hi, we are looking for a big boned grey woolie malamute puppy , good home waiting no other dogs but young children so must and it is a must, be good with children and excellent temprament  , hope to hear from registered breaders only please .will travel for right puppy. best wishes to all.

Woolie, puzzled by this description of the coat, should not ever be woolie surely, can someone put me straight please.

Nova :o) Not quite my breed but close associations.
Woolie is usually the term used to describe the long haired Siberian Husky, although lovely to look at they are NOT encouraged as the long coat is not in the breeds best interest, the long coat causes over heating so prevents the Siberian from doing its job. Siberian's have two standard coats one being slightly heavier/thicker than the other, the heavier coat is referred to as an Arctic coat.

Alaskan Malamutes as standard should have the heavier Arctic coat, some have excessively heavy coats giving the impression of being Woolie but the guard hairs and undercoat are as the should be, just more of it. If there was genuine woolie malamutes out there I think they would probably have the same problems as the huskies.

OP I'd advice you to contact the Alaskan Malamute breed club, they can help you, some Malamutes are bred for showing and some for work only, if you find a breeder ask them how the parents are around children, meet the dogs. Have you had experience with this sort of breed before? Just asking as they are not recommended first time dog.

Thanks Hairygang, I have Elkhounds and we would avoid a wooly coat like the plague because it would not be waterproof so I was surprised to see someone actually wanting this in a dog but then wondered if the term was meaning something different in the Mal - perhaps the OP will come back and explain what they really mean as I doubt an approved breeder would be breeding an incorrect coat, well not intentionally.

Woolie or long coated Malamutes are not correct as far tas the Breed Standaard is concerned , and that breed standard is there for a reason.  As Hairygang said, a long / soft coated malamute simply would not survive in it's original function and habitat, the coat would retain water, freeze and the dogs would either die or not be capable for it's function and therefore be killed and used for food.

Any breeder worth looking at will not deliberately breed long coats, although many will often have long coats in their litters as a consquences of breeding l/c carriers.  Many breeders now DNA test for the l/c gene.  Breeders who do happen to have l/c puppies within their litters will only sell them to pet homes and will insist on spaying / neutering to ensure they are not bred from.

If you pursue an advert which promotes long coates in a 'beautiful cute wooolie malamutes for sale' kind of way, then I suggest that these are not the kind of breeders you should be considering.  Most likely they are BYB or simply pet owners who happen to have a dog and a bitch and fancy trying to make some money.  They do not have the interests of the breed at heart and are unlikely to give a damn where their puppies go.  They are also unlikely to have the experience to be able to give you there support that most new Mal owners tend to need with this challenging breed.

Do check out the AMCUK website for details of breeders who are members and therefore abide by the Code Of Ethics. www.alaskanmalamute.org.uk

The other thing to stress about long coated Malamutes is that they are EXTREMELY HARD WORK to groom.  They will need ALOT more grooming than the average Mal.

Good Luck!

All reputable Alaskan Malamute breeders would not knowingly breed long coated or 'woolie' puppies.Many infact now test for the long coat gene.As the previous poster said long coated Mals are not a breed standard and only BYB would breed long coats deliberatly. Please choose an breeder who breeds ethically and agrees to the AMCUK code of ethics.There is more to wanting a mal with a long coat -please consider all health checks  - hip dyslasia - a mean of 13 or below and congenital cataracts.Also a big concern in Malamutes at the present is BYB breeding from ill-tempered and aggressive dogs.An ethical breeder would never consider breeding from such dogs.
However occasionally a longer coated mal puppy does manifest unexpectedly from a litter from a breeder who has the good of the breed to heart.Again as mentioned this pup would go to a pet home with a neuter contract.
And yes they are hard work when it comes to grooming and coat care.

This also happens in Akitas. Long haired Akitas are non standard but stunning, again the coat is hard work. It is also said their temperament is more mellow although I have no experience of this myself.Siberians should have a double coat, but just the one type as far as the standard is concerned. I notice lots in the UK (that I see) have very sparse coat.
Jeff.

Agree with Jeff re the Akita's, the longcoats do crop up in well bred litters occasionally and they are sold to pet homes only and yes their temperament in generally more mellow.

I found the same in the GSD's...all ours are longcoats and have been for the last 28 years and the temperaments have been second to none compared to a lot of the shorter coats.  Again that could relate to where people are buying their shortcoats from as we have a couple breeders round here that do not produce good temperaments.

Ok I can see where my comment about the two standard coats in the siberian can be miss-read, didn't over read my post before I clicked the 'post button'

Just to be more clear upon what I said. the standard requires a medium length coat. Two of the main types of coats that are seen to 'fit' within the breed standard are the tighter 'racing' coat and the thicker 'arctic' coat, both conform to the standard regarding undercoat and guard hairs but one appears to be heavier than the other. Judges have their preferences to which they prefer. Without taking a comparison photo of my ones I don't know how else to describe the difference, the actual guard hairs are not overly different in length But the 'arctic' coat is NOT long haired is any shape or form, it just looks more like a husky that lives in the bitter cold so has to have a thicker coat :o)

There is a lot of poorly bred siberians out there, bred with no regard to the standard or the breed in general, simply a money making scheme, sadly these dogs seem to be spreading the country like wild fire.
I really hoped Malamutes wouldn't go the same way but seeing certain types of people with them I fear they have already.

To the OP if you are looking for a Woolie in particular a grey woolie, is there a reason?  As others have said no reputable breeder breeds FOR a woolie they just appear. If you are looking for a pet would you settle for another colour?

Understand you perfectly Hairygang, my breed are the same it is noticeable when you judge those who either live outside in unheated accommodation or in the far north as their coats are not longer but the undercoat is much deeper, more hair to the inch, sort of thing. Mind you I hate to think of the mess when they throw it must really be everywhere, mine are bad enough and they live in a heated home.

Think all the Arctic breeds have the same sort of coat a thick undercoat under close fitting guard hair of medium length that form a waterproof shell. I always think when I read the "spot on" sort of instructions that say put on the skin, that I would be lucky to find the skin, hair just grows too close together.

Hi Hairygang,

Read your post and agree completely!

Jeff.

I know a couple of people who have woolly malamutes and they are a nightmare to groom. The undercoat turns to 'felt' and gets very matted and if it gets neglected often the only course of action is a trip to the goomers for a complete down to skin clipout. As they are not show standard coats and not good for working either I can't imagine a good breeder will readily have any except by accident

i have a long coated husky, i bred him myself, he was the only one in the litter that had long hair. he was the runt of the litter and tiny, i had to bottle feed him as he had no strength to suckle and didnt know how, he was a nightmare to keep clean, his coat was ALWAYS wet and dirty, and now, he is a nightmare still, he is still a baby at almost 2 unlike his sister from the same litter who is very independent. his coat is a nightmare to keep clean and un matted, behind the ears are the worse, he had had massive mats behind his ears that have had to be cut out. he has had the same up bringing as the rest of my dogs and his sister but he is very shy, if you go near him and stroke him, most of the time he will pee himself, he pees up my kitchen cupboards and up my bin, he cowers in the corner when the other dogs go up to him. i would never want another long coat, i cant put all his problems down to his coat but it does make you wonder why he is so different to all the other dogs i have, 5 huskies and 1 malamute