#if you were in norway finland or sweden you'd have a plethora of options

[darkwood-sleddog]

Hi! I was wondering if you know any breeders that produce similar dogs to Sigurd and Zombie? I like that they’re not so big boned and fluffy like a lot of the malamutes in my area, and would love one for bikejoring where I live in northern OK

It really depends on how far you are willing to travel to get a puppy and/or if you are willing to import as this will widen your options considerably. I imported my dogs because really there are not a lot of people in the United States working malamautes in large expedition style teams (My dogs are all from Nordiclight Alaskan Malamutes in Quebec, Canada). Understandably there are not a lot of serious working breeders with dogs of a similar pedigree to my own in Oklahoma because the warm temperatures pretty much ensure the dogs cannot be worked as extensively as a lot of serious Malamute folks like to do with their teams (I never run my dogs above 50 F and while dogs can acclimate to temperatures, running above this, especially in humid areas, is a pretty big risk to the dogs).

But there are some people doing great work across the southern United States:

Wayeh in Tennesee is doing some great work (Weight Pull, Backpacking, sledding, conformation & obedience!) and would probably be your best bet on the southern east coast for like-type dogs. She has some very nice short coat females imo.

Gery Allen of Malamute Ranch LLC is in Flagstaff AZ has some dogs related to my own and does extensive work in harness, but I'm uncertain if he's bred anything recently (or if he even breeds for sale).

Nichole Royer of Kwest Malamutes is in Southern Californian and has a small program. She has extensive genetics knowledge (and some pretty black & white dogs like Slash...not that I'm biased towards that color or anything I just think its nice).

Lots of show breeders are likely to have smaller dogs also as they are breeding to the standard of which my dogs also fit in size, body type and weight. They may or may not have the drive to work in harness, but there are lots that have extensive other titles such as Ralley and/or have had offspring that have been successful with working titles. Look for more of a Kotzebue influence vs a M'Loot type influence in the dogs of breeders (there will be both in the pedigree, but what does the breeder aim to produce is the question). When looking at potential parents in addition to health testing and CHIC numbers I would also look to see if the dogs have been genetically tested for coat length. Many breeders use carrier coated dogs, but picking parents with genetically short coats (and being clear this is what you want with your breeder of choice) is your best bet for a less fluffy dog).

I find looking through the Working Dog Titles database a helpful exercise, but would steer clear of looking at dogs that have JUST the Weight Pull titles. They're not bad by any means, but weight pull folk tend to prefer a bigger boned dog than those doing sled work.