Home / Questions / Alaskan Malamute
Yes, gloriously. Malamutes talk in expressive woo woos and sing in chorus given half a chance, and it is a defining pleasure of the breed for owners who choose it knowingly. The practical corollary is that neighbours should be consulted in advance, because the concerts are not optional and cannot be trained away.
Barking scores 4 out of 5, so the Alaskan Malamute has a voice and uses it: announcements, comments and the occasional full report on the street outside. They talk constantly in woos and howls, dig with professional commitment and regard fences as puzzles. Puppies are sturdy, cheerful bears; adults are powerful, affectionate companions with a puppyish humour that never quite leaves. This is a dog that needs a job, a team and a cold wind, and repays all three with total devotion.
Record the dog when you are out, once, before assuming anything.
The Alaskan Malamute's trainability rating of 3 out of 5 means the basics land without drama, and the dog enjoys the training games themselves. With strangers the breed reads: Friendly with strangers, which colours how it greets the world at the door.
By the numbers: a large dog standing 23 to 26 inches, weighing 75 to 95 lb, living 10 to 14 years, with insurance typically $42 to $76 a month. The detail on this page hangs off those figures.
The Alaskan Malamute's growth stages run 8 weeks at about 9 to 11 lb, 9 months at about 51 to 65 lb, 18 months at about 71 to 90 lb, ending at the adult range of 75 to 95 lb and 23 to 26 inches tall. Standard colors: grey, sable, black, or red, always with white, as well as all white and brown. The breed belongs to the Working group and its home ground is Alaska.
Senior age arrives at about 7 years in a large breed, and the whole arc deserves planning. Households should choose with that dog, not an imagined one, in mind, and the Alaskan Malamute profile shows the real animal in full. Start from the Alaskan Malamute profile if you are still deciding: it gathers every figure quoted here into one place.
Neighbours are the practical frame for every noise question: a dog can be entirely normal for its breed and still be the wrong dog for a thin walled flat, which is a housing decision rather than a training failure.
The apartment rating is Not ideal, and barking at 4/5 is part of that judgement. Thin walls and a vocal Alaskan Malamute are a landlord conversation waiting to happen, so meet adults of the breed and hear them in a home before signing anything. The breed's barking score here is 4/5, which is the honest starting point for any training plan.
Doorbell sounds, dogs and excited voices on screen are real triggers to an Alaskan Malamute. Muting adverts is a joke owners make that happens to work; training a settle on a mat during programmes is the durable version. If the noise suddenly changes in an older dog, pain and hearing loss belong on the list of suspects, not just behaviour.
The volume can be managed even when the instinct stays: teach a quiet cue early, reward silence and never shout back, which the dog reads as joining in. Barking scores 4/5 for the Alaskan Malamute, so training starts from a known baseline rather than a surprise.
How long an Alaskan Malamute really lives, stage by stage, with the screening and habits that move the odds.
The Alaskan Malamute is a large Working breed with energy at 5/5; plan on 90 to 120 minutes of activity a day to keep that engine honestly spent.
Better with older children, which is how this breed's record honestly reads.
Last updated: November 6, 2026