My Malamutes Part 1: Miss Maya [photo heavy]

Hello all *waves*

So like any proud parent, having just recently joined I couldn't resist the opportunty to show off the 2 dominant forces - so to speak - in my life, the first of which would be Maya, our older lady - so brace yourself, this is barely a third of all the pictures I've taken!!

(hers would be the sleepy face on the right)


So, to give you a bit of background, we (my other half and I) had been thinking about getting another dog for a while. We were really enjoying working our boy Stan in harness, which led us to think that getting another dog - more than likely a moot - to work with him would be on the agenda. A girl was always going to be the first choice so as to avoid same-sex dominance issues, not to mention some female focus that might have given us a good lead dog, but we had assumed this would happen by means of a puppy in at least a years time (when Stan would be less of a stroppy teenager and a better example to an easily influenced young mind). But then we found Maya while having a look through the UK Mal Rescue web site, and after speaking with Rescue and making the trip up to Wales to meet her, we decided it was right to bring her into the pack feeling an older, dominant lady to put him in his place would be perfect. And so, paperwork sorted, we brought her back down to Cornwall and thus began her new life with us:

First day belly rubs!


Not to say that the whole process was an overly easy one. As most will know, mals are a naturally dominant breed and extremely pack orientated meaning Stan and Maya's first priority wasn't so much getting to know each other in an amiable fashion as deciding who was top dog. The answer was obviously Maya - there was no question of that because Stan was still just a puppy really at less than a year old when they first met - and she is your archetypal mater-figure-alpha-female in every way.
But Stan was on his high horse the second he got over the excitement of saying hello to another dog, possessive of the house he had grown up in and his teenage hormones in full force, giving him the belief he was higher in hierarchy than the reality of another dog would allow.

Obligatory sulking picture (Maya on left) from their introduction to one another in our garage - the most neutral place we could find in the conveniently rainy British weather:


And some of her trademark singing even in the early days


In a normal situation they would have had one proper bust up in which Maya pinned him, and all would be clear. But fresh from rescue Maya was a little out of shape and Stan who knew he had a physical advantage and wouldn't give up easy. I know a lot of people don't like to talk about their dogs fighting, but lets be realistic here, our first two days they couldn't be in the same room for more than twenty minutes without a bit off good old fashioned fisticuffs. We were on dog duty 24/7 integrating these two, the result of which beyond general fatigue, stress and undue noisiness was quite a few open teeth and claw wounds. In fact Stan now has a manly eyebrow scar and Maya even ended up with this humiliating night time set up for a few days where she kept scratching a cut on her cheek:



But the hard work payed off! Within a week we were able to walk them on a twin lead:

Maya on the left...


Which soon progressed into garden play time as opposed to scrap time!

Maya Solo


Midday - Too hot for shennanigans...:
(Maya on right, Stan on left)


(and swapped round)


Sun going down - time to start posing (or at least on Stans part)


Stan: "Has she got a ball?"


"I bet I can challenge her for that ball..."




Maya proving Stan can't challenge her for the ball.


Stan: "I didn't want the ball anyway..."


And it has been even better getting to see her come out of her shell and show us her personality in full!
She is generally more aloof and mature around strangers than Stan, outwardly very cuddly with a strong maternal streak; but we've found she's also cheeky as anything ("What? It's the plate's fault my foot is in it!") and a *very* vocal wee thing, who sings loudly to herself when bored and can open any door or cupboard with a handle as if she had opposable thumbs!

We also found she picked up harness work very quickly and pulls like an absolute tank. Being spayed slowed her progress down a bit and she still has some fittening up to do, but she's doing 3 miles at jogging pace a day now easily, and has toned up nicely.

Not to say sleeping and eating aren't still 2 top priorities, mind.





But give her a toy or a place to dig and despite her age she acts more like a puppy than Stan, and I couldn't imagine life without her!





And finally, the one photo we managed to get of her from before she went into rescue. I'm not sure how old she is here, but I'd guess somewhere around 1-2 years



Hope that wasn't too much for you all and that you enjoyed the pics. More of Stan to follow when I catch my breath, lol

Alanna
x

Oh Alanna she is lovely and quite the lady I like her a lot

Em x

Really enjoyed hearing their stories!
They are both stunning what more can i say ?!
Thanks for sharing

Thank you, both of you. Miss Maya and I really appreciate it

Fabulous dogs.. both of them. Mals are def my favs of the northern breeds.

She's lovely!! Glad she has her paws firmly under the table!

Beautiful xx

She is lovely, thanks for sharing Maya's story!

Thank you. Well I've certainly fallen in love with them enough to be considering a third! Addictive things, these mallies!!

Oh yes! My life wouldn't be the same without our chunky-bum lady to put the Stan in his place

Thank you for both taking the time to look, read and comment. Much appreciated

Great photo's