My husband and I live on Harstine Island in Shelton, Washington with our 5 sons ranging from 5 years to 19 years and several Alaskan Malamutes. Our goal is to breed top quality Alaskan Malamutes and strive to bring out this breeds full potential. Due to our busy lives raising and breeding our dogs, we are not into showing, sledding or weight pulling. Our dogs are part of our family and we own and breed them out of the sheer love of being surrounded by such wonderful creatures. We have put a significant amount of time and energy into studying the breed as well as kennels. We have chosen some of the top bloodlines such as Caledonia, Wakon, Arctic Shores, Alaska’s Own, Towbar, Cascade, Moonridge, and Kingfisher's Malamutes .
Our first Malamute was Raven. She wasn’t AKC registered but still a purebred. We couldn’t resist her even though she had no papers. Purchasing her was one of the wisest choices we’ve ever made. Raven turned out to be such a loving and loyal dog. Each of my children decided that, they too, would like to participate in the owning and breeding of Malamutes. Each of them own his own dog and share in the responsibilities of ownership and breeding. This has taught them a great deal about caring for others and being responsible with finances.
Though not seasoned breeders, we know that there is so much to learn about these magnificent dogs. That is why I have chosen to take courses in Veterinary Technician and Dog Behavior and Training. I have been into breeding long enough to have learned that there are many trustworthy breeders out there that would do all they can for the dog’s benefit as well as the new owners. There are also just as many breeders out there with their main interest being profit or possessing the title of being the best. We strive to be one of the trustworthy breeders. We put our focus on doing the best that we can to breed top quality Alaskan Malamutes that are not only beautiful in looks and standards but also possess the wonderful temperament and characteristics that these animals were known to have all along. We can really appreciate all those that have chosen to follow the path into the show ring, weight pulling, carting and sled racing. We admire them greatly. This just isn’t for use. Our lives are more about raising a pack of 5 children, some livestock and several Malamutes. Some people would say that if you are not working your dogs and just breeding, you are running a puppy mill and do not care about your dogs. Let me clarify that right here and now. We love every dog that we own. We have gone through great lengths with each and every one of them to bring out their highest potential in both personality and traits of this breed. We do not show because we feel that we do not need to prove that are dogs are the best with a trophy or ribbons. We personally feel that all of this is more for the person than it is for the dog. We also do not show because the Giant Malamute and the Wooly Malamute are both not considered to be the AKC standard. The giants are larger than what AKC acknowledges as the standard size. Wooly coats are considered a flaw within AKC standards and it is preferred to have the shorter coat when showing a Malamute. We, however, do not consider Giants or Wollies to have any flaws as the AKC might. We do not weight pull just due to the fact that we have no interest in it. We do not see the need to prove that we have the strongest dogs in the world. Some people enjoy doing this with their dogs, others don't. The same is true of carting and sledding. Though we live in WA, there are rare occasions that there is enough snow on the ground to even attempt sledding. Carting seems to be something that we may try in the future, but not for the competition, just the joy of it. Our lives revolve around our dogs and spending time with them as companions. They are not here for us to use as reproductive systems. We do enjoy having litters of pups around to take care of and share with others. This does not, in any terms, mean that we are breeding to make money. Any breeder that actually cares about the welfare of their dogs will tell you that there isn't really any money to be made in breeding. After you pay for food, upkeep, housing, medical exams and mishaps, medications, and not to mention a litter that requires shots, worming, vet checks, microchipping, advertising, proper housing and bedding, etc., a true breeder that loves and cares for their dogs will barely break even, if not, be in the hole for the year. Along with this, a lot of people don't understand all the intense work that goes into caring for living and breathing animals. We spend hours upon hours giving our dogs attention and exercise, cleaning up after them, repairing/improving their living quarters, feeding them, grooming them, taking them to the vet, and on and on and on. Now when you add a litter to this, you also add hours of posting/updating ads, answering hundreds of emails and phone calls only to have a handful of people actually follow through, hours of taking pictures and videos, feeding and cleaning up after pups several times a day, grooming/clipping nails, vet visits, worming/vaccinating/microchipping, filing forms to get registrations, making the puppy packets filled with information for the new owners, traveling to airports to ship pups, spending time with the pups to make sure they are well socialized and the list goes on and on. We do not have the time to take away from our dogs or litters to spend in the show ring or other working activities: we do have the time to give each of them the one on one attention and the care that they need and deserve. To add to matters, being a reputable breeder also carries the burdens of being placed in a ring of manipulation, backstabbing and bickering among other breeders, contacting people from past litters to see how things are going with their dogs, being there to help people and answer questions even if there isn't a sale involved, and the ongoing study about the breed, health, behavior, genetics and psychology of the animal. When you wrap all these things together in a package of reality, most people wouldn't even want to attempt to become a breeder. You see, if you are a respectable breeder and really care about your dogs, the dogs will far out way any of the negative aspects of breeding. As you can see, we do care about our dogs greatly and they are the world to us.
There are many kennels out there that state that they have some of the largest Alaskan Malamutes in the world. We congratulate them. There has to be great effort and knowledge in breeding these giants of giants. We do not try to breed to excessive size. We don’t feel that we have the knowledge of all the medical conditions that can arise or how to deal with the many problems that can come from breeding such huge Malamutes. We do not want our dogs growing too quickly or excessively so we try to maintain an average weight of about 85 lbs to 160 lbs.
We do not run a puppy mill and will not breed our females less than a year apart. Our females are bred every 2 - 3 heat cycles. We like to give them plenty of time to recuperate from all the demands of motherhood. Once a female goes into heat and we plan on breeding her, she is moved into a breeding kennel with her mate and they take care of their business. When the female is out of heat and pregnancy is confirmed, she is given extra vitamin supplements and a higher protein diet with extra meat added. A week before her delivery date, she is moved into a birthing kennel for a day or so and allowed to come in and out as she wishes. Once the delivery date approaches, she is moved permanently indoors and giving a whelping box. After giving birth, she is encouraged to stay with her pups as much as possible but allowed to venture out for a few minutes at a time during the day.
We begin the pups de-worming program using Nemex 2 or Safeguard for roundworms, hookworms and whipworms at 2 weeks of age. A follow up worming is done at 3, 4, 6 & 7 weeks. It is recommended that they be wormed at 10 weeks of age as well. When the pups reach 3 weeks of age, we begin a gruel diet for a week and then move on to soft puppy food. All of our puppies are given Missing Link Supplement when they are introduced to food. We encourage owners to continue with this supplement. It does wonders for the puppy/dog’s immune system and coat. By week 5, we remove the mother from her pups and begin weaning. By 6 weeks, the puppies are eating dry kibble and drinking water. During this time, we give them a preventative antibiotic called Albon for any problems with Coccidia and Metrondazole for any problems with Giardia. Both of these parasites are extremely common to kennels and breeders and it is recommended that you research the topic in our "Health Info" section. The puppies begin getting their first experience with the outdoors and introduced to the other dogs in the pack after having their first vaccinations. At 7 weeks, the puppies are micro-chipped with AVID (American Veterinary Identification Device)or Microchip ID. After the new owner takes possession of the puppy, they must follow WCK’s policy of enrolling the puppy in AVID PetTrac Recovery System or Microchip ID Recovery System. Information and paperwork is sent during pickup or shipping. You can learn more about AVID at: http://www.microchipidsystems.com/index.htm or you can activate you pet's microchip online by clicking the following link: http://www.microchipidsystems.com/register/ By 7 weeks, the puppies have been well socialized with both humans and other dogs and have been introduced to puppy training and basic commands. We give them their 7 week shots and first vet visit within a few days of going to their new homes. Puppies are released to their new homes at 7 weeks local, 8 weeks if needing to be shipped.
All of our puppies are sent home with a Puppy Care Pack which includes the following items:
* Puppy Care Pack Folder containing all AKC documents, a copy of parents pedigrees, information on AVID microchips and PetTrac Recovery System) , and 21 pages of information on caring for your new puppy, the Alaskan Malamute breed and all sorts of things to help the new owner and puppy adapt.
* A complementary new puppy collar
* A complementary new puppy leash
* A complementary new puppy chew toy
* A sample bag of Kirkland Dry Puppy Food
Our kennel requires each potential owner to fill out a puppy questionnaire. This is so that we can learn more about where our puppies will be going, as well as, to give the potential owner an idea of what he/she should expect in the ownership of an Alaskan Malamute. If after reviewing your application and you qualify to purchase of one of our puppies, you will be put on a Contact List. If we do not have a litter at the moment, we will contact you via e-mail when one of our dogs go into heat and has successfully been bred. If at any time, you wish to be removed from our Contact List, just request by e-mail. We encourage all prospective owners to visit the puppies and our adult Malamutes whenever possible.
If placing a deposit for a puppy that is not born yet, please be advised that you are not guaranteed sex, color or markings. However, if there are no puppies living or not enough to fill the deposits placed, you will get a full refund of your deposit. If you place a deposit on a pup after it is born, please remember that it is non-refundable unless something debilitating or life-threatening occurs.
In the event that there is a particular puppy that we wish to keep, we reserve first choice and it will be stated so while contacting applicants.
Each of our dogs have their own section on our site with their photos and pedigree listed.
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As of January 2012, we will be freezing giving out breeding rights to anyone while we take the time to readjust our breeding program. Please do not ask for rights at this time.
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WHY WE DO NOT GIVE OUT BREEDING RIGHTS
It is kind of a catch 22. When we first started out, we had an extremely hard time finding breeders that would sell us rights. The doors were closed in our faces and we were shunned by a lot of top kennels. At the time, I couldn’t understand why. Where we so insignificant that no one wanted to work with us?
Finally, we were given breeding rights from a couple of kennels. We invested thousands of dollars into the dogs that we purchased only to find out that the majority were unable to be bred because of hereditary problems like floppy ears, short - stubby tails, immune deficiency, etc. Now if we were novice breeders, we would not have recognized the problems and we would have bred these dogs only to contribute to many problems that we had encountered at our start.
We spent hours, months, years studying the Alaskan Malamute breed. We painstakingly weeded out dogs with flaws and finally narrowed it down to those that were good specimens of the this breed.
Once we chose to focus on the rare red Alaskan Malamutes, we ran into all sorts of trouble. Most had been recklessly bred, creating floppy ears, short tails or inadequate coats. It only took one or two breeders with the lack of experience to breed the wrong dogs together and create numerous flaws in the gene pool.
We had to look long and hard to find reds that were worthy enough to enter our breeding program. We finally ran into one great breeder that had already been working hard for several years to weed out the bad ears. We will be working with this breeder in the future in hopes to better the red coat Alaskan Malamutes.
Here, at Willow Creek Kennel, we have chosen to follow the path of Caledonia. We feel that they had some of the most superb red Malamutes in the world. Big Red and Ceyanne, two of their beautiful dogs, produced wonderful looking reds with rich red to deep mahogany coats to an almost reddish-brown. Some of their offspring included Moonridge Kentucky Timber, Nitro of Moonridge and Moonridge Malachi. Off these magnificent dogs, several offspring were born worthy of contributing to the Alaskan Malamute breed such as our own Willow Creek’s Dante‘s Kovu and Willow Creek’s Keanna’s Intrigue.
After choosing the line we wanted to work off of, we ran into yet another obstacle. It seemed that Timber’s line had been so stretched that every time we looked at a potential dog to add to our breeding program, they seemed to be related to Timber in one way or another. We eventually had to search outside the United States where we found a couple of dogs that would be beneficial to our breeding program.
We have often been asked to give out breeding rights for show or confirmation purposes. Unfortunately, the giant and wooly Alaskan Malamutes do not fit the AKC standard so we decline all who ask.
So after a lengthy and some-what confusing explanation, I hope that those wanting to obtain breeding rights from us can understand that it is not that we wish to be greedy with our lines or that we feel that novices are beneath us, as we all have been at some time or another. It’s just that we’ve studied the breed for years now. I’ve read every book that I could get my hands on about Malamute appearance, behavior and genealogy. We’ve been in contact with numerous breeders. We’ve put much effort into researching lines. We’ve spent thousands of dollars on purchasing the Malamutes that we’ve owned. We are still learning all we can about these marvelous dogs.
Summing it up, we do not give out breeding rights unless it is to a well established kennel that has proven themselves in positively adding to the Alaskan Malamute breed. Even then, it is only on rare occasions and with strict contingencies that we give rights out so that we can prevent over-extending our lines. Along with this, we must foresee a pup to be of great potential that it would add in a positive manner to the Alaskan Malamute breed.