WORKING

Dogs are a pack animal with a highly complex social and communicative structure.  Each pack has a strict hierarchy with rules, boundaries and limitations depending on their status in the pack.  When we take them out of their natural pack situation and bring them into our homes, we take on the responsibility of being their pack.  This means learning how they communicate and using this to teach them how to live in our social structure, within our rules and boundaries and where they fit into our hierarchy in a way they will understand.

In a natural pack situation, dogs are very active mentally as well as physically, learning about their environment, where, what, and how to hunt, what places and animals to avoid. 

One of the best ways of helping your dog to accomplish this physical and mental activity in the human pack is to do some kind of activity with them.  Taking them on long walks will help with the physical side of things, but I believe it is also our duty to fulfil them mentally as well and the best way to do this is to do some kind of activity with them.  There are lots of different activities you can do with your dog.  Here are some ideas listed below.

Obedience - working your dog in obedience is a great way to maintain a really good bond with your dog and ensure you have good control at all times.  Going to a training club once a week, gives you and your dog some quality and useful one on one time together.  Once the basics of obedience are learnt, you can continue on and learn more fun and challenging things with your dog to improve your relationship.  You can even enter little local shows for a bit of a laugh or go on to more competitive shows for more serious competition.  Either way, it will introduce your dog to a different environment and other dogs and people, helping to lead your dog to be a well rounded individual.  German Shepherds excel in obedience and love to learn new tricks and really enjoy the one on one time with their owners.  Malamutes can also do obedience, and enjoy the one on one time.  I got my first Malamute to a level where he could hold his own at local shows, but their independence means that you will not get the concentration level of something like a GSD.  But, that is no reason not to have a go and enjoy some quality time with your Mal.

Agility - working your dog in agility is great fun.  It is good exercise for you and your dog and helps with control.  It can also help a shy dog gain confidence.  There are occasional local shows which have little agility competitions, or if you progress enough, you could enter some more competitive shows.  GSD's excel at agility and Malamutes can certainly hold their own too.  I have worked both my GSD's and Mals in competitive agility, winning places with both breeds.  Whereas obedience fulfils mainly the mental activity side for your dog, agility will fulfil both mental and physical activity and is great for maintaining a great bond with your dog. 

Sled Dog Racing - this is mainly a Malamute activity, but I have worked my GSD's in harness too.  There are some rallies where they have "open" classes where non-sled dog breeds can also have a go.  The dog does have to fulfil certain criteria obviously - they need to be big enough and fit enough to be able to pull you on a rig or sled!!  My GSD's love running in harness and I use them to help get the Malamutes fit.  An alternative to getting a rig or sled, is to harness your dog and attach it with a line and shock absorber to your bike or a scooter.  Great exercise for your dog - going at his speed - while maintaining full control and safety with the shock absorber.  Do be aware of the weather though, running your dog on a bike or scooter is an activity for the winter months when the weather is cold to prevent overheating. 

Working Trials - this is mainly a GSD activity, being linked to police dog trials.  The dogs learn a variety of tasks including tracking and searching for articles.  Although I have not tried this with Mals yet, I don't see why they can't have a go, especially at the tracking aspect.  I have done some tracking work with some of my GSD's and it is lovely to see them work using their nose, it is so natural.

Weight Pulling - this is mainly a Malamute/sled dog activity.  The aim is for the dog to pull a trolley laden with weights over a distance of 16feet in under 45 seconds.  The weight on the trolley slowly increases until the dog says "enough" thanks.!  Malamutes are very strong and love pulling, they seem to enjoy pitting their weight against the trolley.  This is a fun event and as no baiting of the dogs is allowed everyone helps encourage the all dogs with lots of verbal encouragement, so it can get a bit noisy.

Backpacking - walking is a great way to exercise your dog physically.  A walk to a dog is a simulation of a pack hunt, so you must ensure you are in charge of the walk!!  As Malamutes should not be let off the lead unless you are in a secure area where they cannot be distracted by wildlife/stock etc. taking them for a long trek is one way to compensate for this and to make it more interesting for your dog you can "give him a job" on the walk, by getting him to carry a pack.  He can carry his own water, food and bowl for the trek.  Do be careful not to overload him though and make sure you don't do long treks in hot weather.

Flyball - probably not a competitive event for either breed, but they can still do it and have fun, which lets face it is the most important thing, having fun with your dog - experiencing lots of different things together.  Malamutes tend only to play on their terms.  I know that sometimes all my Mals will chase a ball, occasionally they will bring it back but most times they don't  and other times they stand and look at it and walk in the other direction!   But, if you find your dog likes to catch a ball, you should be able to teach it to hit the box and the jumps are the easy part.  Give it a go.

Ski-joring or Cani-Cross - as the title suggests, ski-joring is where you are on skis and the dog is attached to you, pulling you on the skis.  Obviously, we don't get a lot of snow in this country any more, so if you are fit enough, you can attach the dog to you via a walking belt with shock absorber and go for a run with your dog pulling you along, this is called cani-cross and is becoming very popular for people who want to keep fit with their dogs and all breeds can take part

Whatever activity you choose to do with your dog - ensure that the primary thing for both of you is HAVE FUN, we don't have them for very long - enjoy every minute.