I will be changing the “Dog of the week” to “Dog of the Month”. I was very ambitious to take on a new dog design every week, though I am happy about my efforts and the drawings they produced. The design work is, for me, the most time consuming part of what I do, and I feel that a new drawing every month allows me to give the time I need to the artwork.
June’s Dog of the Month is the Alaskan Klee Kai. What? Never heard of it? I have to admit that I was unfamiliar with it until a customer asked if I did custom work because her dog breed was not on my website list and it is hard to find items with her dog breed on them. I told her that I happily add new breeds at the request of customers. She sent me a picture of her cute pup and told me that it was an Alaskan Klee Kai. I immediately took the internet to find out all about it.
Klee Kai is the Eskimo term for “little dog.” The breed was developed beginning in the early 1970’s as a miniature version of the Alaskan Husky, a popular breed for racing and sledding in Alaska, though not recognize by the AKC. The Klee Kai is not recognized by the AKC either, but spayed and neutered dogs can be entered in AKC Partners programs and Companion events.
So what is the Klee Kai like? The miniature version is from 13-15″ and the standard from 15″-17″. They have a distinct facial mask and can come in any color except all white. They are quick learners and very active – like Huskies, they love to run. Here are some of the activities I found the Alaskan Klee Kai involved in: agility, freestyle, dock diving, weight pull, therapy and service dogs, carting, rally obedience, nose work. From my understanding, the Alaskan Klee Kai is one-family oriented and are very reserved around strangers, which is a challenge because they are so cute and people are drawn to them. However, like any population, there are some very social members among the Alaskan Klee Kai too, as must be the case if they are used as therapy and service dogs.
I was very happy to be introduced to this breed and to get to learn more about it. I will post my finished Alaskan Klee Kai artwork when I finish it. And soon after that, you’ll be able to find it among the other dog pottery on the Shepherds Grove website.
P.S. I am currently running a contest on Instagram – #mydoglovesmecontest Look at any of my most recent pictures to see how to enter. Good luck!!
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