flurry of snow falls each winter. Many owners report their 100-pound fluffy dog will bolt straight out the front door as soon as the first snowflake touches the ground, roll over and over in the thin layer of snow on the lawn until their entire coat is caked with white frost, and even carry little chunks of half-melted snow back onto the living room couch to gnaw on while they watch television. Most people assume the dog is just being silly for fun, but this behavior is actually an inherited soothing mechanism. Back when these dogs ran 30 to 40 mile sled routes across frozen tundra every single day, rolling in fresh snow helped them lower their body temperature after hours of nonstop running, and the cold pressure of the snow on their muscles helped ease joint soreness after long hours of pulling heavy sleds. Even after generations of living in heated apartments, that ancient, quiet need to roll in the snow to relax never fully fades away.
If you have never spent much time around an Alaskan Malamute, you might be shocked to find out that these giant, imposing dogs almost never bark the way most medium or small dog breeds do. Instead, they will wander over to where you are sitting, nudge your hand with their cold wet nose, and make a long, low, rumbling whine that sounds almost exactly like the call of a wild wolf. Many new owners panic the first time they hear this sound, and rush to check their dog for signs of injury or discomfort, only to find the big dog is perfectly fine, just trying to hold a conversation with you. Alaskan Malamutes evolved as part of tightly coordinated sled teams where loud, random barks would alert wild predators to their position out on the open tundra, so the entire breed developed a complex, quiet system of low rumbles and soft whines to communicate with their human handlers and fellow sled dogs. That quiet little rumble against your leg can mean hundreds of different things, from complaining that the dog park’s corgi stole their peanut butter treat that morning, to asking you to get up and open the snack cabinet for them, to simply telling you they are very happy you came home from work on time that day.
Many Alaskan Malamute owners also report their dogs will turn up their nose at expensive specially formulated room temperature pet water, and will race across the house to slurp directly from the cold running kitchen tap, or even sneak licks of leftover cold bath water from the tub. This preference for icy cold water is not a random picky personality quirk, it is another leftover trait from their Arctic ancestry. For hundreds of generations, wild and working sled dogs almost never had access to heated liquid water in the winter, and they survived by chewing on chunks of glacial ice to hydrate themselves after long runs. Their digestive systems evolved to handle very cold drinking water far better than most other domestic dog breeds, and many of them will turn away lukewarm or heated water because it feels unnatural and uncomfortable to their sensitive ancient instincts.
The silliest shared habit among almost all fully grown domestic Alaskan Malamutes is that none of them ever seem to remember how big their own bodies actually are. Even a fully grown adult male that weighs over 120 pounds will try to climb directly onto your lap while you are sitting on the couch watching a movie, and will stare at you like you are the unreasonable one when you yelp because their full body weight has crushed your legs numb. They will stretch out across the entire length of your queen sized bed at night, pinning you against the wall while they snore softly, and they will try to squeeze into the tiny dog bed you bought them when they were a 10 pound puppy, even when their shoulders hang far over the edges of the tiny fabric. Deep down in their heads, every single one of these giant fluffy dogs still thinks they are the tiny little newborn puppy that used to curl up in the palm of your hand, and they never outgrow that urge to climb as close to their favorite human as physically possible.
None of these weird, charming little quirks are signs that your Alaskan Malamute is badly behaved, or that you have done something wrong in their training. Every single one of these funny little behaviors is a tiny, precious window into the long, fascinating history of this breed, and a little surprise hidden in their DNA for you to discover as you build a life together. For every quiet evening you spend on the couch while your giant fluffy friend rests their head on your shoulder, you are sitting next to a very soft, very goofy descendant of the brave sled dogs that crossed hundreds of miles of Arctic ice to help explorers and local indigenous communities survive in one of the harshest environments on the entire planet.