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We would like to thank you
for your interest in our kennel. We hope to be able to make you enjoy,
would it be only for a moment, our passion, which became our way of life
and this, since the beginning of the years 1990.
The orientation of our kennel
is mainly focussed on the sledding side. We deeply believe that the
Malamute is, before all, a working dog that really fulfils itself in the
conditions it was built for.
Our breeding philosophy aims
especially toward a step back to bring back old types of dogs that are
now almost disappeared. In fact, during the last decades, the Malamute
lost, in good part, the working abilities that it must possess. This is
the reason why our breeding program is intensive and that we do several
litters yearly to keep many puppies for ourselves. We study their
conformation and we test them at work, having the goal to keep only the
best ones for our breeding program. We believe that it is impossible to
really progress with the lines currently existing that are too focussed
on show. This means that a lot of selections have to be done to keep the
best dogs for our kennel. This is the only way to improve our line,
because a kennel must be in a constant evolution. We are the kind of
people that give us goals and work strong to achieve them. Every breeder
has a different vision of what must be the Malamute, but we should never
forget his first function.
For us, the only way to test
the results of our work and to study our dogs is to do some sledding
excursions of a few days or a longer expedition in an isolated area, all
in a full autonomy. This is the only way to judge our forces and
weaknesses and to orient our futures breeding in this way.
In the past, we worked to
remove some mass on the dogs. For example, to reduce the bone that gives
useless weight and put too much pressure on the joints. This brings a
higher risk of injuries. This weight decrease allows having more
resistant dogs that recover more quickly. As you can see, we do not like
too heavy dogs. About the weight, our dogs are generally very close to
the standard or a little lighter all this while preserving very good
power and endurance.
We also worked to reduce a
little coat density to avoid overheating at work. As well, we work to
improve many details that do the whole difference when the dogs are
working in intensive conditions.
There are a lot of important
qualities that a dog have to possess to perform well in his work, but
the main qualities that we are looking for are these: good front and
rear; good length of legs all in having a proportioned structure to
avoid the pacers; good front and rear angulation; good pads; excellent
temperament and attitude; excellent eater and drinker and possessing a
very good intelligence. Naturally we know that the perfect dog will
never exist…
It is always harder for us to
introduce new bloodline since very few breeders possess dogs that can
help us to progress in the type and in the conformation we want; it is
why we look more and more in Europe.
The next years will be
devoted to always improve our line and to set up a type according to our
"own standard", that is closer to the breed standard than of
the typical "fashion" dog who is a lot bigger and also more
popular. Why be similar when we can be different!!!
Naturally, we always do the
health certifications on our breeding stock for hips/elbows at the OFA
and at the CERF for the eyes. We only use dogs with excellent
temperament and tested on the sled. In addition, we now do the DNA test
for the long coat gene on our dogs, for a working dog, this is an
unacceptable fault and we don't want to produce it. We were really happy
to learn that most of our dogs were non-carriers.
For the people that are
looking for a Malamute, an advice we could give yourself is that it is
very important to check that the sire and the dam of your future puppy
have the health certifications at the OFA and at the CERF. Also, always
ask to see these certifications. That does not assure you of a perfect
dog but the most important is to have a healthy dog. By experience, if a
breeder tells you that it does not need to do these certifications
because it has no health problem in his line, or if it says that several
certifications were done in the past but that none of the parents are
certified, seriously think about looking for another breeder!!! A
breeder that has ethics and who likes his breed will certify its
breeding stocks.
For us, the temperament is
also a very important thing. All our dogs have an exceptional
temperament, with people or with other dogs of the same sex or not. You
will be able to see several pictures in our photo album section and even
some short videos of all our dogs playing together.
The Malamute is an active dog
who needs a minimum of physical activity every day; this is the reason
why we are extremely selective when we choose the future families for
our puppies. We select people that like to be outdoor and who do a lot
of physical activities. The people that want a companion to play ball at
home with the children and to listen at television with them do not
correspond to the needs of our dogs, which need a lot more. Naturally,
the Malamute is a very versatile dog and maybe very happy as a pet with
active people who practice a lot of outdoor activities. Several of
our clients do sledding, kicksled, skijoring, agility, obedience, back packing and also Rally Obedience
with their Malamute.
Our first goal is that our
dogs be happy in their new family, the people who are interested in our
dogs always have to answer many questions and correspond to the need of
our dogs. We always have to approve the futures owners of our dogs
before all. To do so, with each request of information about our puppies,
please tell us about you, your family, your work, your installations,
your activities. Then we will be able to talk longer.
We hope that you will have a
good time on our website in our dog's company. Good visit!!
Nathalie & Pierre



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