|
Alex Couwenberg |
Marjolein Maenen |
Alex Couwenberg.
Although you would never guess today, Alex hadn’t even heard of Alaskan Malamutes until he met Marjolein.
Every time Marjolein mentioned “her dogs”, Alex became more interested in them as well. When we eventually went to meet Peter (AMK Chimarron’s) to see his dogs and to get to know the mother of 2 of our future dogs, Alex also completely fell in love with the Alaskan Malamute.
Nowadays, Alex loves to spend every free minute with the dogs;
and if he had the chance he would do so 24-7.
He trains the dogs about 4 times a week (if the weather is below 15°C), with a special trainings cart.
Often we go training with good friends, somewhere in B or NL.
We started entering training camps and sled dog races in 2006. For the races
we use our 'race cart', which Alex made together with his dad!
We often go for long walks in the forest and our vacations are usually planned with the dogs in mind as well; like going to Austria and enjoying our time in the mountains or having our winter holiday there or in Switserland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, etc.
Alex has been an active member of the AMCB
for a couple of years and since 2009 he started the activities commission
together with a couple of very good friends.
 |
 |
Marjolein Maenen.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been in love with Alaskan Malamutes.
I grew up in Dommelen, the Netherlands and a family that lived close to me had the most beautiful dogs.
One day, I went up to the owner and asked if I could pet his Huskies….He then told me they weren’t huskies but Alaskan Malamutes… And that’s how it all started.
As a child I used to nag to my parents if I could please have a Malamute, but since my dad has an allergy for dogs, that just wasn’t going to happen. Of course that wasn’t a good enough reason for a 7 year old with a passion…, so the nagging continued for years. At one point my parents just had enough of it, and told me: “ok, once you are old enough to have your own home, with a decent sized garden to keep a dog, we will get you a Malamute". So of course, when Alex and I bought our first home together I didn’t forget about that promise...
When I finally got my first malamute -Bailey- the "malamutitis-virus" stroke big time... At this moment we have 6 malamutes. Bailey; a sweet handsome male, everyone loves to cuddle him and call him the biggest cuddle bear. Qanuk; a very handsome and sweet male, he's Bailey's half-brother and the alpha of the pack. Kaya; a true beauty and very sweet female, who has a lot of energy... We went all the way to Poland to pick her up, she was more than worth it! Yucka, a sweet, wonderful and very energetic female, her mommy is our Kaya. Cane, a gorgeous young male, very strong and has a lot of power like his mommy Kaya. And last but not least, Diesel; a handsome black male, he was born in France, but also this trip was more than worth it!In my spare time I like designing websites and I also use my spare time for the Alaskan Malamute Club of Belgium. Since 2006 I'm the webdesigner of the AMCB and since 2009 I also became sponsoring responsible.