About Us

SouthernStar is a small family-owned and operated Alaskan Malamute breeding facility located in the Horse Capital of the World, sunny Marion County, Florida. We only breed select litters using carefully selected, top-quality breeding pairs, and focus on producing quality. Our dogs come from top bloodlines in Asia, Europe, Canada and the United States.

SouthernStar is a testament to where we are located and what we are striving for. Being in Florida, you cannot get much more southern. And we are looking for stars, in the conformation and performance rings, working fields, and family pet life.

We have had Alaskan Malamutes since 2012. We may not have as many years as some breeders, but everyone has to start somewhere. However, we do have vast knowledge working with Nordic and primitive breeds.

NEVER! A wild canine/dog mix is not an ideal companion for 98% of people. These animals are not true wild animals, but are not true domestic ones either. It takes a special person to raise one of these animals properly and we do not feel that it is necessary to put ourselves in a position where we have to scrutinize potential owners more carefully than we do our domestic dogs. 

We also simply do not believe in breeding just to breed and every breeding we do is for a specific purpose and that purpose is NOT simply financial gain but to better our breeds. We could not do that if we brought more wild blood into either breed.

DO NOT get me started on that subject. We do not agree with breeding these dogs, much less participate in the production of overpriced mixed breeds. Lucky for us, our breed is not commonly used to create Doodles or other “designer breeds”.

We understand that many people like them, but we have to ask why anyone in their right mind would pay thousands of dollars for a mixed-breed pet. Yes, we can see the justification for paying thousands of dollars for a German Shepherd x Malinois that was bred for police work, or Eurohounds and Alaskan Huskies as sled dogs, but we do not agree with purposely producing mixed breed dogs as mere pets or “service dogs” (which most doodles are sold for). None of the so-called “designer dogs” are bred for a specific job. These dogs are bred for one purpose, and that is to be a fancy status symbol.

The vast majority of these breeders are unethical. Very few of them can tell you much about the history of the particular mix. Fewer of them can show any knowledge of what the “breed standard” should be for that “breed”. Why? Because they are not established breeds and therefore have no breed standards. Ask any of these so-called “breeders” what genetic problems are found in the base breeds. Very, very few can tell you. If the breeder can list one or two, ask how many he or she has tested the breeding stock for. You have to remember that when you have a mixed-breed dog, the sheer number of genetic disease possibilities multiplies. An ethical breeder of mixed breed dogs should do tests for every single condition that ALL of the base breeds are known to carry. 

Our goal is to produce a top-quality bloodline that betters the gene pool. We do this by carefully selecting our breeding dogs and carefully evaluating the resulting pups. We strive to focus on working conformation, temperament, and health over cosmetic issues. This is not saying, however, that we don’t care about cosmetic points. We just decide what is critical conformation points for a working dog.

Yes. We strongly believe that dogs, especially working breeds, have 2 parts to the standard. The first part consists of the critical points. These areas are critical to a dog’s working ability. Size, rib shape, angulation, etc. all play a part here. A dog with faults in this category is not a good working dog, because he is going to have a harder time working. Now, with that said, there is another section to the standard that is not as critical to working abilities. Minor faults in this category are more cosmetic than anything. These faults include head shape, coat length (as long as the dog has a proper undercoat), eye shape and color, tail set, ears standing or not, and sometimes coat color (coat color CAN be more serious because it can be linked to other health issues, such as blindness, deafness, etc) These aspects ARE important to us because a dog that is the wrong color or whose tails is not carried properly is not defined as breeding quality, but we put more emphasis on the critical aspects.

Most common misconceptions about breeders stems from the myths regarding kennel registration. The fact of the matter is that REGISTRIES DO NOT  REGISTER KENNELS. They register dogs, and they will help protect a breeder’s bloodline and kennel names, but they do not register or license breeders and kennels. 

The USDA does register kennels, through the new APHIS insanity, but because our policies include requirements that all buyers personally physically inspect each dog before purchase, we are exempt from this headache. We chose to go this route, not because we have something to hide from the USDA, but because we don’t want the headaches and costs associated with the new APHIS regulations. These higher costs translate to higher purchase prices for dogs. We do not feel it is fair to our buyers to have to pay more money to purchase a dog, simply because APHIS costs the breeder so much money, plus it ties up a breeder’s time with insane rules and regulations, meaning breeders don’t have the time to take care of dogs and often have to hire kennel help so the breeder can get through mountains of paperwork. 

We do have an open door policy, welcoming kennel, dog, and paperwork/record inspections by general public, potential buyers, the AKC, CKC, UKC, FCI, and the USDA.

All of our dogs and puppies are registered with the AKC, CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) and UKC. Many of our breeding dogs also carry FCI recognized registration through various registries. WE DO NOT REGISTER OUR DOGS WITH PET REGISTRIES.

Yes. Organizations such as the DRA (Dog Registry of America), ConKC (Continental Kennel Club) (not to be confused with Canadian Kennel Club), APRA (American Pet Registry Association), NKC (National Kennel Club) and other such clubs are nothing more than backyard breeder/puppy mill magnets. 

These non-legitimate registries will register any dog regardless of the circumstances. They do not require proof that the dog is purebred, or even that it exists. They also do not require any sort of DNA testing if a buyer ends up with a puppy that may or may not be legitimate. To register your dog with these registries requires nothing more than to fill out a form, send pictures of a dog, and your fee, and you will get papers. Some of them require witnesses, but anyone can find someone to sign a paper if the price is right. 

These registries do not have any sort of regulations. They do not care if a bitch jut whelped her 20th litter at 12 years old. They do not care if a stud dog is the registered sire of 200-300 litters a year. They don’t care if a bitch and stud are 6-month-old littermates and bred together. They also do not police breeders at all, they do not ever inspect kennel facilities or breeder records. They do not generally offer titles or competitions proving that a dog is worthy of adding to the gene pool.

It is also possible that a buyer can purchase a limited-registration puppy with a non-breeding contract, and dual register it with a pet registry. This is often done to circumvent breeding restrictions. Since the pet registries do not care about breeding quality or other reasons a dog should not be bred, they do not offer limited registration. Dogs sold with limited registration and a non-breeding contract can be dual registered with, say, the ConKC, and get standard registration. When the dog is bred, the puppies are ConKC registered, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Even if a dog is sold with full registration, a dual registration makes it hard for a breeder to ensure the buyer is not breeding the dog before titling, showing, and health testing requirements are met. It also makes it harder to keep a dog from being bred behind a co-owner’s back.

Breeders who use these registries should be avoided because there are reasons they cannot get legitimate papers on their dogs. The dogs are not purebred, or have a questionable background, or came from a backyard breeder or puppy mill situation. These dogs often are not the product of well-bred bloodlines or are stolen. Even the few that did come from good bloodlines are registered here to circumvent breeding regulations.

Sadly, this does happen on occasion. Our kennel name is registered and protected with the AKC. This prevents others from using our kennel name to register dogs. However, the protection does not carry over to the non-legitimate/pet registries, such as the ConKC, APRA, DRA, etc. 

There is no protection in these registries, so unscrupulous breeders often pick a good breeder whose bloodlines and quality they like and use that kennel name to register their dog, making it appear that their dog came from the good kennel.

There may also be a rare case where one of our puppy buyers decides to dual register with a pet registry to breed a limited registered dog or to breed a full registered dog without getting titles and clearances.

Sadly there is nothing we can do about this, except to void all warranties and guarantees on the dog if we find out that he is registered with a pet registry, and refuse to sell any more dogs to that buyer.

No. We have worked too hard to build our kennel’s reputation up and we do not feel it is worth the headaches having our reputation destroyed by a bunch of mediocre dogs carrying our kennel name. Just because the dog you purchased from us is a good quality dog, does not mean the dog that you breed to will be good quality, or a good genetic match, or even that the progeny will be quality. When we start allowing people to use our kennel name to register dogs that we have no control over, we run the risk of our reputation being destroyed because of the mediocre or even poor quality dogs carrying our kennel name. 

Yes. We believe strongly in proving each potential breeding dog’s merits. Our dogs are titled and shown before they are bred.

With few exceptions, our breeding dogs get the following titles at a minimum:

Conformation Titles: AKC, CKC, and/or UKC CH OR 1 CAC in an FCI International show OR 1 CH in any FCI member country OR 1 recorded World Win, Continental Win, or Regional Win OR a CRUFTS Qualification.

AND

Household Titles: At least 1 of the following: CGC family, CGC, Trick Dog, VHM

AND

Competition/Performance/Working: At least 2 intermediate OR 1 advanced performance title in AKC, CKC, or UKC events or 1 AMCA woking titles.

Yes. We believe that a breed is only as strong as it’s weakest gene pool, and we are doing what we can to ensure that we are not contributing weak genes to our breeds. Every one of our breeding dogs has a CHIC (Canine Health Information Center) number. In order to obtain a number, dogs must have certain tests per breed.

All of our breeding dogs get hip, elbow, and patella certifications, eye exams, and cardiac exams. We also submit DNA samples to Embark for their Breeder’s Kit. This tests for over 200 genetic health conditions found in various breeds, genetic markers for various traits, a full color panel, and genetic diversity panel. We only breed dogs that are proven cleared of all of these conditions. All health testing results are posted on each dog’s page, as well as links to each dog’s OFA and Embark pages.

We also send you any original health testing certificates and reports for your dog and/or photocopies of the parents health testing certificates and reports when you purchase your dog.

Well, simply put, by testing for the traits and color panel, we get a better idea of what is hidden in the genetics. This is critical to ensure that we are doing everything we can to only produce pups that fit the breed standard.

Example: If we have a standard-coated Malamute, but she has a hidden recessive gene for a wooly coat, and we breed her to a standard-coated male, who also has a hidden gene for a wooly coat, we would be quite surprised and disappointed to find wooly pups. We do not want these coats since these incorrect coats hamper a dog's ability to work in the snow, so they do not conform to the breed standard. If we have a gray and while female that we breed to a black and white male and both carry hidden recessive genes for dilute, we would not be happy to see blue and white pups born. Even though they are now an accepted color, we do not wish to produce puppies that may suffer from skin and coat issues.

Having done the color panel and trait test, in both of these hypothetical situations, we never would have attempted either of these crossings because we don’t want long coats or blue and white color. This simply ensures that we are doing everything we can to only produce pups that meet the breed standard.

Another issue that we have found, is that thanks to greeders, social media influencers, the Covid puppy boom, and overall bad breeding practices, it is possible to end up with colors such as Merle in breeds that do not historically carry the merle gene. Merle is a serious issue for breeders who do not study or know much about it. Depending on the length of the SINE insertion in the mutated gene, and the dog’s base colors, merle may or may not phenotypically be visible. If you breed two cryptic merles together, you can have a lot of health issues in the puppies, including deafness, blindness, and birth defects. Merle is not found in either of our breeds but has popped up in breeds that historically do not carry it, such as Poodles, and French Bulldogs. 

Breeders of breeds that historically carry merle are well versed in the types of merle, and the different SINE length insertions, so they are well informed on what dogs they can and cannot breed together. Breeds that do not carry merle historically, do not have breeders that are well informed on these decisions, and why it is so critical to avoid breeding double merle puppies. 

We do not want to see merle show up in our bloodlines, if it does make its way into our breeds. Purchasing only from responsible breeders helps to negate and minimize this risk, but for us, the risk is too great not to simply test and ensure that we do not have surprises. 

And in regards to testing for diseases not found in our breeds, we feel that just because the disease is not common in the breed does not mean it can never rear its ugly head. Though it is not likely that one of our Malamutes end up testing as a carrier for  Cerebellar Ataxia, or X-linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, (just two random genetic-based issues that have not been seen in our breed yet but are tested for) we learned a long time ago to never say never in the world of dogs. We have seen Malamutes and Chihuahuas found to carry genes for MDR1 (which is generally only found in British and European herding and working breeds.)

Yes. If you ever need your dog boarded, you can contact us, ship or bring the dog to us at your expense, and we will board your dog. This includes boarding for natural disasters or state of emergency issues, or military deployment.

Not generally. We do not wish to have the responsibility of having a public boarding kennel. The only dogs we generally board are dogs that we sell. However, if you have other dogs in your household, and need them all boarded, we will board the other dogs alongside the one or ones that we sold. However, you must understand that dogs that we did not sell cost $5 more per day to be boarded, and the dogs, regardless of whether or not we sold them, do not ever come into the kennel facility or the house. They are all kept in the quarantine areas. We do not charge less if dogs share a yard either.  

No. We will board any dog we sell, plus other dogs residing in the same home, but we will not board other animals. We do not have the facility to board livestock, small pets, or exotics. We also do not board wolf, coyote, dingo, or other wild canine mixes.

If you ever find yourself in a position where you cannot keep your dog, you are required per the contract, to contact us. If you believe that you might be able to get the dog back in less than 6 months, we will board your dog for you during this time. If you do not believe you will be able to get the dog back in that time frame, you have some choices. You may choose to surrender the dog to us, and we may give you a discount on a future dog, at our discretion. We may also be able to simply help you rehome the dog, or if you already have a new home in mind, you must let us know who it is, and we will have the new owner sign a contract with us, to transfer any remaining warranties or guarantees. If you rehome your dog without consulting us first, all warranties and guarantees are voided, the dog is no longer covered by any warranties, and you will likely not be able to purchase another dog from us in the future.