Sammy
Malamute Mix | male | 3 years Old | 70 Lbs
QUICK FACTS: ✔️ Good with other dogs! ✔️ Crate trained! ✔️ Housebroken! ✔️ Good in car! ✔️ Walks well on leash! ✔️ Good for beginner dog owner! ✔️ Could do well in an apartment!
Sammy found his forever home on May 1, 2022!
Updates
Say hello to Sammy! He’s a fluffy guy who is so excited to be out of Texas and move somewhere more suitable for his thick coat.
Sammy is medium to medium-low energy. He gets two one-mile walks per day and is usually content to lounge the rest of the day. His walking pace is fairly leisurely, but he has the stamina to go for longer walks or hikes. He doesn’t pull on leash unless he finds something he really wants to sniff. He loves to just hang out outside (even if it’s raining or snowing!), but a fenced yard isn’t necessary, as he does great on a tie-out. Sam is allegedly a husky/malamute mix, and he has some qualities of those breeds but not others. For example, he’s much more mellow than your average husky, but he sure can be stubborn. He’s barely motivated by food (does love cheese though) and typically “grazes” throughout the day rather than eating all his food at once. So far he knows “sit” and nothing else. He has a classic thick, fluffy malamute coat, and will need regular brushing to prevent mats from forming. Sammy tolerates being brushed but doesn’t love it—we’ve found that it’s better to do a few minutes a day rather than trying to brush out his entire coat at once. He’s great for nail trims.
Sammy’s biggest, and really only, issue is that he does urine mark in new places, including indoors. We solve this by having him wear a belly band (a male dog diaper) for the first week or two in a new house. He has no complaints about wearing the belly band--he doesn’t even seem to notice it’s on. Sammy can be left to roam free, provided your house is relatively dog-proofed, or crated when you’re gone. He may whine a little in the crate. We’ve left him alone for up to 8 hours with no issues. He did once chew up a slipper, but in his defense it was sheepskin and definitely resembled a dog toy. So far he seems to enjoy bones and soft toys that he can rip the stuffing out of. We’ve only heard him bark maybe twice, he’s overall a quiet dog.
Sam is really good with other dogs. When he first meets other dogs, he’ll do a polite butt sniff, but then he typically doesn’t pay much attention to them, unless they want to play, which he’s totally down for. He currently lives with our resident dog, a medium-size female, and they’ve had no issues at all. He’s not reactive on leash to dogs or anything else we’ve seen, including chickens and horses. Sammy doesn’t seem to be object or food possessive. His previous foster mentioned he met a cat and wasn’t particularly interested. He hasn’t had a chance to meet a cat while he’s been living with us. He has met a few kids, from elementary-school age on up, and interacted with them no differently than he does with adult humans (i.e. very friendly, but not excessively so). He isn’t concerned with people poking or prodding him, and he’s not a “nervous” dog. He doesn’t jump up on people, but he could certainly knock a small child over accidentally.
Sammy recently tested positive for anaplasmosis, a tick-borne disease, but is not showing any clinical signs. A positive result for anaplasmosis just indicates antibodies to this bacteria, not necessarily active infection. Per our rescue protocol, he is currently being given a round of antibiotics. Our vets also indicated that he will likely require a dental cleaning within the next year or so. Other than that, Sammy has no health issues that we are aware of.
Sammy is just a big goofy boy who’s hoping to find his forever home soon!