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BREED
STANDARD
Published with
kind permission from The Kennel Club
© The Kennel Club
ALASKAN MALAMUTE (INTERIM)
General
Appearance - Heavily
boned, powerfully built, not too compact and never appearing
short on the leg.
Characteristics - Sled
dog capable of surviving in Arctic temperatures and of pulling
heavy loads at steady speeds.
Temperament
- Affectionate,
friendly, loyal, devoted companion but not a ‘one man’ dog,
playful on invitation, generally impressive by his dignity after
maturity but tends to show dominance to other dogs.
Head & Skull
- Head broad, powerful,
not coarse, in proportion to size of dog. Skull broad between
ears, gradually narrowing towards eyes, rounding off to
moderately flat cheeks. Very slight but perceptible stop.
Muzzle large in proportion to size of skull, scarcely
diminishing in width or depth from stop. Nose black except in
red and white dogs when it is brown. Pink streaked ’snow nose’
acceptable.
Eyes - Almond
shaped, moderately large, set obliquely. Dark eyes preferred,
except in red and white dogs where light eyes are permissible.
Blue eyes highly undesirable.
Ears -
Small in proportion to
head. Triangular in shape, slightly rounded at tips, set wide
apart, at back of skull. Ears forward when erect. When dog is
working sometimes folded against skull.
Mouth -
Upper and lower jaws
broad with large teeth, with a perfect regular and complete
scissor bite i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth
and set square to the jaws.
Neck
- Strong and moderately arched
Forequarters
- Shoulders moderately sloping; forelegs heavily boned and well
muscled, straight as far as pasterns which are short, strong and
almost vertical viewed from the side.
Body -
Strong and powerfully
built, chest strong and deep; forelegs heavily boned and well
muscled, straight as far as pasterns, but not level, sloping
slightly downwards from shoulder to croup. Loins well muscled,
never so short as to interfere with movement. No excess weight.
Hindquarters
- Hindlegs broad and
powerfully muscled through thighs; stifles moderately bent, hock
joints broad and strong, moderately bent and well let down.
Viewed from behind, hindlegs vertical, standing and moving true
in line with movement of font legs. Legs indicate tremendous
propelling power. Dewclaws on hind legs undesirable.
Feet -
Large and compact. Toes
close, well arched, pads thick and tough. Toenails short and
strong. Protective growth of hair between toes.
Tail
- Moderately high set following line of spine at start then
curving gently upwards. At rest may hang straight down. Well
furred and carried over back when dog is working, not tightly
curled to rest on back, nor short furred and carried like a fox
brush, but giving the appearance of a waving plume.
Gait/Movement
- Single tracking at trot is normal but movement not too wide or
too close at any gait. Easy, tireless, rhythmic movement,
produced by powerful drive from hindquarters
Coat -
Thick course guard coat,
not long and soft. Dense undercoat, from 2.5-5cms (1-2ins) in
depth, oily and woolly. Course guard coat stands out, with thick
fur around neck. Guard coat varies in length as does overcoat,
but in general coat of medium length along sides of body,
increasing somewhat around shoulders and neck, down back and
over croup, as well as in breeching and plume
Colour
- Range is from light grey through intermediate shadings to
black, or from gold through shades of red to liver, always with
white in under body , parts of legs, feet and part of mask
markings. Markings either caplike or masklike on face.
Combination of cap and mask not unusual. White blaze in
forehead, white collar, or spot on nape permissible. Heavy
mantling of unbroken colour acceptable, broken colour extending
over body in spots or uneven splashing undesirable. Only solid
colour permissible is all white.
Size Range -
Height Dogs 64-71cms
(25-28ins); bitches 58-66cms (23-26 ins) Weight between 38-56kgs
(85-125lbs). Size consideration not to outweigh type
Faults
- Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered
a fault and the
seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in
exact proportion in its degree
Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully
descended into the scrotum
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