The Alaskan Malamute Samoyed mix is a super rare, medium-sized teddy bear that is full of energy and excitement for life.
Make no mistake, they require hours of exercise each day and attention to detail with their grooming. They’re more than worth the effort, though, and this guide will break down everything there is to know about them.
Let’s get straight into it.
Contents
Quick Overview Of The Malamute Samoyed Mix
Before we jump into the main details, here’s a quick overview of the Malamute Samoyed mix:
- Average Lifespan: 10 to 14 years
- Average Height: 20 to 24 inches
- Average Weight: 40 to 75 lbs
- Coat appearance: Long, double-coated, thick, white markings
- Grooming Frequency: Very High
- Typical Temperament: Very Friendly, active, stubborn
- Daily Food Consumption: Medium
- New Owner Friendly: Can be suitable but needs an active home and lots of attention to grooming
- Suitable to live with children? Great with children but requires supervision due to high energy
- Suitable to live with other dogs? Good with other dogs of similar size; socialization required with smaller dogs
- Suitable to live with cats? Problematic due to high prey drive
Appearance
Malamute Samoyed mixes have an incredibly friendly and fluffy appearance, with a thick double coat that comes in a wide range of colors.
As both parents are quite similar in appearance due to their Spitz background, the mix will always have several Spitz features aside from the thick coat, like a curly, fluffy tail and erect, alert ears.
The main difference is the overall size; Malamute Samoyed mixes are medium-sized dogs taller and heavier than a Samoyed but smaller than an average Mal.
I’ve tried to include as many examples of this mix as possible in this article so you can get a better idea of what to expect; the Malamute Samoyed mix above clearly takes after the Malamute in color, for example, but this is not the same for all of them.
Alaskan Malamute Appearance & Background
Alaskan Malamutes are one of the largest Spitz breeds, and their appearance shows it.
They have many characteristics of Spitz-type dogs, such as pointed ears, fluffy double coats, and a fluffy curled tail.
Malamutes have a super friendly expression, but they can be pretty intimidating to those unfamiliar with the breed. You’ll usually find Malamutes in a black-and-white coat, but there are a lot of other possible colors as well.
Malamutes have an extensive history as sledding dogs, specifically used to pull heavy loads.
Samoyed Appearance & Background
Samoyeds are known for their giant teddy bear appearance, with a long, thick double coat that is always white, biscuit, or cream.
They have a very friendly expression and personality to match; they love to spend time with people and really do feed off your energy.
Like the Malamute, Samoyeds have an extensive history and originated from the Samoyede people who migrated from Asia to Siberia a thousand years ago.
Samoyeds were used primarily for sledding but also for hunting and as watchdogs. They’re very powerful dogs despite their appearance and form very close bonds with their owners.
If you want to learn more about the differences between the parent breeds of this mix, check out our comparison article here.
Average Size
Malamute Samoyed mixes are medium-sized dogs that reach 40 to 75 lbs in weight and 20 to 24 inches in height.
Remember that their long, thick coats will make them appear larger than they are.
Coat Appearance
Malamute Samoyed mixes always have a thick, long double coat.
A double coat means that the fur is split into two layers.
The first layer is a dense wooly undercoat that provides insulation in both cold and hot weather, and the second is a longer guard later, which protects the coat and skin below from debris and moisture.
In terms of colors, there are many possibilities depending on the Malamute parent, but white or cream markings are very common.
Grooming Guide
Malamute Samoyed mixes require daily grooming for a couple of minutes with a grooming comb to maintain their coats.
They’ll also need a more intense grooming session once or twice per week to target both layers of the double coat, and the details for that can be found below:
- The grooming process starts with a slicker brush, which is designed to target the undercoat and remove loose hairs.
- After that, use a dematter comb, gently removing stubborn tangles with a serrated edge.
- A gentle undercoat rake is then used to target the undercoat further and get rid of any remaining loose hairs.
- Lastly, a general grooming comb removes any loose hair or matted areas.
Malamute Samoyed mixes will also blow their coat twice per year, which is a process where they shed much of their undercoat to prepare for the warmer or colder months; this typically happens in the Fall and Spring.
During the coat-blowing season, you may need to fully groom their coat daily.
Bathing
Despite their intense grooming needs, Malamute Samoyed mixes benefit from less frequent bathing than you would expect and only need to be bathed a few times per year when necessary.
This is because of two main things.
Firstly, Malamutes and Samoyeds both self-groom, which is a characteristic seen amongst many Spitz-type dogs. Secondly, their double coat is designed to keep itself clean and doesn’t contain much oil, so frequent bathing can quickly dry out the skin and coat and cause damage.
Temperament
With any dog, temperament is one of the most important things to consider.
Luckily for us, Malamutes and Samoyeds have very similar personalities due to their background, so it’s pretty easy to predict what the temperament of the mix will be like.
Friendly, Sociable, And Loyal
Alaskan Malamutes and Samoyeds have very similar temperaments; they’re both very friendly and love to meet new people.
They’ll need socializing from an early age to learn how to control their excitement around other people, but that’s not too much of an issue compared to other breeds that can be very wary of strangers.
Malmautes Samoyed mixes are also very loyal and build a strong bond with their owners.
Highly Active
Both the Malamute and Samoyed require 2 hours of exercise per day, which means that the Malamute Samoyed mix is a highly active dog that is only suited for people with a very active life.
They will also benefit significantly if they can pull something, ideally daily, to mimic sledding.
This does also mean they’ll happily pull you around on the leash if you let them.
Prone To Stubbornness
Another shared trait from the parents is stubbornness.
Spitz-type dogs are known for being stubborn, and this is something that you’ll learn very quickly with these types of dogs.
Stubbornness in dogs means that they will often refuse to listen to you or follow your commands. Expect obedience training to be a challenge with the Malamute Samoyed mix, and it’s recommended to always keep them on a leash due to the low chance of them listening to your recall (as well as their prey drive, but more on this later).
High Prey Drive
Both parent breeds have a very high prey drive, which means they’re prone to chasing after small animals instinctually.
This means that it can be challenging to keep the Malamute Samoyed mix with cats or other small animals if they aren’t socialized together from a young age.
Prone To Separation Anxiety
Due to the strong bond that Malamute Samoyed mixes form with their owners, they do struggle with separation anxiety.
This is a condition where a dog may develop destructive behaviors and become stressed when they’ve been left alone for long periods. It’s even more likely if they haven’t been exercised before being left alone.
There are steps you can take to make this less of an issue, but this mix is definitely suited to a home where they will have lots of interaction.
Requires Lots Of Socialization
Socialization is crucial for any dog, and it can be especially useful for the Malamute Samoyed mix to teach them to contain their excitement around other people.
This mix is prone to getting overexcited when they meet strangers, and a common outlet for this is jumping up at people, which we obviously don’t want to happen.
By socializing them from a young age, they’ll not only build confidence but also learn how to act around other people as well.
Is The Malamute Samoyed Mix A Good Family Dog?
Malamute Samoyed mixes are great family dogs for a number of reasons.
They’re super friendly, great with children, and love to exercise and meet new people as well. They’ll form a close bond with the family and are very rewarding to own.
They require a lot of effort, though, especially with grooming and their strict exercise needs.
How Much Do They Cost?
The average prices of each parent breed can be found below:
- Alaskan Malamutes cost between $1,500 and $3,000 on average
- Samoyeds cost anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 on average.
It isn’t very common for people to breed for this mix specifically, though, so you’re much more likely to find them in rescues or animal shelters.
In Summary
Malamute Samoyed mixes are incredible dogs, but you need to know how much work they are as well.
If their needs are unmet, they can become destructive and unhappy quickly, which will be detrimental for you and them.
If you’re interested in learning about more Alaskan Malamute mixes, you can check out some of our recent articles below:
