My partner and I decided we wanted to look for a dog to replace Tank (our previous dog). We had been searching for a while and decided on an Alaskan Malamute. One of my colleagues has a beautiful female that he adores. So, I went on the Internet (go figure) to read up on the breed and where I could find a breeder in NC.

After a couple of weeks I realized there were not that many breeders in my area and the cost of the pups was going to be anywhere from $600 to $800. Needless to say, my enthusiasm waned. On Sunday , I went to my local newspaper to check out the pets for sale section. I immediately noticed an ad ” ALASKAN MALAMUTE — Pups, full blooded. Great price”.

A enthusiatic chatty man answered the phone. He told us that the pups were full blooded and only $200!!. We decided to check the pups out and ventured on a 45 minute ride into the hinterlands of Waxhaw.  We finally arrived at  a small house that looked like it once was a mobile home that someone decided to immobilize. We were greeted by a nice lady who led us to the fenced backyard where there was a beautiful female malamute. We were extremely excited, I couldn’t wait to tell my friend at work how we found an inexpensive full breed Malamute pup for $200. The man of the house greeted us and took us to the nest of puppies. They all had different coats some where mostly white and the others had the typical Malamute black and white mask. The man said all of the dark ones were sold, so we decided on a plump white female that was nicknamed “Twinkles” by the family.

I asked the man where the father was since I assumed the dad would be a good looking stud Malamute. He led us upstairs and we peeped through the dog print smudged sliding glass doors. Suddenly I heard a loud bark and an ugly large white dog appeared in front of the glass door. I kept hoping the ugly dog would get out of the way so I could see the father. When the dog did not move, the owner said “That’s the dad, he’s a full blood malamute and that’s how they are supposed to look”. The mother, according this man, was unusual and this malamutation was supposed to be the norm…

Our hearts sank and we didn’t say a word to each other. OK. I thought. I have done alot of research on these dogs and I have never seen a Malamute that looked like that. I kept thinking of the dog in the movie “The Fly” after it came through the machine. Later on we decided it was probably a cross between a Chow,Malamute and something unidentified. (the breeder said they used to raise Chows). Anyway, we asked if he had any AKC papers on the father but the man was evasive (go figure) and said he could not reach the original breeder

So, an hour later, lost ,hungry, and saddened, we left with our tail between our legs wondering if the pup we originally picked out would grow to look like it’s father… God forbid.

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