Alaskan Klee Kai

I decided to make this hub because I believe the Alaskan Klee Kai to be a great breed. Even the name sound cool right? Well the term Klee Kai was derived from the Alaskan word Athabaskan which means small dog. They are a smaller miniature size version of the Alaskan Husky but it's similar to the Siberian Husky in order to adapt much better to live indoors. It could be a good alternative for someone who always wanted a Siberian Husky but just didn’t have enough space for such a large dog.

This breed appeared in the 70’s in Wasilla, Alaska by Linda S.Spurlin has a result of an accidental mating between an Alaskan Husky and smaller dogs like Schipperke or American Eskimo Dog. The purpose was to bring down their size without inducing dwarfism and create a companion and house sized version of the Husky. From the 70’s to 1988 Linda and her family carefully selected dogs who met the standards required and it was only in that year the public got to know about them. The original name was Klee Kai but the name developed to Alaskan Klee Kai and it was officially recognized by the American Rare Breed Association and the Federation of International Canines in 1995 and by the United Kennel Club in 1997.
You can read the history told by Linda here

The Alaskan Klee Kai is an energetic, relative easy to take care and intelligent dog that’s suitable to remain indoors without much problems. Since they are very smart they respond well to commands like “seat”, “stay” and so on. They’re very clean, spending lots of hours every day grooming themselves, so they will not require to take baths very often. That’s good because they aren’t very fond of water anyway. One distinctive characteristic is their facial mask and its contrasting colors. The ears are erect and pointing up, well furred and with a triangular shape. They are exceptional guard dogs as they sound the “alarm” for every little noise since they are very cautious when meeting unfamiliar individuals. It is should really encourage them to socialize with other people in order not to have any problems in the future. They can be great family dogs if encouraged to dwell amongst children and family members since puppies.
They weight somewhere between 2,5 kg to 10 kg and According to their height there are three sizes of the breed of Klee Kai:
-The Toy size reaching up to 13 inches high
- The miniature size reaching up to 15 inches high
- The standard size reaching 17 inches high

They have a double coat which comes in three different color varieties. Black and white with some diffusions of these colors, gray and white with some variations, red and white and all white. The lower belly, feet, legs and throat have a lighter color than the rest of the body. They have short hair but will only shed in abundance two times a year in which they should be groomed constantly. The tail curls in the end and it’s well furred.

Usually breeds “made” by human hand tend to have serious genetics flaws and real problems during their lives. That’s not the case with this breed, as it has been mostly free of genetic defects. However there are rare cases where they can get some problems like cleft palettes, cryptorchids, juvenile cataracts, cardiac problems, liver disease, pyomera and luxating patella. They have a life span of about 13 years and produce small litters of 1 to 3 puppies.

They are a shy and suspicious dog and the training should begin in the early stages, specially if you want the dog to socialize well with other humans since their not prone for lots of human contact. They really need some persistency from the owner’s part to let them accept other adult humans and children. It doesn’t matter if the person is a close relative of yours, the dog will be fearful of them anyway. If a puppy is raised surrounded by people he’ll remain well behaved for the rest of his life. Of course this isn’t obtained in a couple of days, it takes months of training and above all patience. They have also a high prey drive. Anything smaller ( and sometimes even bigger) than them is viewed as a possible prey. Be sure to be cautions when they’re near other small dogs.

This breed needs some special attentions that makes it not the perfect dog for everyone. Some things must be taken into consideration before considering owning one. As puppies they can be very destructive because they can chew everything from wires to clothes and so on, proper training is required since their very young. They also love to dig and this can became a problem if you have a garden. They are quiet intelligent and become easily bored so it’s important to have lots of dog toys around the house to ensure that when you get home you won’t have the house upside down. In order to help them to socialize better they should be walked around populated areas. Along with helping the socialization this also helps them to view their owner as the leader of the pack. Bear in mind, specially if you live in a populated neighborhood that they are very loud. Not so much barking but lots of howl.