Malamute or Old English Sheepdog: The Only 5/5 Grooming Score Here

A 5/5 grooming rating is rare and the Old English Sheepdog earns it. The coat is long, profuse and double-layered, with a harsh shaggy outer coat over a soft dense undercoat, and it grows continuously.

Kept in full coat, the maintenance is three to four hours a week, split into sessions, done by line-brushing — parting the coat and working from the skin outwards with a pin brush and then a comb, section by section, over the entire dog. Anything less and the two layers felt together into a solid pelt against the skin. The places that go first are behind the ears, under the collar, in the armpits, the britches and around the tail. A pelted coat cannot be brushed out humanely; the groomer will shave it, and that shave is a welfare decision rather than a style one.

The honest and widely taken alternative is a short clip every eight to ten weeks — often called a sheepdog trim or a puppy cut. This is legitimate for the breed in a way it never is for the Malamute. An Old English Sheepdog in a working clip is comfortable, cooler in summer, easier to keep clean and still recognisably itself, and most pet owners land here within the first two years. It is not a failure; it is the sensible resolution of a coat bred for a job the dog no longer does.

The Malamute's 4/5 is a smaller and simpler commitment: an undercoat rake taken to the skin two or three times a week, ten to fifteen minutes, plus two heavy annual blows. Shedding is worse at 5/5 against 4/5, but the coat does not mat the same way and the routine never requires an appointment. And clipping it is genuinely prohibited — the double coat is two-way insulation and the regrowth after a shave is frequently permanently altered.

One more practical note on the sheepdog: the hair over the eyes. Traditional presentation leaves it hanging, and the breed manages, but many owners trim it back or tie it up for the dog's comfort and vision. Either is fine. Leaving it matted over the eyes is not.

For the hours you put into the sheepdog's coat, you get most of them back on the walk.

The Old English Sheepdog at 3/5 exercise and 3/5 energy needs roughly an hour a day, split, with room for play. It was a drover's dog rather than a distance herder — moving livestock to market at a walking pace — and the modern breed reflects that: steady, willing, not driven. It enjoys a hike but does not require one, and it settles well indoors. Adolescents are bouncier than the rating suggests and need consistent outlets until about two, but adults are moderate dogs.

The Malamute at 5/5 has no moderate version. Two hours minimum with physical resistance, every day, in all weathers, with no indoor substitute and no bad-weather exemption. In warm regions the Arctic coat forces the whole routine to first and last light for months.

Heat is worth naming for both. A shaggy double coat and an Arctic double coat both trap heat, and the sheepdog in full coat overheats more readily than owners expect — which is another argument for the summer clip. Neither breed is a good match for hot climates without adjustments.

One behavioural note that catches new sheepdog owners out: herding instinct. The breed retains a tendency to gather and to move things, and with young children that can show as circling, bumping and occasionally nipping at heels. It is not aggression and it responds well to redirection, but it needs to be recognised as instinct rather than naughtiness. The Malamute has no herding drive at all; its equivalent problem is pulling.

The Old English Sheepdog's list is short — hip dysplasia, cataracts, hypothyroidism, bloat and primary ciliary dyskinesia — and the last of those is the one most buyers have never heard of.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia is an inherited defect in the tiny hair-like cilia that line the airways and sweep mucus out of the lungs. When they do not work, mucus stays put, and the result is a puppy with a persistent wet cough, recurring nasal discharge and repeated chest infections from very early in life. It is not a condition that appears in middle age; it is usually obvious in the first months, and it is often misdiagnosed as ordinary kennel cough that keeps coming back. Affected dogs need lifelong management. The important point for a buyer is that DNA testing exists in the breed, so a breeder can know the status of both parents — and a puppy from two tested-clear parents cannot be affected.

Cataracts and hypothyroidism are shared with the Malamute, and both are worth asking about. Eye certification on breeding stock covers the first; the second shows up gradually as weight gain, lethargy and coat change, and is easily treated once identified.

Bloat is on both lists. Both breeds are large and deep-chested enough for the standard precautions: split meals, quiet time around eating, a slow-feeder bowl for a fast eater, and knowing where the nearest out-of-hours clinic is before you need it.

Hip dysplasia is the shared orthopaedic question — scores on both parents, and restrained exercise through the first eighteen months in either breed.

The Malamute's list runs longer, adding elbow dysplasia, epilepsy, progressive retinal atrophy, zinc-responsive dermatosis and inherited polyneuropathy, but its lifespan is the better of the two at 10 to 14 years against 10 to 12.

Both rate 5/5 with children, 4/5 with strangers, 3/5 for trainability, 3/5 for barking, 2/5 for first-time owners and 2/5 for time alone. That is an unusual amount of overlap, and it means the temperament decision here is finer than the table suggests.

The Old English Sheepdog's keywords are adaptable, gentle, playful and watchful. Adaptable is the useful one: this is a breed that fits into household life easily, copes with change and is not highly strung. Watchful means it will notice and announce a visitor without being a guard dog. It is comic, physical and slower to mature than its size implies, and it stays puppyish well into its third year.

The Malamute is friendly, loyal, playful and devoted — equally warm, but independent in a way that shapes daily life. Its 3/5 trainability comes from a freighting breed selected to work without checking in with a handler; the sheepdog's 3/5 comes from a different place, a droving dog with its own opinions about how a job should be done but a genuine willingness to work with a person. In practice the sheepdog is easier to train than the shared rating implies, provided the sessions stay interesting.

With other dogs the sheepdog leads 4/5 to 3/5; the Malamute's tolerance narrows with same-sex adults. Around cats the sheepdog is generally safe and the Malamute is not.

Both rate 2/5 for solitude and neither belongs in an empty house all day. Both rate 2/5 for beginners, and both punish inconsistency — the Malamute through escapes and failed recalls, the sheepdog through a neglected coat that becomes a welfare problem faster than most people believe.

Both breeds sit at cost level 4/5. The Malamute runs $150–300 a month against the sheepdog's $110–240, with first years of $2,000–4,000 and $1,700–3,200.

The Malamute's spend is straightforward: food volume and weight-scaled veterinary pricing on prevention, anaesthesia, medication and sedation. Grooming is free labour with a forty-dollar rake.

The sheepdog's spend is grooming, and it is the reason a slightly smaller dog carries the same cost rating. A full groom on a large, heavily coated breed is priced accordingly, and at every eight to ten weeks over ten to twelve years that is a substantial recurring line. A dog that arrives matted costs more, because the work is longer and often ends in a shave-down. Owners who keep the coat long instead pay in equipment and hours rather than fees, and most conclude the fees are better value.

A less obvious cost on the sheepdog side is cleaning. A long coat around the rear end needs a sanitary trim and regular attention, and a shaggy dog carries mud, water and debris into the house on a scale that surprises people. Towels, a hose by the door and a washable throw for the sofa are all standard equipment.

One cost the sheepdog avoids: it does not pull. A Malamute needs proper harness and lead equipment and, for anyone smaller or older, a genuine plan for how a 95 pound dog is walked safely on a day it sees something interesting. That is a training and equipment cost, and it never fully goes away.