ellejaytee

I read this yesterday. What a beautiful tribute to his beloved dog. I don't think you ever get over it. My partner's first malamute has been gone over 7 years, he was the first dog I'd ever gotten to know, and I was devastated when he crossed the rainbow bridge it was a million times worse for my partner, he became really depressed for a long time. I would always tell him that it's not about getting OVER it, it's about getting THROUGH it. Every year on his anniversary, we go out to a special place by a lagoon, the same place we went to after his boy was put to sleep. We take his ashes, and sit there, shed a few tears and talk about him. This anniversary just past, we took our malamute puppy, and were amazed at how quiet he was. It was like he knew it was a special place and we were there for a special reason.

I think bloat is something everyone with a deep chested breed should be aware of: source http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/gastric-volvulus-bloat-dogs Symptoms Bloat usually comes on very quickly. At first, your dog may show signs that his stomach hurts. He may: Act restless Drool Have a swollen stomach Look anxious Look at his stomach Pace Try to vomit, but nothing comes up As the condition gets worse, he may: Collapse Have pale gums Have a rapid heartbeat Be short of breath Feel weak If you think your pet has bloat, get him to a clinic right away. If dogs don’t get treatment in time, the condition can kill them. Below is a video of what bloat looks like - it is distressing to watch, but the dog was okay after its owners realised something was really wrong and called the vet. http://www.thebark.com/content/recognizing-signs-bloat-video

Apparently it is. And our dog is not the first to be expelled for the same reason. Apparently he just would not stop barking when the girl looking after them all went inside. If it was more than that, they definitely have a duty of care to advise owners. But yes, as crazy as it sounds, this day care does expel for barking especially if surrounding businesses are kicking up a stink

We went to see a new vet last week. The last time we had him examined by his original vet, they prescribed antibiotics 'in case he has given himself a skin infection'. This didn't sit right with me, he had the full course anyway, still chewed. Anyway, this new vet is very conservative. He had a look at our dog's front ankles, he said this habit isn't hurting him - he seems to be just chewing the fur off and not hurting the skin. I showed him the video of the de-fleaing and that supported his theory that our boy has a bit of OCD! He said he could put him on some doggy Prozac, but seeing as though his habits aren't harming him and seem to make him happy, not to bother with going down that road. We were happy with that! He said he'd never prescribe antibiotics for an issue like that - which I was glad about. The last thing we want is for him to build up a tolerance to an antibiotic he may really need one day. He suggested just keeping him busy, with toys, sandpit, walks - all of which we do. All of his toys either dispense food, make a sound or expel a puff of air. He also has a huge area where he can dig to his heart's content, and he's often quite busy with his earthmoving! He has a daily walk as well as training daily. Also recommended putting Itchy Scratch where he's been chewing his legs to deter him from continuing to do it. Very happy with this new vet, he came highly recommended by a lot of people, and his charges are much cheaper than where we had been going, so it's a win all round! :)

Having a malamute, and knowing their prey drive, I am certain that this wasn't an act of malice. I think the dog has seen something moving through the gap at the fence and grabbed it. The dog wasn't to know that it was in fact attached to a child. There's been a lot of comments on the news articles I've seen that people are claiming malamutes are aggressive and should have to be in a secure yard and have a muzzle on. Wait up a damn minute! Malamutes are not, by nature, aggressive to humans. And a dog should be able to enjoy its own (secure, I agree) backyard without a muzzle. Just because they're big and 'look like a wolf', they are not related to a wolf. A human aggressive malamute is not the norm. They love people. Just yesterday, I was sitting in the sunshine in the backyard, when my mal saw someone out the front. He ran to the fence to check him out (as he does), and this guy approached the fence, whistling at my dog and was about to slip his fingers through the fence to touch him! Oh yes, he's big and cute and fluffy, but you are a stranger, and my dog doesn't know you. My dog was at that point standing there calmly, and I got up to ask what the guy wanted, and as soon as he started to talk, my boy was standing on his hind legs barking at him. I shouldn't have to put a sign on my fence stating the obvious - don't touch my dog. He's behind a secure fence that he can't get out of. I am certain he wouldn't have bitten, because he could see it was a person standing in front of him - unlike the mal who bit the child. It's a crappy situation, at the end of the day, a child has lost her hand. But let's not forget that the owner of the dogs did have a secure yard that the dogs couldn't escape, and probably never considered the possibility that someone might try to stick a body part into their yard. Safety around dogs is something that should be drummed into kids from an early age, and someone should have been supervising the child when this happened. But I don't think the dog deserves to die as a result. Had the dog escaped and done damage to someone, my opinion would be totally different. But the facts as it stands are that a kid has 'trespassed' if you will, and been bitten as a result.

I can't even explain how enraged this stupid woman made me. And she tries to gloss over what she does by blaming it on the fact she never got a puppy as a child. PLEASE! I didn't get one either. I got one as an adult, and while he was cute and fluffy as a little puppy, I love him more and more as I watch him grow into a beautiful young dog. I just look into his eyes, and it hits me right in the feels. There are no circumstances under which I would ever get rid of him. All of the issues she's had with her dogs have been her fault. You can't just plop them in a yard and expect they instinctively know what they should/shouldn't do. I think it's really sad for a dog to get lots of attention as a puppy, only to lose that attention as they grow out of the puppy stage. My dog is my life, and even though he's 30kg now as opposed to 7kg 19 months ago, I will never stop loving him, training him, playing with him, nurturing him to be the best, happiest, enriched dog that he can be. Seeing him happy and making him happy fills my heart with joy I didn't think possible. I just hope that any dog breeder take note of who she is and never sell her another puppy, but then again, chances are she's buying from a BYB who doesn't particularly care where their pups end up, and that's terribly sad

What is the consensus on dog parks? Our malamute got expelled from doggy day care for barking (after at least 10 sessions where noise from him was never an issue). There are a couple of off leash dog parks in our area, but I'm hesitant to try them out because not every person takes a friendly dog to them. He has had an off lead little fluffy dog run across a busy road to bark in his face and try to pull rank over him, the owner hurried from around the corner and was horrified to see her little dog trying to take on a 30kg mal, LOL! I know our boy misses doggy playtime, we do have a couple of friends with appropriate sized dogs he could play with, it's just a matter of getting it organised...but I wondered if a dog park was a good idea. Just worried I guess that another dog will start a scrap, and the big dog will get the blame. He is also not used to children, but I'd hope little kids wouldn't be running around in the off lead area?! He gets very excited when he sees other dogs, he just wants to play!

Thanks everyone for your responses! We tried out a few theories last night, replaced my partner's doona with mine, he still de-flead it. Removed the doonas totally and he laid down and went to sleep. Very odd. Out of sight out of mind! We just let him go with his little cleaning ritual tonight, until he was getting so into it that he's irritated his top gums and there was blood staining on the doona (not a lot, but I imagine it to be a bit like carpet burn type irritation on his upper gums). Put the doonas away again and he went to sleep. We had been at my parent's place tonight, then my partner walked him the 1.5km home on a route he's never been on, so it was new smells and excitement. He came home exhausted, came into the lounge and started cleaning immediately. Food allergies we have wondered about especially with the ankle chewing. He has advance dry with some raw pet mince and a little canned food. Was having Nutro dry before that. The raw pet food shop suggested he may be better off with just raw kangaroo meat because he may have an intolerance to grains. Our vet suggested his chewing was just a habit but prescribed antibiotics because she thought he had given himself a skin infection. We're thinking of getting a second opinion from another vet to see what they think. We've seen him do it, he folds his front paws over and chews them with his back teeth! Also his back ankles but not the the same extent as his front. He's such a quirky little guy.

We feed our malamute 3 times a day - once in the morning (smaller meal), bigger meal at tea time (around 5pm) and a smaller meal later (anywhere between 9-11pm). He was vomiting 4 or 5 times a week in the mornings before we added the later meal, it would just be bile and foam, so we started trialling a later meal so his stomach acid wouldn't build up and make him vomit. Have had great success with this.

Zero - thank goodness! I don't think we'd have a chance in hell of catching him if he did get out (malamute, so busy all the time!). We try to give him street smarts, and take him for frequent sniffs around the front yard so he knows where home is. He used to not want to step out of the yard without his lead on - partner would lead him by his collar to bring him to the car, and used to have to carry him (30kg dog!) because he wouldn't leave the carport! Funny dog!

We've had a bit of a strange issue with our 18 month old malamute. The other night, there was a dog show on TV and he was very interested in it, then he climbed up on the couch and started obsessively cleaning the doona on the couch with his front teeth. The only way we could stop him was to physically move his mouth away from it, then he'd start doing it to us. We washed the doona, but he's still doing it. The other night I hid some treats in the lounge room and he walked around sniffing them out, also had some treats in my pocket so if he started doing it, I could call him over and get him to sit and give him a treat. This worked great in keeping him distracted from obsessively cleaning. I can successfully call him off doing it if I see him about to start, but if I miss that sign and he gets going, he can't be stopped without physically stopping him (his ears don't seem to work when he's on this mission). He only does it in the lounge, and only to one doona (which his male human uses, he is a daddy's boy too but he's been around when this is happening). I wondered if maybe the dog show stressed him out - he was going to doggy day care weekly but got expelled a few weeks ago for being too noisy so he's really missed playtime with other dogs (we are arranging play dates with friend's dogs soon). I thought hiding the treats would help him associate the lounge with good times and no stress. I've checked out his front teeth/gums and they look okay (a couple of weeks ago, he stood up on his hind legs to check out what was in my hand, then fell down and hit his chin on the wall:( ). He is a habitual licker of himself, he does chew the fur off his front ankles which we stop him doing when we catch him because he will do it right in front of us. Vet can find nothing wrong with his ankles by examination (no X-rays though) and put it down to habit. Any ideas why he's doing this? It's so bizarre, I've never seen anything like it.

Left him alone for 15 minutes, come outside to see him and he's chewed wood off his kennel...there was a nice little pile of kindling on the ground. He's chewed so much, but not sure how much he's ingested. Will he be okay? He eats a lot of junk, leaves, twigs, dirt, stuffing out of his bed, some carpet tile...but I'm a bit concerned about the splintery wood! Any advice?

We have a 7.5 month old alaskan malamute, and a colleague of mine has suggested a play date for him and her 6 year old large male labradoodle. I think this is a great idea as our puppy does need friendly playmates. My partner is scared that our puppy will hurt the labradoodle, and I am a little afraid of that too - not that our mal is aggressive at all towards dogs (he was terrified of the puppies at puppy school) but he's a big (30kg) clown who doesn't know his own size! But I think now is a good time for him to be meeting other dogs. He has played with our trainer's fully grown German shepherd and there were no issues. They even drank from the same water bowl at the same time! I guess I'm just afraid...his reaction to other dogs now he's older is excited and curious. He got ran at by an off lead Maltese, and his tail was wagging and he was having a good old sniff! I know he's 'old' to be socialising at this point, but all the dogs we know are tiny, and because of our mal's size and tendency to play rough, we haven't introduced them. I guess I'm just wondering if this will all be okay?

Thanks everyone for your helpful tips and suggestions. I forgot to add - on a Friday afternoon, my partner naps before work and our pup is very good, he'll nap in the laundry too. Last weekend I had a big headache so my partner put him in the laundry and he napped for a couple of hours. If I try that, he'll attack the washing machine, backchat, bark etc. I think I will try the relaxing outside exercises though!

He gets a lot of attention from my partner - he works weekend nights so is home with him all week. I am home weeknights and weekends. It's almost like our mal plays up so he can see my partner (dog trainer told us they will do anything for attention - be it positive or negative). Playtime is a mixture of training and playing - he loves fetch (I taught him this, so proud!)! We also hide treats in his toys/treat ball. It's mainly my partner who takes him walking daily while I'm at work, so I think I lack authority because of this - he sees me as more of a playmate than his leader. He is a champion at sitting and waiting for food. He also doesn't get anything for free. He has plenty of toys, the trainer told us that it either has to make noises, food has to fall out, or if he pulls it, it has to pull back - basically something stimulating. He loves new toys - but his favourites are his oinking pig, and this long tube one that makes a different sound at each end. He did have a duck, but he destroyed that! He has heaps of other toys, but those seem to be his favourite. He also likes to carry the milk crate outside around the backyard. He seemed to like chewing on gumboots, so I bought him a rubber witches hat. He also loves splashing around in his pool, then doing zoomies around the yard! By the end of each day, he is exhausted!

We have a 7 month old Alaskan Malamute. I gather he is going through adolescence because he is being a terror! He was pretty bitey towards me as a young puppy, but we trained him out I that. Last night, he dug a hole in the grass (a big no-no, he has a huge section where he can dig), so he came inside to the laundry (where he sleeps). Emptied his water bowl on the floor. Put him in the smaller yard, he re-dug 3 holes, jumped in his pool, wouldn't listen, got jumpy and bitey. Came back inside and he emptied his water again, tried to eat the hose fittings for the washing machine, got told off and put in time out (door closed, lights off) which calmed him down. He is usually a saint for my partner, he adores him. He was at work last night. Our puppy is usually very good for me when my partner is at work. This morning, he has MOVED the washing machine out from the wall, and chewed the output hose, then has taken issue with his poop bin outside (been in the same spot his whole life!), knocked it over and started pawing furiously at it. Gosh! I can't believe how naughty he is! He used to be so well behaved, although he's not like this every day. I'm just looking for support...tell me it gets better?! For the record, I wanted to crate train him, partner didn't. He is successfully housebroken, and is very good at letting us know when he needs to go out. Any other mal owners with advice? This is my first dog, although my partner has had a mal before.