From what I have seen of most northern breeds whether they are husky, malamute, and a lot of other breeds is outside of their 'home' environment, they can be shy since they are very tuned to pack orientation. Once they're out of their 'home', they're in another's territory. Socialization at a very early age helps alleviate this problem in most all the breeds because it produces a false sense of security on where the boundaries lie.
If we focus on high-percentage animals, my experience has been that some do produce what I call a natural genetic shyness that no amount of socialization will correct. I have not seen this in animals that come from parents that have been in a nurturing captivity environment for a number of generations. I believe these animals were bred to promote that 'mellow' and 'calm' feature. The 'wildness' is not bred or culled. These are excellent stock for companion animals. Animals that come from game farms were bred to retain the wildness and shyness because they're hunted for pelt. Only a 'fluke' would produce a calm animal because the wildness is promoted genetically. These are NOT the types of animals that should ever be used to produce a companion.