Alaskan Malamute puppies

What to expect at eight weeks

At eight weeks a Alaskan Malamute puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A large breed puppy at eight weeks looks deceptively normal sized and will roughly double every few weeks for a while. Keep exercise short and low impact, the growth plates are wide open. This is a high energy breed. At eight weeks that shows up as intensity rather than stamina, and it will need a job to do long before it needs long walks. Grooming needs are moderate, so build the brushing habit now while the coat is still short and easy. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.

Health worth knowing about

Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.

• Alaskan Malamute polyneuropathy, a nerve disease causing exercise intolerance and an unsteady gait, detectable by DNA test
• Hip and elbow dysplasia, screened by hip and elbow evaluation of breeding stock
• Chondrodysplasia, an inherited form of dwarfism carried in the breed
• Day blindness, an inherited cone degeneration of the retina, picked up by an ophthalmologist evaluation
• Von Willebrand disease and thrombopathia, inherited bleeding disorders confirmed by clotting and DNA tests
• Hypothyroidism, diagnosed on a thyroid blood panel

From Alaskan Malamute breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/alaskan-malamute/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.

Your Alaskan Malamute puppy's first six months

• Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
• Worming and parasite schedule.
• Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Large for a Alaskan Malamute.
• Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 34 to 38.6 kg adult range.
• Puppy names and the first week checklist.

Other large breeds

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