|
WELCOME.
The purpose of this website is to help all Alaskan Malamutes by educating
their owners, by encouraging mature people to ACT responsibly and learn
about a breed before making a commitment. We hope the material at this website
will help you decide if an Alaskan Malamute should be in your future. Read
everything here and then search online for even more information about the
breed. Ask questions of breeders so you can learn the negative with
the positive. All dogs have inherent traits that make them suitable
for one lifestyle or a family, but unsuitable for another type. Learn
what these traits are so you can decide if they fit into your life. Do
this BEFORE you buy a Malamute.
We have been doing hands-on rescue for twenty years! Wow--time flies!
Rescuing any breed of dog becomes very time consuming and very expensive.
It also takes a toll on your emotions and puts a burden on your entire
family--not to mention friends. We drive a 1978 Ford van--why?
Because of the amount of money we have spent on rescue dogs and rescue work.
That was our decision; we have so many happy memories of Malamutes that went
on to live long, happy years with wonderful families, so we have no real
regrets. Now we would like to take some time to enjoy our own dogs and
for that reason, we have decided to take a break from the 24/7 world of
hands on rescue. That does not mean we will no longer help a breed we
love--it means that we are asking breeders to be responsible for their own,
asking owners to do the work of placing their own dogs, and asking those who
love these dogs as much as we do, to begin their own involvement in saving
dogs from shelters or offering their homes for foster care. In other
words, we are sharing the work and responsibility.
To begin our "retirement" from the constant pressures of rescue, we have
added a page that takes you through all of the steps of
placing your own
Malamute. Print it out, follow the instructions, and you will be
doing the same thing we have done successfully for 20 years! If you
are an owner seeking to re-home your dog, this page will help you; if you
are a foster home or a fancier who wants to save a dog from the shelter,
print out our application form, our
facts sheet, and use common sense.
If you need some guidance with temperament evaluation of a dog in an animal
shelter, contact us and we will try to put you in touch with an experienced
Malamute person who can offer aid with an evaluation. All shelter dogs
should be carefully evaluated before entering a new home.
We will ALWAYS keep the shelter dogs list as up to date as possible because
these dogs need you--they need homes as soon as possible. Nearly all
of the city and county animal shelters are KILL. That means, dogs are
held a short time for adoption and then taken into the back and killed.
It's not mean or unnecessary--it's logistics. There's just so much
room and too many animals. So, please, always visit the
shelter page.
If you decide
that you only want a puppy, please be aware that ethical, reputable breeders
seldom have more than one litter a year. They do NOT breed for "pet quality"
dogs, especially with so many Malamutes in need of rescue! If a healthy puppy, free
of genetic faults and temperament problems is for you, we will be happy to
provide you with a list of local Malamute breeders that are members of the
Alaskan Malamute Club of America. Prices will vary from $600.00 to $1,000.00
or more depending on the dog and the breeder.
Tina Dunn
DONATE TO THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND!
Please don't forget to consider the other half of
California--the North, where Malamutes are rescued by
Maureen Marcus. Maureen does house checks, contracts and everything
else the right way.
Here is
their link:
http://www.ncama.org/Dogs-Available.htm
Also
in your search for your new companion, please contact the staff at Husky
Camp. They always help our rescue and have taken in Alaskan Malamutes
for us when we have not been able to help the dogs.
Their
link is:
http://www.huskycamp.com
|
