Oakley, The Alaskan Malamute: Part One
Oakley, the Alaskan Malamute
The Beginning
I wanted a dog to keep me company when my husband was out. We live on a large property isolated in the country. A dog would also help me stay healthy and active with lots of walking. We own two cats but they don’t walk very far and never outside. Too many coyotes around. My husband, David, wanted a male Alaskan Malamute puppy. So we searched on the Internet and found a breeder in Southern Ontario, about three hours drive from us. Nordic Storm Alaskan Malamutes in Tilbury. Jen Kastein had a litter of five puppies: one female and four males, all grey and white. They were five weeks old.
From the first second we saw Oakley, it was love at first sight. He came up to me first and sat at my feet. When I held him, he seemed calm and content to be where he was. He wasn’t the most aggressive of the litter but he was one of the larger puppies of the five. He seemed quiet and gentle and obedient. The breeder said she would decide which puppy went to which home. We were disappointed. Which puppy would we be given? What if it wasn’t Oakley? Would we be happy with a different puppy?
Three weeks later, we were told we were getting Oakley and we were ecstatic. It was as if we had won the lottery! Oakley was the quiet, gentle, independent puppy we wanted. We returned to Nordic Storm Alaskan Malamutes on a Thursday night after work in a snow storm to pick our precious puppy up.
The breeder had washed and blown-dried him and placed a bow on his collar. This is what he looked like at eight weeks old!
I was in shock and so was my husband. If he looked like this at eight weeks, what would he look like full grown! The breeder said he was twenty pounds. I envisioned owning a pony in one year, not a dog! In truth, Oakley reminded me of the baby panda bears we saw in China.
Oakley was going to be BIG!
We got him home, introduced him to his crate, fed him some water, took him out for numerous pee times, and went to bed. We expected to be woken up in the middle of the night with howling. We slept through the entire night without a peep. This was going to be easier than we thought! HA!
The next night, Oakley found his lungs. He howled all night. He was lonely for his litter mates. The two cats we own were not warming up to him and he was wanting to be with us 24/7. I had walked Oakley around our property about six times for a total of about one hour of walking. Later we read that a puppy should only walk about five minutes times their age in months. Oakley was two months, therefore walk him only ten minutes per day. OOPS!
Toilet training has been a challenge. Different authorities say different things. Use paper. Don’t use paper. Put him in his crate. Let him roam free. Use rewards. Don’t reward except with affection. I just wanted to put diapers on Oakley! My back was killing me from picking him up all the time. Twenty pounds dead weight several times a day. I was getting my workout!
Food was a big question mark for us. How much do we feed Oakley? The breeder said two cups of puppy food twice a day mixed with human baby rice pablum two teaspoons and lots of water. Otherwise no human food at all. The puppy bag of food said one cup three times per day. We settled on one cup three times per day. We certainly did not want to over feed this giant of a puppy. Hip development is important in these large breeds and we did not want to harm Oakley’s hips by feeding him too much!
We still have not figured out when is the best time to walk Oakley after feeding. We ended up having him out in the snow for an hour after his meals. Note to self: Next time, get a puppy in the summer time! It’s warmer, there are no boots and coats and mitts involved, and less wet tracked into the house. Plus it won’t be snowing outside!
Day Three, Oakley just slept at our front door all day. I guess I had tired him out! But he woke up around dinnertime and just wanted to play. We wanted to go to bed. Howling ensued from midnight to three in the morning. Was this going to be our life from now on? So much for Oakley being the quiet one. He has an impressive set of lungs and he made good use of them until he was hoarse!
Still, we love him and each time we look at him, we can’t help thinking how darn cute he is. Lucky for him!
Today I have discovered Oakley just loves to be outdoors. If you leave him outside in front of the door, he will sleep perfectly happy in three degrees Celsius and sunshine. I can’t drag him indoors. He plants his paws and won’t be budged! So much for cooperative, gentle, obedient puppy.
We are in for a ride and I hope you will come along with us!
#AlaskanMalamutes #Puppy #malamutepuppy
The Beginning
I wanted a dog to keep me company when my husband was out. We live on a large property isolated in the country. A dog would also help me stay healthy and active with lots of walking. We own two cats but they don’t walk very far and never outside. Too many coyotes around. My husband, David, wanted a male Alaskan Malamute puppy. So we searched on the Internet and found a breeder in Southern Ontario, about three hours drive from us. Nordic Storm Alaskan Malamutes in Tilbury. Jen Kastein had a litter of five puppies: one female and four males, all grey and white. They were five weeks old.
From the first second we saw Oakley, it was love at first sight. He came up to me first and sat at my feet. When I held him, he seemed calm and content to be where he was. He wasn’t the most aggressive of the litter but he was one of the larger puppies of the five. He seemed quiet and gentle and obedient. The breeder said she would decide which puppy went to which home. We were disappointed. Which puppy would we be given? What if it wasn’t Oakley? Would we be happy with a different puppy?
Three weeks later, we were told we were getting Oakley and we were ecstatic. It was as if we had won the lottery! Oakley was the quiet, gentle, independent puppy we wanted. We returned to Nordic Storm Alaskan Malamutes on a Thursday night after work in a snow storm to pick our precious puppy up.
The breeder had washed and blown-dried him and placed a bow on his collar. This is what he looked like at eight weeks old!
I was in shock and so was my husband. If he looked like this at eight weeks, what would he look like full grown! The breeder said he was twenty pounds. I envisioned owning a pony in one year, not a dog! In truth, Oakley reminded me of the baby panda bears we saw in China.
Oakley was going to be BIG!
We got him home, introduced him to his crate, fed him some water, took him out for numerous pee times, and went to bed. We expected to be woken up in the middle of the night with howling. We slept through the entire night without a peep. This was going to be easier than we thought! HA!
The next night, Oakley found his lungs. He howled all night. He was lonely for his litter mates. The two cats we own were not warming up to him and he was wanting to be with us 24/7. I had walked Oakley around our property about six times for a total of about one hour of walking. Later we read that a puppy should only walk about five minutes times their age in months. Oakley was two months, therefore walk him only ten minutes per day. OOPS!
Toilet training has been a challenge. Different authorities say different things. Use paper. Don’t use paper. Put him in his crate. Let him roam free. Use rewards. Don’t reward except with affection. I just wanted to put diapers on Oakley! My back was killing me from picking him up all the time. Twenty pounds dead weight several times a day. I was getting my workout!
Food was a big question mark for us. How much do we feed Oakley? The breeder said two cups of puppy food twice a day mixed with human baby rice pablum two teaspoons and lots of water. Otherwise no human food at all. The puppy bag of food said one cup three times per day. We settled on one cup three times per day. We certainly did not want to over feed this giant of a puppy. Hip development is important in these large breeds and we did not want to harm Oakley’s hips by feeding him too much!
We still have not figured out when is the best time to walk Oakley after feeding. We ended up having him out in the snow for an hour after his meals. Note to self: Next time, get a puppy in the summer time! It’s warmer, there are no boots and coats and mitts involved, and less wet tracked into the house. Plus it won’t be snowing outside!
Day Three, Oakley just slept at our front door all day. I guess I had tired him out! But he woke up around dinnertime and just wanted to play. We wanted to go to bed. Howling ensued from midnight to three in the morning. Was this going to be our life from now on? So much for Oakley being the quiet one. He has an impressive set of lungs and he made good use of them until he was hoarse!
Still, we love him and each time we look at him, we can’t help thinking how darn cute he is. Lucky for him!
Today I have discovered Oakley just loves to be outdoors. If you leave him outside in front of the door, he will sleep perfectly happy in three degrees Celsius and sunshine. I can’t drag him indoors. He plants his paws and won’t be budged! So much for cooperative, gentle, obedient puppy.
We are in for a ride and I hope you will come along with us!
#AlaskanMalamutes #Puppy #malamutepuppy
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