Why Do Alaskan Malamutes Steal Every Sock You Own And Love Snow More Than Their Owners

This casual fun pet science piece breaks common stereotypes of Alaskan Malamutes, sharing little known daily quirks that every dog lover can recognize and laugh over easily.

If you have ever owned an Alaskan Malamute for more than three months, you have almost certainly walked into your living room after a long work day, only to find half of your laundry pile scattered across the carpet, and your 80-pound fluffy companion curled up on the couch slowly gnawing at the heel of your favorite winter sock. Most new owners label this behavior as classic destructive chewing, and many even scold their dogs for minutes after finding the missing socks tucked under the dog’s bed later, but this seemingly annoying habit is not a sign of bad behavior at all, it is a leftover instinct that has been passed down in this breed for thousands of years. Unlike many modern purebred dogs that were bred for show or companion purposes in recent centuries, Alaskan Malamutes are one of the oldest arctic dog breeds on the planet, and their direct ancestors lived side by side with native Inuit and Alaskan tribal communities for more than 4000 years, helping human groups pull heavy supply sleds across hundreds of miles of frozen tundra in harsh minus 40 degree Celsius weather.

Many people mix Alaskan Malamutes up with smaller Siberian Huskies, but these two breeds have very different personality and physical traits that most casual pet lovers can not spot at first glance. A full grown Alaskan Malamute can weigh up to 90 pounds, with much thicker paw pads that have a natural layer of fatty insulation to keep their feet completely warm even when they run across bare ice for hours without any boot protection. Most owners notice that their Malamutes get unreasonably excited when the first snowflake falls in winter, and many will run straight to the nearest snow bank to roll around for 30 minutes before stopping to greet their freezing owners who are calling them back home. They will even pick up small hard snowballs and bring them to their owners as gifts, a behavior that comes from their old instinct of bringing back small captured prey or useful supplies to their human tribal members after a long patrol.

Another little known fun fact about Alaskan Malamutes is that they are natural living heating pads that never run out of battery, and they are far more thoughtful than most people assume they are. If you are the type of person who always kicks off your thick quilt halfway through cold winter nights, there is a 90 percent chance that your Malamute will quietly climb onto the foot of your bed after you fall asleep, and tuck itself against your bare feet to keep them warm for the whole night. Unlike most other dog breeds that bark loudly to alert their owners for every small passing stranger, Malamutes very rarely make sharp barking sounds, most of their vocalizations are low slow rumbling sounds that sound exactly like they are telling you a long gentle story, many long term Malamute owners joke that after years of living with their dog, they start speaking slower and softer to other people without noticing it.

The famous sock stealing habit that most Malamutes have is not a mischievous prank designed to make you mad, it is actually their old working instinct playing out in modern daily life. Back in the old tundra days, Malamutes were trained to carry extra pieces of soft fabric and warm socks in their mouths when they traveled with sleds, so that they could tuck those soft materials into the small gaps between the sled and the heavy supplies, to stop sharp ice edges from scratching through the cloth and breaking the items people carried for the long trip. To this day, this instinct still makes them think that all soft socks and pieces of old cloth are important protective supplies that need to be stored in a safe hidden spot, and many dogs will spend hours sorting all the socks they find around the house and piling them up in their hidden "treasure spot" for the whole family to use in case of a sudden snow storm.

There is a super simple trick that can stop your Malamute from stealing your clean socks off the laundry line or your closet shelf once and for all, and almost every long term owner swears by this easy little method. All you need to do is prepare a dedicated small woven basket filled with 10 to 15 pairs of old discarded cotton socks, and place the basket in the corner of their dog bed, and show them the basket on their first day home. Once they realize there is an endless safe supply of these important "supply cloths" in their own territory, they will never touch your personal socks again, and they will even start storing all their favorite small toys, sticks they find on walks, and leftover dog treats inside the same basket, turning it into their very own little treasure chest. This small change turns a previously annoying household quirk into a cute little tradition that adds tons of warm silly fun to your daily life with your big fluffy arctic companion.