Photo provdied by Watertown Daily Times
Yuki & Jetta lead team while giving rides at Winterfest
Thank you for visiting Abenaki Malamutes' internet home. Frank and I have been involved with our favorite breed, the Alaskan Malamute, since 1991. Frank also has a racing sled team of Alaskan huskies and we have been involved with that breed since 2000, when we moved from NJ to upstate NY in search of more snow. We are currently located on 5 acres of land on the Tug Hill plateau just east of Lake Ontario. This region boasts "The most snow East of the Rockies" and provides a climate suited to northern breeds which is similar to their ancestral environment. They love all of the snow we get and so do we!
Back in 1991 when we got our first Mal, we intended having only one as a pet. Quickly, one became two and two became three and so on. We tried sharing our home with other breeds as well, but they just weren't for us. Although the Malamute is extremely smart and often stubborn, we rather enjoy the challenge. We also like their independent nature and ability to entertain themselves and not always be "under foot". These same reasons are why they are not the breed for everyone; as well as their predatory instincts, that sometimes make them unsuitable for multi-pet households.
After discovering sled dog races in NJ (using a 3 wheeled cart) we slowly kept making our team bigger by adding more dogs. We were also introduced to the sport of weight pulling shortly after and we began to pursue working titles on our dogs. Weight pulling has currently taken a back seat to sledding and showing, but we plan to continue achieving weightpull titles on our dogs as well. In the year 2000, we left NJ to where we are now, so that we could get more sledding in on snow and so we could have room to house Frank's Alaskans, allowing him to pursue to sled dog racing.
It wasn't until 2001 that I came across Quinault Malamutes and purchased a Malamute from Twila's working lines. This finally gave me a dog that could both work and become a Champion - one that I felt was worthy of being bred. Before then, all of our dogs were spayed & neutered. Within a year I also got a female from Twila and eventually did my first breeding with those two. It was well worth the wait as that first litter is so far, my favorite of them all.
Since 2003 we have only bred six litters (one of those was a repeat breeding because Aspen only had 2 pups the first time and we were hoping for a girl from that combination, but she blessed us with more boys instead!) We always screen potential studs and dams for Malamute health issues and have eyes certified by ophthalmologists (CERF) and hips certified by radiologists (OFA) before any breeding occurs. Then when considering a breeding we take all the precautions we can to combine compatible lines using what information is made available to us.
Currently, I am running 11 Mals on my team and Frank has 10 Alaskan Huskies. Soon we will breed our beautiful girl Aspen one last time. Breedings after this will be few and far between as we only breed when I need more Mals for my team. As the older Mals retire from the team they will either be placed into pet homes that will spoil them and give them the individual attention they so deserve or they will stay here and become housedogs and be spoiled by us. Either way it's all good!
If you have any questions about our Malamutes or Malamutes in general feel free to email us at abenakimals@wildblue.net and thank you for taking the time to read about us!
Regina Caldwell
Abenaki Malamutes
