Ah I missed this thread somehow! Bella has my favorite coat pattern! She is so beautiful and shadow is adorable! Welcome to the forum.

Thankyou so much everyone..
Bella and Shadow are doing great together thankyou and he is settling in nicely We think Shadow also has Agouti colouring to his coat

We think he may be a malamute not a husky but we cant decide as he looks alot like both.. what do you guys think??

Heres a few more pictures of Shadow.. as hes made himself well and truely at home x

Shadows coat is very similar to my last husky boy, Malukhai. If I remember correctly, he did have Agouti in his genes that showed up as a very heavy mask, but other than that, like I believe Shadow is, the coat is more just a variation of the grey/white.

With Malamute mix, with Shadow I really can't tell that well, and usually I'm much better at distinguishing the two breeds...I normally see it in the eyes and I *kinda* see it in Shadow but there are a couple huskies here, akc and from reputable breeders, where I see these eyes. You need more pics with his eyes open, lol. From these pics though, I'd say I see more Husky than I see Malamute. It's hard to say though. I'd have to go back and look at my Malamute I had when he was Shadows age. What stands out as Malamute to you?

Shadow has very similar colouring all across his back the same as Bella. They also both have white tipped tails.. the only difference is Bella is the dirty faced Agouti.
Ive looked at a few pictures of Malamutes, and he seems to resemble them more than a Husky. He also has the face shape and build of a Malamute but im really not sure lol.

This is the only picture i have close up of his eyes at the moment but i will try to get some more of him and his eyes, hes just still trying to settle in with Bella at the moment but hes definatly made himself at home.. and thankfully his problem with men is getting better as he adores my partner

Thanks for the advice

Jack, Nicola, Bella and Shadow

Congratulations! You have a lovely family there.

http://www.aquilakennels.com/mal_husky.php

Some information on huskies and malamutes. They have a slight malamute bias but the information is good.

He looks like a husky to me. Others may know better but he seems to have a lighter build than malamutes. Whenever I see a mal I always think they just plain look powerful. Shadow seems to have a sleeker build to him. Very handsome creature I think! Not all huskies are perfectly in breed standard. Loki was 25 inches tall last I measured a few months ago lol.

he is very handsome. it looks like he was always part of the family , glade to hear he's settling in nicely. cute picture with the plushy bunny.

Congrats on your addition. I agree with the others that Shadow isn't part mal. Many "poorly" bred huskies will not have exact look of a husky, they may be taller, heavier, and ears, muzzle and eyes may not be set perfectly. If anything, he resembles my girls build, which she is mostly husky, and gsd. in the pic with Bella, he is all husky, don't see anything out of the norm. In the other pics he resembles my girl quite a bit, ear placement is set a little wide and are a little bit on the larger size, and muzzle is slightly longer and wider. My girl is roughly 65 pounds and somewhere around 24 inches. Also at 12 months old he may grow into his longer legs and ears. If that helps you out any. You have a beautiful family and Bella and Shadow will be the best of friends.

Btw, I am going to mention, there are a few members here who can single out mals easily, Jimmy is probably the most active member here with in depth knowledge of mals. I would like to hear his opinion on the link Danielle provided, because those mals, for the most part, do not look right to me. There is Jen(Twisterll) that is familiar with them, and also another member here(Maggiemay) who just had a baby, and owns a mal. So if any of the members I mentioned read this, let's hear what you all think.

I believe all huskies have white tipped tails, at least mine all do/have.

Ok, so after looking at all your pics of Shadow, looking at the site Danielle provided a link for, I then got out the pics of my Malamute, Pasha, i had while growing up. Then I looked at your pics again and I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say I don't see Malamute in Shadow, and really do in fact see Siberian Husky. About the only resemblance to a Malamute I see in Shadow is the open face mask and many many huskies have open face masks. My Malamute was the standard Malamute and not the Giant which most people seem to associate with Malamutes, and while looking through my pics I was actually surprised how lean and husky like Pasha was at Shadows age, and Pasha never got really big, he maxed out at 61 lbs when he got older. And yet he doesn't resemble Shadow at all , not in the  ear shape,or set, not in the eye shape or set and that sort of thing. One thing about the Malamute, and the site Danielle gave you touches on it, is their eyes. There is a warmth in them that to me is like no other breed, it's hard to explain but I can see a husky and a malamute walking side by side down the street, and tell you which is which not by their size, not by their coat, not their tail or their ears, but by their eyes. They really are, to me anyways, unique to a Malamute.

And I'm so happy to hear he is settling in so well with your family

Just curious, BellaBlue - what about Shadow makes you think he may be a Malamute?

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the advice and tips about Shadow.. We took him to the vets today for a general checkup and just curiosity.. the vet checked him over, said hes in good health but could see how timid he was due to his upbringing. But thankfully now hes on the road to recovery.
We asked about Shadows breed, and its confirmed he is a Malamute.

Thanks to everyone for your help, support and guidance with Shadow.. we will keep you updated/posted along Bella & Shadows journey..

Jack, Nicola, Bella & Shadow x

How does your vet conclude Malamute? They usually have way more fur than Shadow is showing.

Its due to his upbringing, and hes a little under-weight for his age/size.. his coat isnt in great condition due to previous owners too.
He just needs some tlc and time to adjust to a proper home.

Photos are decieving.. hes alot bigger than he looks in some pictures.. if you see him in person hes like a freakin polar bear.
I'll try and get some more pictures after a nice bath and brush.

Thanks for all your advice

Jack, Nicola, Bella & Shadow

amymeme wrote:

How does your vet conclude Malamute?  They usually have way more fur than Shadow is showing.

Amy, when I looked through my pics last night of my Malamute I had, I was actually pretty surprised how little fluff he had in his youth, much like Shadow here but slightly different. Especially in the neck area, my Malamute had a much fluffier neck area. Much like Kohdi's What throws me off with Shadow though is more his head, like my Malamute never had ears like Shadows, to me Shadows ears are more husky like, albeit a little big (if you look at the second pic where Bella and Shadow are sitting next to each other, their ears are identical!) Shadows eyes throw me off as well, in some pics I see Malamute-ish eyes, but in the very last one posted yesterday, I see pure husky, I dont know, its difficult, Id love to know what a actual Malamute breeder thinks rather than a vet but overall it probably doesnt matter too much as the 2 breeds are close in line with health issues and while there are some differences behavior-wise, having raised the two breeds together, I really cant recall them being much different...even in Danielle's link, some of the descriptions like Malamutes not liking other dogs, especially of the same gender, didnt ring true for me, both my husky and malamute were male and my malamute loved any dog he met. So theres probably not going to be huge issues raising a husky thinking its a Malamute. I look forward to seeing more pics of him in the future and hearing how he progresses, I absolutely love Malamutes.

Hi Everyone..

Just a quick question really, we would like to get Bella and Shadow into sled running/pulling.. we are looking for places in the UK where we could take them for some training.. does anyone know of any places or do you have any tips for us on how to go about starting the training..

Any help/experience would be great

Jack, Nicola, Bella & Shadow

I can not suggest too much here, but with Shadow I would start off slow, and low impact training since he's only around a year. And with Bella, no training at all, can work on verbal mushing commands, but she is too young to do any pulling, racing, running, heavy exercising. I strongly recommend no anything until over 18 months of age to 2 years old. Also look around your area, perhaps you have some local clubs?

You may get more replies if you start a new thread, either under sub forum exercise, or working.

Wow Bella is absolutely gorgeous!! And congrats on your newest addition! I am obsessed with the agouti coloring. My boy Havoc is agouti too and its always fun to see how other augoti's grow up and their markings evolve. I can't wait to see how my Havoc changes now. Here's a picture of him: