As much as we wish they were all Best In Show winners, in every litter there are dogs who are not destined to be show dogs. There will be long coats or pups with other cosmetic or minor structural issues that make them poor show candidates but that doesn't mean they aren't EXCELLENT as pets, obedience/agility, or working dogs. Often the price for a pet quality puppy from a show kennel is dramatically less than that of those who are breeding for a profit and typically the parents have been through all of the health clearances. People just breeding for profit typically don't bother to do even basic clearances their breeding dogs.

Most show kennels provide a similar puppy guarantee for both pet and show quality puppies because they stand behind their breeding choices. Several of the giant kennels are charging more than 2 times(!) what is average for a pet quality pup from a show kennel. In fact, these giant kennels are charging, for a pet puppy remember, double what most show kennels ask for their SHOW puppies!!

Average for a malamute is 60-100#. They were not intended to be enormous. Enormous dogs make poor sleddogs because they wear down more quickly, even if exercised as much as their standard sized counterparts. Kennels breeding just for a particular size, color, hair length, etc are dangerous. It's just a gimmick. When you breed for just one trait, other traits important to breed type and health fall by the way side. It's not uncommon for these dogs to have hip and/or elbow dysplasia because the proper health screenings have not been done. It is also not uncommon for the giant ones in particular to have heart problems.

Many websites advertising giants LIE about the sizes of their dogs. Or look at them....how fat are they? Many have dogs who are very overweight. This is not good animal husbandry, obesity kills. Some kennels advertise dogs and achievements on dogs who have been dead for 20 years without indicating as much...but there's nothing about the current dogs.

Do not be fooled, dogs with bad hips and other structural problems can be good at hiding them. Malamutes are stoic dogs, oblivious to pain until it is too great to stand. Dysplastic dogs have weight pulled well before, only later when the owners checked the hips did they know there was a problem. "We've never had a problem" is also completely unacceptable as they don't know if there is a problem unless they have been checked. Same with eyes, just because their dogs don't walk into walls doesn't mean there aren't problems. As someone looking to get a pet for the next 12 to 15 years of your life, get the PROOF of health clearances. Most of the health clearances are attached to a website where individual dogs can be looked up. OFA is the best for that.

As an example, view Bella's OFA report here: www.ofa.org You can see her ratings, that of her parents, her half siblings, siblings, and progeny.

How to read the numbers: her hip number is AM-11616G32F-PI

"AM": Alaskan Malamute

"11616": Her file number

"G": Good

"32": age in months when xray was taken

"F": Female

"PI": Permanently Identified with tattoo or microchip

Getting a dog from a reputable breeder means having a support line. Having questions about grooming? Contact the breeder. Have questions about specific behaviors? A trainer is always a good idea but your reputable breeder is an excellent resource for minor things and can probably give additional insight into behaviors you may be seeing. They're a resource for nutritional questions, for some health questions (though your vet should be your first call there), and more.

Additionally, should either the family not be able keep the dog or something happens to the owners and the dog ends up with nowhere to go, the breeder will take the dog back. They never want their dogs to end up homeless and will do their best to see that they don't.

In short: They care about the dog the puppy becomes. They care that both the dog and the family have a happy life together. They will welcome updates and be there for you if there are issues. The relationship is not over once "the check clears."

Hips: OFA, PennHIP

Eyes: CERF, OFA

Thyroid: OFA

Elbows: OFA

Cardiac: OFA

Dwarfism: an AMCA number --Nov. 2012 this program is suspended so some dogs may not have numbers through no fault of their breeder/bloodline.

Find out what kind of "papers" they have...some are registered with what are essentially bogus registries that will send "papers" as soon as the check clears the bank. The only real reputable breed registries in THIS country are the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the United Kennel Club (UKC). There are a lot of excuses for not getting AKC papers...but don't buy any of them, they're not legitimate.

The current recommended minimum health testing recommended by the Alaskan Malamute Club of America (AMCA - the authority on the Alaskan Malamute in the USA) is to clear hips, check eyes, and DNA test for polyneuropathy (PN). Additional testing IS good but this is the bare minimum you should expect with the caveat that those using frozen semen will not necessarily have the PN testing available since the test is not that old. If a breeder isn't going to have a result available, they should tell you as much.

DNA testing: The latest ploy by disreputable breeders is to do the DNA testing offered by Embark, Wisdom, etc. and claim that their dogs are free of over 150 or 190 genetic diseases. Sounds great, right? Yes, but it's not that simple. The problem is they're using it to mislead prospective puppy people into thinking that it is more than it is. Currently, these companies only have 2 tests for health conditions that are specific to the Alaskan Malamute (polyneuropathy is one so this is good) and 1-2 more that are otherwise truly relevant to the breed. Plus the ones for coat color (not fully understood in our breed) and coat length, etc. The rest? They're for other breeds who have more advanced research than we do. So while it's great that these breeders can tell people that their puppy doesn't carry the genes for something that only applies to Old English Sheepdogs, we should have known that anyway, right? As tests evolve this tool will become more important to our breed but if this is the ONLY testing done and the breeder isn't certifying hips and eyes, run the other direction. These tests should be but just one tool in the breeder's toolbox.

It is also important to ask WHAT kind of DNA testing specifically was performed. Sometimes when breeders talk about DNA testing, they are only talking about the parents being DNA tested to prove parentage. This is NOT in any way, shape, or form a health test. Sometimes it's being done to confirm which puppies are out of which dogs in case of an "oops" breeding, sometimes it's being required by AKC because the sire has been used a lot, others just do it to do it. It's not a good or bad sign that DNA banking was done, just understand what the purpose is. If a breeder is trying to pass that kind of testing off as anything but what it is, run the other direction.

As if it wasn't already confusing, there's a third way people can be misled by the use of DNA in breeder advertising. Some dogs are DNA banked with OFA/CHIC. This is the bank researchers can pull samples from to include our breed in studies. It would be amazing if all of our dogs were banked, it really is the key to furthering health studies for our breed. What does it mean to a puppy person? It isn't a health clearance of any kind and shouldn't be treated as such. If it is being treated as a clearance and the other clearances haven't been performed, run the other direction.

Avoid anyone saying they have 'rare' anything. Red malamutes are not rare, neither are white malamutes. Long coats are not rare either, in fact, they're quite common because it's a simple recessive that most of us breed away from. They make excellent pets but they do not do well on sled teams.

Malamutes NEVER have blue eyes as Malamutes DO NOT carry the blue eyed gene. This is why it is a Disqualification for the show ring. There are terms like "throwback" and "rare mutation" that people say to explain away that their dogs are not purebred. "Rare" = gimmick to sell puppies for $$$.

Look at the condition of the dogs in the photographs. Are they cleaned? Well groomed? Do they look healthy or are their coats looking a bit dull? Dull coats can indicate thyroid problems, parasites, or dirty conditions. Coat is one of the first indicators that there is a problem. How are they kept? Do the dogs look healthy or are they scrawny and lack definition to their bodies? Are they fat and their stomachs hang? Do they look happy? The occasional cute picture of a muddy dog caught digging is fine, most of the pictures on the website showing dirty dogs is not.

Is a pedigree listed? Or is it just 'champion pedigree' or a couple famous kennels listed? The 'champion' pedigree simply means there are champions somewhere in the pedigree....big deal, most, if not all purebred malamutes go back to champions 'somewhere'.

They also will lie about what kennels are behind them - for example, my kennel name is listed to advertise a giant kennel yet none of my dogs appear in any of their pedigrees.

Commonly disreputables will list a few famous kennels that appear behind their dogs, often it's one or two dogs in the 5th or 6th generation of the pedigree. Again, big deal, that's common in most dogs. It's not a sign of quality.

Be leery of sites listing their methods of payment and prices and offer some sort of a 'purchase' button. Reputable breeders want to talk to you and figure out if you're a suitable home for one of their dogs before entering into a transaction with you.

How often are their dogs being bred? The girls should not have more than one litter per year, they should not be bred before 18 months and they should be retired from breeding at a reasonable age--around 7-8 years old. The ONE exception to the back-to-back litters rule is if one is using frozen semen. Reputable breeders will sometimes do a live breeding and then next time use the frozen. This gives them the greatest chance of a successful litter.

Backyard breeders and puppy mills don't bother with frozen because it's expensive to have males stored and just as expensive to do the artificial insemination. It also is risky financially as frozen often doesn't work and rarely yields a large litter. It would cut into their profits by a large margin in other words.

How many litters do they have in a year at the kennel? Litter numbers don't necessarily say 'disreputable' but when added to the other factors, it can be a signal.

What is their guarantee? Often disreputables will NOT take their dogs back should you be unable to keep the puppy. While a puppy should be bought with the intention of keeping it for it's entire life, sometimes there are circumstances beyond the puppy buyer's control. No breeder should be ok with their dogs ending up in shelters on death row or being a burden on rescue.

Some will have a pretty flimsy health guarantee. They say they will replace the dog if you prove there's a genetic problem with the dog and if that means you have to send the puppy you love back to them, they will likely euthanize it. Euthanasia is a way they get you to give up on the guarantee. This is a common ploy used by direputables and puppy mills. Run, run away from kennels advertising that the pups are sold "As Is". Clearly they do not stand behind the health of their puppies.

Do they sell non-breeding puppies on AKC's Limited Registration? They should. Not using the limited registration means they don't care if you breed the puppy. Breeding isn't something to be taken lightly. Breedings should only be for the betterment of the breed, with an eye to what the standard calls for. Breeding simply to make more pets is just breeding for money.

Sometimes disreputable breeders will try the "AKC stopped doing Limited Registration so I can't get papers for you." FALSE. I registered puppies with AKC 12/27/2020, Limited Registration is alive and well. I suspect that anyone trying that tactic is unable to register one or both of the parents or they bred a dog who has Limited Registration and therefore the puppies are not registerable. Either way: if someone tries this, run the other direction.

Do they permanently identify their puppies before they leave? A breeder who cares about their puppies will permanently identify their pups so they can be traced back to them should they become lost or end up in a shelter/breed rescue. Some reputable breeders will send a puppy home with the microchip to be implanted later because there is some question about the chip migrating or others require the puppy owner to get it done by a certain age.

How do they socialize their puppies? Are they simply left in the kennel or do they get house time and taken places to get exposed to different scenarios? Puppies raised in a home setting are typically much better prepared to deal with life as compared to a puppy raised in a shed somewhere on a large property where there are a lot of other litters.

Do they actually interview puppy people? Or is it as simple as handing them a check and asking where to send the pup? Breeders who care will ask questions about your experience with the breed, your home situation, and may even request to do a home visit so they know their pup is going to the proper home. They may even decide which puppy you are getting, or may only give you options of a couple. They will have spent time with the puppies and know which ones have the right personality for you. A good breeder won't sell a puppy to just anyone. The puppy's best interests are #1!

Quoting the Bible doesn't make them a good kennel. Many disreputables will do that in an effort to seem like they are good people in it for the right reasons. It's really distasteful

Are there multiple breeds of dog being bred on the property? Breeding is a passion and learning pedigrees is very time consuming....but reputable breeders enjoy searching for the right combination. It's possible to be quite knowledgeable in a couple breeds at the same time but if a kennel is breeding more than a couple breeds, it's highly improbable that proper research is being done and most likely it's a puppy mill.

Avoid kennels who publicly bash other specific breeders. Or better, the ones who say "mind your own business" or protest on the website that they are not a puppy mill. If they feel the need to say it...that should raise some warning flags.