Animation Source Forums

I know it is an animated film and I know Hollywood is going to change facts around like they always do when they tell a story and I don't mind that at all. I really could care less what breed people think the dogs are however when I see people throwing around real world "facts" about malamutes and huskies as proof then I have a problem with it because 90 percent of the stuff I see on here about Malamutes has been completely wrong.

I don't care about being right and I don't want to argue. If you believe the dog is a Malamute I have no problem with that. But when you say you believe he is a Malamute because in real life Malamutes can have blue eyes, that is when I step in. To correct the false stuff. Someone simply stated something about being a racing dog so I gave an answer on the true reason of sled pulling behind each breed. I never said anything about what breed Steele was because I don't care.

Everyone is entitled to ther own opinion but with all the facts about Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes. Steele is def a oversized Siberian husky, like all breeds huskies can have a couple OVERSIZED dogs. Alaskan Malamutes dont have blue eyes only huskies. and huskies curl their tails over their backs too and certain times. Malamutes arent shorter than huskies they are generally bigger more bulky. huskies are smaller. And malamutes are generally used as wheel dogs in mushing becasue they are so strong. so I believe that Steele is just a really big SIBERIAN HUSKY.

Y'know what, I accept that.
Not that it makes a difference anyway. I never thought too much about it. Standing out amongst the other dogs, Steele always seemed like he might've been a Mal. Yet considering that Mals must have brown eyes (not that the animators necessarily give a hoot about realism)...it could be he's a larger-than-average Husky. I'll go with that.

sorry, clay, but to me steeles a malamute, because i do have a show dog book, telling you how large malamutes and huskeys are. malamute males are several inches taller at the withers than male huskeys.
malamutes are also more muscular. and all this nonsense about how steele is a huskey because he wouldnt want to have mixed breeds with jenna, is rubbish. hes a DOG, dogs dont care which female they choose, much less care which breed they are. whatever female dog is in heat at the time he will choose. he liked her because he thought she was attractive, which even there is not real because dogs dont think that way, its a cartoon, its not REAL.
I can show you some pictures to prove hes malamute too. and to clear up the blue-eyes thing, here at this site at the very bottom of the page it says blue eyes in malamutes are a disqualifying feature in them among the show ring, which means it IS possible for malamutes to have blue eyes.
http://www.alaskanmalamute.org/publiced ... andard.asp
as, well his ears, they are small in comparison with his head, malamutes have smaller ears in proportion to their heads.
a huskey:


a malamute:

even more, wikipedia states that today they are used for a type of sledding called mushing and are useful for pulling heavy objects acrross the snow. the antitoxin was about 20 pounds!

Malamutes:




look at his head proportion with the rest of his body. dosnt the built look like steeles?

see?

ok, yes i noticed how georgous this dog is.
steele in real life, right?

him in a similar stance, very simalar.
now tell me this last dog doesnt look like steele.

...aaand even after what I just said those pics undeniably look more like Steele and are why I thought of him as a Mal in the first place....
Urk. Ooookay, I KNOW what Steele is: A Siblaskan Huskamute (not a mix, just a breed that blends them.)

Whatever.
With the blue eyes though, I guess it IS possible for a Mal to have them, but I figured Steele would be a prime specimen of his breed and therefore if he was a Mal NOT have them.
And as to him liking Jenna, I only find it odd if he's a Mal because real dogs may not care about that, but cartoons are an entirely different matter and pure breeding might very well concern someone as haughty as Steele. Whether his attraction to Jenna would override that, I don't know.
Now that I'm no longer sure which breed I lean toward for Steele...and they're so close anyway...I'll just have to say 'whatever' again. Even within the same breed every dog is different, often very different, so this question may never be answered...

The blue eye thing is in so many topics. Let me clarify by telling you that the reason blue eyes is a disqualification in the show ring it is because it is a CLEAR indication of mixed breeding. Malamutes CAN'T have blue eyes. I will paste some of what I wrote in another topics, I cut some of it out because it dealt with other issues of information that were misleading.

When I was looking for mal puppies I came across many a website that said they had purebred mals and it showed pictures of them with blue eyes and I knew they were wrong. When you are paying 1000 dollars or more for a mal, you know your stuff and you aren't about to get stiffed with a husky.

Now to clear this up. Malamutes have never, ever, ever or will ever ever have blue eyes. They DON'T. They ALWAYS have brown almond shaped eyes. ALWAYS. Blue eyes are considered a fault in shows because it without a doubt means that somewhere along the line, a husky was mixed into the breeding and it is no longer PUREBRED. The teacher at the shelter that told you that they can have 1 blue eye or both is completely WRONG. That is a husky.

Mals are much much larger than a standard husky although I have seen a number of huskies around 75 pounds at the dog park that were in great shape. That is real big for a husky, generally male huskies are 45 to 60 pounds and there is some variation but not as much as a mal. mals by standard are around 85 pounds but can get much much larger. To give you a good example a female husky by standard is 30 to 45 pounds. They can be a bit bigger but not much. so a large end of the spectrum female husky is 45 pounds. My female mal this morning at the vet weighed in at 45 pounds and she is only 4 months old. She just turned 4 months a day ago and she is the same as a large adult female husky.

I know this doesn't mean anything about the movie but I just wanted to give you some real facts about the real dogs. Everytime I read someone say that mals usually have blue or white eyes or that they are rare when they have blue eyes it makes me want to pull my hair out. Once again a malamute CAN'T have blue eyes. Not a pure one anyway.

not only that it could be a mixed breeding, it could be a mutation type of thing. people for example, ya dont see much of them with RED eyes, yet it is still possible for rare people called albinos to have them. i have also reasearched a little more and it says Mals have a very short temper when it comes to other dogs. they are aggresive, like steele personality towards others.

I don't think they are that aggressive. When they get around 1 year old you kind of have to watch them around small little lap dogs that have high pitched yips, because when the dog yips the mals predatorey instinct kicks in and they view the little dogs as prey. Other than that I think they do very well. I go to an off leash dog park almost daily for hours at a time with mine and I have very little problems. They do very very well with other northern breed dogs and generally all large dogs they are ok with. The rare occasion there is a problem its one of those annoying little dogs the size of my foot.

Also my male has never ever had a problem with any female. In the rare instances they are aggressive its almost 100 percent of the time a same sex dog. They generally don't have a problem with any dog of the opposite sex. I'm a little biased because I have 2 mals, but I have seen much more aggressive dogs than mals are. Mine are trained well and listen to me and respond to all my commands. As long as I pay attention I know how to avoid problems with dogs.

i was talking about ones who havent been trained, naturally they can be aggresive toward other dogs, they might feel comfident because they tower over many other breeds. to me shepherds and mals are similar in personality. my family just rescued a black shepherd 2 days ago that looks extremly simliar to the one on my siggie, he is like my old shepherd that died three years ago, he barks at other dogs because he doesnt like them. but then again, he was abused so he never learned any type of training besides leash and house training. hes only about 1 1/2 though so hell probably learn quickly.