In August 2009, Atka was moved to a new foster home. His new foster home reported that he reacted negatively to Atka, so his name was changed to Brin (pronounced as "Bree - in").

Brin is a beautiful 5 year old neutered male Malamute who came into AMHL rescue at 14 months of age. No longer a small bundle of fur to play with, Brin's inappropriate and sometimes harsh physical treatment resulted in some serious trust issues with people. Because of his very young age, Brin came into AMHL rescue in July 2006 with the hopes of being rehabilitated.

Sadly, for some mistreated Malamutes, rehabilitation and adoption are not possible. Brin was adopted in 2008, but returned a few months later as his training and handling requirements in a new home could not easily be met by his loving family. Brin was placed into the AMHL Permanent Foster Care Program. Without your assistance and generosity of sponsorships, Malamutes like Brin would face euthanasia.

Pictures: The set of five 2008 pictures were taken by his adoptive family in 2008. For those who remember his initial bio, it was a surprise to all of us to learn that he was actually good with cats!

Update: Aug 2009 - Feb 2011
Brin was moved to a new and experienced foster home in Aug 2009 because of fence fighting with another Malamute. In his new foster home in rural Ontario, he could easily be separted from the other seven dogs in residence. His current foster home reports:

"In some ways Brin has come a very long way in the past year and half. When he first came to us he was underweight, had the runs, was dehydrated and was suffering from severe hypothyroidism, which didn't help his mood! His food aggression was very severe and he was extremely guardy of even his empty food bowl. He has developed some muscle from increasing exercise, gained about 25 pounds and being on thyroid medication has made a wonderful difference in his coat. Physically, according to my Vet, he is in excellent shape!

Brin is extremely intellegent and repetative training only bores him! He did not respond to positive praise because it isn't a valuable reward to him, but he is highly food motivated, which makes "command training" very easy! His "Sit", "Down" and "Stay" are fantastic! To avoid the boredom, he is learning some complicated routines where multiple commands are "chained" and he loves to perform! He no longer pulls on leash and is a delightful, if not comical, walking companion.

He loves to run and is an excellent biking companion, but at a good run, he can drag a bike 100 feet or more, especially if he sees something to chase (like deer running across the road!). So we bought him a trike, a 3-wheeled heavier road legal bike that can, according to the manufacturer, get up to 35K per hour. In the heat of last Summer, he enjoyed going for slower walks with one of our dogs, Hudson, a female Malamute we adopted from the AMHL several years ago. Hudson, by the way, turned 13 yrs of age in December 2010 and is doing well (in spite of being Addisonian for a few years!).

Physically, Brin is doing very well. However, we were very concerned about his lack of social progress and particularly with his inability to trust or bond after being with us for 8 months. We had Brin assessed by a professional in the Spring of 2010, who reported that Brin is suffering from PSTD (post traumatic stress disorder), as do many humans. In addition, because Brin had been moved to so many different foster homes, we were told that he's basically been conditioned not to bond - that it could take up to a year and a half before we start to see any progress. Brin responsed very well to his exercises! His mouth is extremely "soft" today; a treat is more likey to fall out onto the floor once it is placed in his mouth. His food aggression and guarding behaviour have also decreased significantly.

Brin has had a few setbacks on his road to recovery. There have been brief periods during his adjustment when he was a very troubled boy and his prognosis was not very good. Fortunately, with the help of our Vet, he has responded very well to medications at these times. Today, as we get closer to the year and half mark in our home, we are seeing more steps forward and fewer steps backward and we hope this trend continues. Although I keep him on a very strict schedule to make life as "predictable" as possible - to a fault some would say - our goal is all about quality of life in training and rehabilitation and creating as many happy experiences and memories as possible."

Please consider sponsoring Brin's food and Vet care. Any amount, or a one time amount of any size, would be greatly appreciated.

Questions about Brin can be directed to his AMHL Rescue Coordinator, Trish Forrest, at: Trish@malamuterescue.com