Alaskan Malamute working sheep in the pen, 2009

Our female Alaskan Malamute is working some sheep in the pen for the first time in two years. She is helping us break them in, but is a bit "rusty". The lambs are used to dogs, but one of the first times worked by any dog, toghether with their moms.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Alaskan
• Malamute
• herding
• breaking
• sheep
• lambs
• rams
• ewes
• sheepdog
• sleddog
• sled
• working
• dog
• vallhund
• vallning
• fårvallning
• vallar
• får
• lamm
• fålla
• slädhund
• draghund
• polarhund
• hund
• perro
• de
• tiro
• trineo
• pastor
• pastoreo
• ovejas
• corderos
• nórdico
• polar
• Open
• Range

[stockdogs]

...so not very difficlt with this particular dog to answer your question. The fetch or the drive, keeping a group together, stopping fleeing animals, the "eye" are all "hunting traits", refined in the herding breed, but all breeds with intact "hunting instincs" still show differents traits. Well, this video is not showing her best work or when she is "polished", nor have I tried how far I can really get with our Nordic dogs. Some seem impossible and some show better suited traits than this one.

[MegoSamaLadySir]

wow very impressive!  how hard was it to train your malamute to do this?

[stockdogs]

Very kind of you. She was raised around sheep on the farm and due to that she has gotten desentisized to the stimuli. All our Malamutes are used to the sheep, they see our sheep as "ours", but the hunting instinct can easily be awakened in some situations. This dog however is very special and intelligent. She has even wet-nursed an early born lamb when she had 9 weeks old puppies. It was rejected by it's own mother, she saved her life, and after that the ewe accepted her once she was stronger.

[azzgunther]

I got a great laugh out of her response to being told to lay down. She has a hilarious personality.

[stockdogs]

Thank you! She is :-). She talks a lot, and have opinions about many things in life, but always in a very sweet mannor.

[Artacus74]

That is pretty amazing. I never thought a Malamute could act like a sheep herder breed of dog. Just goes to show how intelligent they are. Many people mistake their stubbornness for lack of intelligence. 

[stockdogs]

Thank you! Yes, we agree. She is super intelligent, like our oldest Aussie,almost human like intelligence. She have many not useful, but fun and silly skills, like she can growl on command :-).

[MegoSamaLadySir]

wow very impressive! how hard was it to train your malamute to do this?

[werewurst]

Our Malamute would eat the sheep and still wouldn't lay down. :D

[stockdogs]

Thank you! That was very nice of you. Yes, the best thing about YouTube is that it is an international channel to the world, and I want to share some of our fun moments, that's why I post it in English. Best regards.

[FuriousStrength]

Awesome video! Thanks for posting and doing English subs too. I love watching a working dog doing what they were meant to do and loving every minute of it. Primitive breeds can be so difficult but so rewarding. I love her not wanting to lay down, that's so Malamute. "Damn it I know what I'm doing! .....*sigh* okay, fine" *lays down*