You've made the decision that you want a fluffy ball of fur in your home, you've found a good breeder and made arrangements, and now homecoming day is fast approaching. Advance preparation will make the transition go smoothly, and will give you both a solid foundatin on which to build your future relationship.

You will need certain supplies for your new arrival which should be in place before the puppy comes home. The day of arrival will be somewhat stressful for your puppy, and stops on the way home to pick up supplies will only increase that stress. Ensure that the following items are purchased and ready:

• crate (24 x 36 would be adequate for the life of yor dog),
• food bowl,
• water bowl, both inside and outside,
• dog food, as recommended by breeder,
• chew toys,
• treats, dog cookies, etc.,
• leash and collar,
• grooming brush, preferably pin brush with approximately 1 1/2 pins without rubber tips,
• baby gates, as required,
• fenced yard or dog run,
• dog house or comparable shelter.

Now think about your day with your new puppy and how it will be. Sit down with your other family members and discuss the puppy's routine and training, and their involvement. Try to plan every part of the puppy's day and how you will respond. If everyone leaves for work or school in the morning, how does the puppy fit into that busy time? Who is in charge of making sure puppy is adequately exercised before being put back into his crate? Are there areas of the house that are "off limits" and is everyone aware of this? When does puppy spend time out of his crate? When does puppy go outside? When is walk time? Puppies will misbehave at times. How will everyone react to this and what is the planned reaction? Do not give your puppy "time to adjust", but put your rules and boundaries in place right from the very beginning. A puppy gains confidence in knowing what the rules and limitations are. Allowing certain behavior in the first few days and then changing them only adds confusion and stress. Realize that puppies do have accidents and do not always go in the direction you have planned. Allow yourself time in your busy schedule to deal comfortably with his training. Remember that, although life with a new dog can be time consuming, it is over rather quickly. Patience and planning in this formative stage will give you a happy, loving companion that fits perfectly into your life.

FEEDING
Be prepared with the same food your puppy is currently eating before you take him/her home.  Changing food at this somewhat stressful time may well cause diarrhea and make it impossible for the puppy to start off in its housetraining easily.  There is no need to add water or anything else to the food.  This will only create a finicky eater and defeat the teeth cleaning benefits of dry food.

As your puppy grows, you must increase the amount of food fed each day. At three months, you may start to feed the puppy twice each day and, after six months, once a day. Many people prefer to continue the twice daily feedings. It is very important that your puppy is fed the correct amount of food, providing a well balanced diet. Do not feed your puppy until he is full (any Malamute will eat forever) and do not follow the feeding guidelines on the food packaging. The Alaskan Malamute was bred to be an easily maintained dog with minimum food requirements for maximum work expenditure.  Keep your puppy fairly lean so that placing your hand on his back will easily feel his spine and just lightly feel the tips of the hip bones on either side of the lower spine. The hip bones above the rear legs should be adequately covered and less prominent than the spine. The maximum requirement for a ten month puppy (after which time the amount of food starts to decrease) would be four to five cups per day (depending on individual metabolism), with the boys requiring slightly more food on average than the girls.  An average adult male will maintain good weight on three cups per day, and an adult female on two cups per day.

DO NOT SUPPLEMENT THE DIET WITH VITAMINS.  Many people seem to think that a rapidly growing puppy needs to have supplemental vitamins and minerals in order to build strong bone. Modern name-brand commercial dog rations, formulated for puppy growth and development, supply all of the needed vitamins and minerals to sustain normal growth, provided the puppy or young dog eats it well. Vitamins and minerals in excess of those required will not add more bone and substance to the growing animal.  This is a matter of genetics, not feeding, and overfeeding will not make a bigger dog but rather a fat dog.  When calcium, phosphorous and Vitamin D are given to a dog beyond his capacity to use them normally, his growth and development can be adversely affected.  Do not supplement with calcium.

DO NOT FEED CHEAP DOG FOOD.  You will not save any money and you may seriously aversely affect your puppy's development.  Feeding poor quality food will only mean that you have to feed more food in order to maintain the dog's weight, and yet the larger quantity food may still not provide adequate nutrition for healthy growth.  You merely succeed in overworking the dog's system, running a greater risk of bloat and other health problems, and increase the amount of waste you need to clean up from the yard.  A good quality food is well worth the expense.

GROOMING
Brush you puppy regularly. Early association with regular grooming and bathing will make it easy to handle a full grown Malamute. If you teach your puppy to lie quietly on his side to be groomed, the process is much less stressful for both of you and your Vet will thank you as this makes his job easier too. If you have plans to show your dog, teach the command to stand and stay along with the usual sit and down commands. Handling your dog all over regularly will prepare him for the judge's examination. Trim the nails routinely.  This will encourage compact growth of the feet, and will also accustom the dog to handling of his feet at an early age.

TRAINING
Alaskan Malamutes have friendly, playful dispositions, but they are a powerful and headstrong breed. You must train your puppy at a very early age to listen to you and obey. That cute, fluffy puppy will grow up to be a monster if not trained. Firmness is essential, NOT BRUTE FORCE.

Teach your puppy to walk with you on a leash by following a treat or toy, not by pulling him along. Never let him pull.  A couple of good tugs on the leash of an eight week old puppy will cure him from pulling, but this will take much longer and may prove to be impossible on an older dog that has already learned that it can pull. Teach your puppy to sit, lie down and stand, and to come when he is called. Give lots of praise and reward him with treats, and you will find your puppy obeying you willingly and happily. A puppy can easily learn these simple commands by two months of age.

Puppy class and adolescent training classes are highly recommended for an Alaskan Malamute puppy. They will teach your puppy proper socialization with both other dogs and people, and are essential for the development of a well rounded adult dog.

HOUSING
Although the Alaskan Malamute was bred to live outdoors, he will easily adapt to indoor living. Remember that the Malamute requires human companionship and must have regular interaction with the people living inside. He must also have a fenced area in which to exercise and relieve himself, as they are very curious and not boundary conscious. Fresh water and protective housing must be available at all times in the outdoor exercise area.

Please remember, never chain a Malamute. Chaining will usually result in a mean-tempered animal. NEVER ALLOW A MALAMUTE, OR ANY DOG, TO RUN LOOSE. Off leash parks, although ideal socialization for puppies, are usually not a safe excercise for a full grown malamute.

HOUSE TRAINING/CRATE TRAINING
When your puppy awakens, immediately take him outside. When your puppy has finished a meal, take him outside. Note that you must TAKE him outside, not just push him out the door. You must be with the puppy so that you can praise him profusely when he does relieve himself outside. If you catch him in the middle of relieving himself inside, first tell him "no", say "outside" and rush him out the door where he should have been to start with. Once he is outside, tell him he's a "good dog".  This is called an "instructive reprimand", since you have not only told the dog that he was wrong, but given him the solution to what is wanted from him. DO NOT PUNISH THE DOG FOR A MISTAKE THAT WAS MADE WHEN YOU WERE NOT AROUND. He will not remember his mistake, and will only be confused and alienated because of this sudden "attack" by his trusted master. If you let your puppy know what a good dog he is when he goes outside, you will be surprised at how quickly he will learn.

Very young puppies urinate almost every hour or hour-and-a-half (when awake), and will defecate after every feeding. A puppy can be trusted in a crate for one hour longer than its age in months, i.e. three hours for a two month puppy, four hours for a three month puppy, etc. If you leave him in his crate for periods longer than he is physically capable of controlling himself, you will in effect teach him to soil his crate. This however does not include overnight; a six week old puppy will remain overnight in his crate without soiling.

The crate must be large enough for the dog to stand up, sit or stretch out comfortably. If the crate is much larger than a very young puppy, use boards or an empty milk crate to close off part of the crate.  If the crate is too big, small puppies are capable of relieving themselves in one corner while keeping the other corner clean and dry for sleeping.  With a young puppy, you are best to leave the crate floor bare without any newspapers or blankets.  Any type of covering, especially newspaper, will encourage the puppy to pee on that type of surface, a behavior which could easily transfer to throw rugs or newspapers outside of the crate when he is loose in the house.

Place the crate in a room where the dog will be content. A basement or laundry room is too isolated. Kitchens or bedrooms work best. The dog should not be banished from human contact. Dogs are pack animals and require company.  A crate is preferred to a closed room because it encourages the dog to relax and sleep when he is alone, while a closed room allows the dog to remain active.  Teach the final result is always preferable to a temporary solution, which only requires modification and retraining later on.

Before placing the dog in the crate, ensure that he has received enough exercise and attention. Some dogs may be content with a five minute walk, but many dogs need 15 to 30 minutes of vigorous exercise.   Leave the dog's chew toys in the crate at all times. Give him his food and treats inside the crate so that the dog will learn to enter the crate on his own. Water is not necessary, as the dog should never be enclosed in the crate for longer than he can be deprived of water. Water will only make the puppy uncomfortable and make it more difficult for him to remain clean and dry until the next "pee break".  Reward him whenever he goes in the crate. The crate must be an enjoyable place and never used for correction or punishment. However, it can be used as a "chill out" space if the puppy is overly excited.  The crate is, essentially, the dog's private space where he remains quiet and relaxed.

Begin crate training a pup as soon as you get him home. Place the dog in the crate with a few toys or treats, close the door and leave the room. Stay within hearing range. If the dog is quiet for about five minutes, return, reward the dog and let him out. If he will not stay quiet, you should use some form of remote punishment because you must not go to the dog. Try leaving an intercom or walkie-talkie by the dog. A loud horn or a can of marbles or coins will also work. At the first sign of crying or anxiety, make a loud noise and yell "quit". Sometimes spraying water at the dog works better, or briskly walking up to the crate and banging on it loudly, then quickly retreating will make your approach undesirable. N.B. Banging on the crate is recommended for Alaskan Malamutes, but not necessarily for other breeds that are less "people friendly". When the dog is quiet, let him out and praise him.

Repeat the procedure, gradually increasing the amount of time that the dog is left alone. By the end of the first day, you should be able to confine your pup for several hours and the entire night. The time in the crate should never exceed a puppy's limit, with the exception of overnight.

If you must leave the pup alone for longer than the above guidelines, you will have to combine the crate and a paper area for elimination. Place the crate in a room with the door of the crate open, leave his toys in the crate, and place water and newspapers near the crate.

EXERCISE
Do not encourage your puppy to over exercise. Natural free running exercise is sufficient and necessary. It is not recommended to let a young growing puppy run with a larger and stronger dog unattended for the first couple of months. Problems may occur if the larger dog jumps on the puppy and your puppy is injured. Jogging, high jumping and weight pulling of heavy items are not recommended until your dog has reached at least one year of age.

SHOTS
Request a health certificate from a veterinarian for your puppy. He should have received his first set of shots, and been given deworming medication. Your puppy should have additional shots at about twelve weeks, and will receive his final shots, including rabies, around five months of age. (Please discuss this with your veterinarian - vaccination protocols are constantly changing). An annual visit to the vet is necessary for the lifetime of the dog. Don't forget to discuss heartworm medication with your veterinarian, usually in the month of May.

SOCIALIZATION
Puppies must be taken outside their home environment regularly, AFTER THEY HAVE RECEIVED A SECOND SET OF SHOTS, in order to accustom them to other people and animals, along with noise, traffic and unfamiliar smells and surfaces. A puppy which has not received this socialization will be either overly excitable or nervous and scared. Outside a busy mall is a good place to familiarize your dog to crowds of people, and a local dog show or farm fair will enable you to bring your dog in close contact with many different dogs and/or farm animals. Let your puppy play with other puppies as much as possible before he grows those big teeth and muscles. Puppy classes are strongly recommended. Patting or soothing your puppy will only confirm any fears he might have. It is best to ignore brief sessions of fear and relay your comfort by talking in a cheerful voice and walking with firm, confident steps. Any growling from a puppy toward other dogs must be quickly and strongly reprimanded, then immediately return to a happy, confident manner and praise your puppy for not growling.

I repeatedly have people approach me and compliment me on my dog's calm, obedient attitude in the middle of noise and crowds, especially at fyball tournaments or dog shows.  They comment that their dog is too excitable to bring to a place like that.  What they don't understand is that the way to make their dog less excitable is to bring them to places like that.  When a dog is placed in an unfamiliar situation, they are either too excited to listed or too frightened to listen.  Either way, you cannot control them.  But the more new experiences and places you expose your dog to, the more the abnormal becomes the norm and the dog faces new situations with composure and confidence.  They can then give you the same attention and subservience that they would give you at home.  This is the goal of socialization - a dog that is mannerly in any situation.

THE CAR
If you plan to take your dog along with you in the car regularly, acquaint the puppy with the car at an early age. As soon as you can after taking your puppy home, start taking him for daily drives to the local park, or just down the street. It is much easier to accustom a six/eight week old puppy to new experiences than an older dog. Take him for a short, pleasant walk, play tag, or let him play with his favorite toy. Then put him back in the car and take him home. Remember, if the only place you ever take your dog is to the vet or to some strange place after a long drive, he will remember the car as a scary, unpleasant thing. Have some means of restraint ready for your dog's first car rides. A seat belt harness or crate is strongly recommended. A loose dog tossed around in a vehicle in an accident has little chance of survival, and early restraint teaches the dog from the beginning to lie quietly and patiently in the vehicle.

TEETHING
Puppies will lose their baby teeth and replace them with adult teeth between four and eight months of age. During this time, they must be provided with safe toys to chew on. Nylon bones are the safest and most economical. If you don't provide an acceptable item to chew on, the puppy will find something on his own, perhaps your shoes or your favorite throw rug. If the puppy chews on something unacceptable, pull him away, tell him "no", place his chew toy in front of him and praise him. You will soon have him searching for his toys when he feels like chewing. Do not leave a puppy unsupervised in the house during this time. Once he has sampled the delights of a baseboard, it is very difficult to persuade him that he must not chew it again. Bleeding gums, slight diarrhea and perhaps a slight rise in temperature are all normal during this time.

I hope you have noticed that there is a common factor in all of the training tips listed here and that is praise. Never reprimand your dog for bad behavior without praising him for good behavior as soon as the inappropriate behavior is stopped. This gives the dog instruction as to what you want him to do, not just what you don't want him to do. Suppose I gave you a piece of paper and a pencil, and no further instruction. You would most likely pick up the pencil and start to write or scribble. But I want you to write the word "dog", so every time you make a mark on the paper that is not that word, I tap your hand and say, "no." You still don't know what word I want so you continue to write other words and I continue to reprimand you. By this time, you are probably so frustrated that you just get angry and don't want anything to do with me any more. Well, people do this to dogs all the time.

Dogs have to chew, but when they chew on the chair rung and their owner just tells them "no", they still don't know where they can chew. Dogs have to relieve themselves, but if we don't tell them where we want them to perform this function, they are forced to make that decision themselves. Giving negatives without praise only serves to frustrate and confuse your dog, and could easily build neuroticism or make them feel that they are happier outside and out of your control. Whenever people tell me that their dogs prefer to be outside, I suspect this is the reason. Praise is outdoubtedly the most important component of all dog training.

It is highly recommended that you purchase books on puppy training and canine health. Puppy training classes are also recommended. Only positive reinforcement methods should be used on an Alaskan Malamute, and group training sessions are much preferred to individual classes because the puppy will benefit from the interaction with the other dogs. Remember, the Malamute requires a firm guidance with LOTS OF LOVE!