Northernmost

Hilary, Mtn Home’s Northernmost Hiking Hilary, WTD, and Wilder, Mtn Home’s NM A Touch of The Wild, WTD, had their eyes examined today and passed with clear/normal eyes! Congratulations to their breeders Sue and Roy Fuller!

Wilder and Hilary in April 2014.

I took half-day off from work today to spend some quality time with Tuisku. Since Tuisku cannot work in harness due to his foot injury (involving the extensor digitorum longus muscle in his rear foot) we try to compensate for that by spending some extra time with him doing other things instead. Today was a perfect day for hiking so Tuisku and I headed for the sea where we hiked along the coastal trail for a few hours between noon and dusk. The temperature was only a few degrees above freezing but Tuisku still had to go for a swim – it doesn’t matter if the water is ice-cold, swimming is compulsory unless the sea is covered by ice! We had a nice time together, training left and right commands along the invisible trail and sit-stays in front of the camera.

Our dog physio has recommended that we take Tuisku for walks in uneven terrain as it encourages the use of the affected muscles and also helps rebuild lost muscle mass. An untrained eye probably wouldn’t notice that Tuisku has an injury, but when you study his right rear foot more carefully, you can see that he doesn’t extend some of his toes fully. Nevertheless, Tuisku is still running around and the injury doesn’t seem to stop him from being a happy dog. And that’s the main thing.

In this picture you can see that his right foot isn’t in the same position as his left foot. He doesn’t limp when walking or running, he just doesn’t extend his toes properly.

We had wonderful weather today – Tuisku enjoyed the sunshine too.

I took plenty of pics as the light was so beautiful.

I even managed to get a photo of us together using the self-timer. But I couldn’t convince Tuisku to look into the camera and smile – maybe next time?

Hot chocolate and a cinnamon bun tastes good when you’re out hiking.

♥ ♥ ♥

Tuisku got in a hurry when we came close to the beach…

Yay! Time for a swim!

Tuisku is definitely a Dog of the North, he shakes off icy water like a polar bear.

I think someone had a good time today!

Lyra had her pretty brown eyes examined yesterday with clear results! Congratulations to her breeders Nicola Singh and Stuart Winterton of Sledog Alaskan Malamutes & Greenland Dogs. We are lucky to have a certified ophthalmologist just 30 minutes away from home, which is quite a difference to when we lived in Lapland, and had to travel four hours to get to the nearest clinic. This was Lyra’s first exam but she sat on the table like a pro and the ophthalmologist got a good look into her eyes. I’m always surprised to see how well the dogs cope with having the lights turned off inside a small room while a stranger gazes into their eyes using a bright light. Maybe they are hypnotised into obedience?

We recently weighed and measured Lyra and she is 59 cm (23.2″) and weighs 32 kg (70.55 lb). That’s pretty much spot on what we guessed when she was a puppy 🙂

Need something to keep the kids busy during the summer holiday? The Alaskan Malamute Coloring Book available from the AMCA Health Committee contains fourteen hand-drawn pages depicting the daily life of a Malamute puppy. All proceeds from the sale of this book go to benefit health education and research on health issues in the Alaskan Malamute. What a great idea!!

You can buy this lovely book for USD $6.00 or buy two for $11.00 + shipping. Shipping fees outside the U.S.A. to be calculated and added onto purchase. Please contact Sandi Shrager at AMCAhealth@gmail.com to arrange an international purchase.

Payment can be made via PayPal to: AMCAhealth@gmail.com (please select option to “pay money to family and friends”, and pay transaction fees), or, via payment by check payable to AMCA (Alaskan Malamute Club of America) sent to: Mary Jane Holabach, 2055 Statesman Drive, Woodland, WA 98674, U.S.A.

GREAT NEWS! Tuisku and Hilary both passed their EYE EXAMS today! It’s always a big relief afterwards. Now we’re off to celebrate the results with a muddy late night run in the rain…whatever makes them happy! 😉

Keikewabic’s Tundra Tuisku, “Tuisku”, in March 2013.

Mtn Home’s Northernmost Hiking Hilary, “Hilary”.

Here’s an opportunity to learn what every dog owner and breeder should know about canine reproduction, anatomy and reproductive physiology, including the pros and cons of having your dog spayed or castrated. On May 3rd, 2013, the University of Minnesota is starting up a 6-week long online course called Canine Theriogenology for Dog Enthusiasts through Coursera for anyone who is interested. You can sign up from any country and it’s completely free!

The Dog Breeder’s Guide to Successful Breeding and Health Management by Margaret V. Root (2005) is available from Amazon and Dogwise.

Canine Reproduction: The Breeder’s Guide by Phyllis A. Holst (1985). A 3rd edition of this book (2011) is available from Amazon and Alpine Publications.

The course is led by Dr. Margaret V. Root, DVM, PhD, Dact, a licensed theriogenologist (animal reproductive specialist) and Vice-chair of the department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the University of Minnesota.

Much of the material for the course will be taken from her book The Dog Breeder’s Guide to Successful Breeding and Health Management (ISBN:1-4160-3139-1). It’s also recommended that students look up Canine Reproduction: The Breeder’s Guide by Phyllis Holt (ISBN 978-1-57779-114-0), a book that is often referred to as the “dog breeder’s bible”.

According to Coursera you do not need to do anything special to prepare for the course but participants should have a basic grasp of biology and general familiarity with dog anatomy and normal dog behavior. For a more detailed presentation of the course, visit Coursera’s website.

About Coursera

Coursera (/kɔrsˈɛrə/) is an educational technology company that works with universities to make some of their courses available online, and offers courses in engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, and other areas. In April 2013, Coursera co-founders Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller were named 2 of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.

We received some more test results this week: our boys Nordiclight’s Thunder and Keikewabic’s Tundra Tuisku have both been tested for polyneuropathy with the result homozygous normal. You can learn more about this hereditary disease by reading the article Perspectives on Polyneuropathy published by the AMCA. If you wish to test your Malamute we recommend that you visit the website www.ampoly.info or contact your breed club for more information.

Thunder & Tuisku

Two young Canadian boys together in front of the sled in 2006. Thunder was 19 months old and Tuisku 7 months old. They both did really well during their first sledding season.

We send out a big congratulations to breeder Toni Bøgemose Chrillesen of Unavoq Kennels in Denmark, as all puppies in the Extreme North litter between Keikewabic’s Tundra Tuisku, WTD, WPD and DKCH Unavoq’s Dakotah Uniq, born in September 2010, have now been through their health exams with excellent results. All seven pups have A hips, free elbows and clear eyes. Big congratulations also to Bettina and Anders Lübbert who co-own the dam and did an excellent job of raising this litter. Tuisku is very proud of his kids 🙂

THYROID TESTING

We did a routine thyroid test on Tuisku during September and as expected the result was thyroid normal and negative for TgAA. Since Tuisku is already seven years of age, and is negative for TgAA (Thyroglobulin Autoantibodies), the risk of him developing this disease at a later stage in life is quite small. For this test we used the laboratory at the University Animal Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden (SLU). If you live in Sweden and wish to test your dog, you can download This form and bring it to your vet when you take the blood sample. Remember to make the appointment in the beginning of the week, to make sure the sample doesn’t get stuck in the mail over the weekend. We recommend using the following alternative on the form: Tyreoidea: Fritt-T4+Tot-T4+TSH+TgAA (hund).

It’s always great to receive good news about health!

While most Malamutes prefer to live either outdoors in kennel facilities, or indoors as house pets, some dogs have individual needs that must be considered when arranging their housing. Our 7-year-old girl Leia is allergic to house dust mites which means that she can’t spend a lot of time indoors with us without developing an itch and sometimes also hot spots. However, the soft coat she developed after being spayed is not ideal for living permanently outdoors during wet weather and therefore we have come up with an alternative solution; Leia and her buddy Thunder sleep inside our barn, in a clean and dry environment that is free from the house dust mites that thrive in the indoor environment provided by homes, specifically in bedding, carpets and fabrics.

Leia stepping out on a beautiful day in June.

We have built dog houses in the barn to keep them warm in winter and from their indoor quarters they have a doggy door to their large outdoor enclosure and can go in and out as they please. Through this set-up we have managed to almost eliminate Leia’s skin problems. She hasn’t had a hot spot in many months and both Leia and Thunder seem to love their comfy accommodation at the “Malamute Inn”.

A sleepy Thunder early in the morning.

There exist different types of mites, besides the house dust mite there are also different types of “storage mites” that live on poorly stored foods in cupboards, on kitchen floors and are often associated with barns, hay and stored grains. Luckily, Leia is only allergic to the house dust mite, not the storage mite, so for her, living in the barn is the ideal solution. In dogs, atopic dermatitis and eczema are quite often caused by an allergy to mites. You can read more about this problem on these pages:

House Dust Mites and Dogs

Veterinary News about House Dust Mites

Atopic Dermatitis in the Dog

Dr Babette Baddaky – Swedish specialist in canine dermatology