Do Not set your pup up to fail. When asking your pup to obey a command such as "come" be absolutely sure that you can enforce the command. For example, do not let your puppy out in the yard to run around, then give him the command to "come." You may do all of the above but either do not give the command or leave a long leash on the pup so as to enable you to reinforce the command. All puppies have a limited attention span just as do small children. Keeping this in mind, keep training sessions to 15 minutes with small breaks (10 to 15 minutes) between sessions. Keep it fun and light, there's always time when he is grown up for long, serious training sessions. When teaching your puppy to "sit" for example, do not leave the pup sitting until it gets up, then you will have to correct him. Give him the release command such as "OK", etc. when you can see that he is going to break anyway and remember to praise and treat the pup for doing good. Always vary the amount of time that you expect your pup to hold a position. When teaching to "heel" don't always take 10 steps one way and 15 steps another. Always vary the time and distance of any exercise. Always make sure that you have your puppy's attention before you give him the command, you may have to keep a doggie treat in your hand to accomplish this. I have always had an aversion to bribing a dog to mind; however, I have been using this method with very positive results. After the dog is in the habit of minding, you can start to forget the treat on occasion and later for most of the commands.
Crate training, is accomplished most easily when the pup is on a schedule. Puppies under six months of age should be fed at least three times per day. You can expect your pup to need to "go potty" or whatever you call it 20 to 30 minutes after the last drink or bite. You may have to walk the pup around for ten minutes or so to get him to actually go. They will usually piddle right away, but it takes a bit longer for the solid stuff. Food and water should be picked up between feedings. Once you have established a routine and the puppy is consistently going outside and is not having accidents in the house, you may want to try free feeding. Even if you have to continue the schedule, you may be able to leave water down all of the time. This will be a trial and error thing for you to work through. Your schedule can reinforce the crate training because the puppy will not want to soil his sleeping area; therefore, when the puppy has played out and gone "pot" and is ready for a nap, put him in the crate. When he wakes up take him right outside then praise him lavishly for doing his/her thing in the right place. Some people who are not raising an outside dog have used the a litter box or shower as the potty place. It can always be completely sterilized before you use it. It sounds kind of gross, but it is much more difficult to sterilize the carpet. If your pup cries when put in the crate, do not under any circumstances let him out until he is quiet. You can accomplish this with the spray bottle of vinegar and water. Just as soon as he is quiet even for just a minute, you can take him outside to see if potty was the reason for crying, if not put the pup back in the crate. Establish a routine and stick to it until your untrained puppy becomes a trained one. By using the crate, you can also prevent you puppy from chewing inappropriate objects. When your pup first comes home, a teddy bear in the crate will help to keep him from being lonesome.
If you have a cat and allow that cat to sit on the back of the couch or in the window sill, do not expect your dog to stay off these places. A Klee Kai likes being in these places; therefore, you would be setting yourself up for failure to expect your Klee Kai to stay off them.
Never allow your pup to growl when you or anyone else approaches him when eating or any other time for that matter. If this happens, take the food away and/or make the pup sit until you tell it to break. You will have taught your pup that you control the food and that he must behave properly before getting to eat. Make him sit, then give the food back.
Never allow your pup to bite. Obviously, puppies chew on fingers and such, but when he bites too hard scream loudly in pain and tell your pup "easy." When giving treats you can expect this to happen in the beginning. A little bit of training will stop this behavior. You will have to watch children when giving treats. Do not allow your pup to hurt the child either. Children do tend to tease, I believe that this happens inavertently. I believe that sometimes when a puppy has been too rough, the child will pull away when trying to give the treat due to the fear of being bitten again. This will perpetuate unwanted behavior. Sometimes a child does intend to tease; however, I believe that most often this is a continuation of the original faux pas (mistake). Please be sure to supervise this activity and take the childs hand in yours (the puppy will have your scent and he can then recall the "easy" command you have already taught him) if the child is afraid or have him lay the treat in the palm of his/her hand to present the treat as you would when offering an apple to a horse. I have found that this usually will overcome the problem. In the meantime, you are close enough to prevent any serious mistakes.
If your pup runs from you in the house, thus instigating a game of tag, do not play. Keep a leash on him so you can catch him and reel him in whenever you want to. There is a Klee Kai lost in New York because he loved to play tag and would not allow himself to be caught. When you tell the pup to "come" and he does not, tell it "bad dog," grab the leash and real it in. Once the pup is directly in front of you, pick it up lavishly praising your pup for coming.
These are pretty basic rules, but believe it or not, this is the foundation for more obedience training and are absolutely necessary to have a good dog. A spoiled puppy develops into an aggressive out of control dog, just as do spoiled rotten children. All pups, not only Klee Kai, need these basics, however,this is especially true of Klee Kai due to the fact that many of them are Alpha personalities. Once you have taught them to respect you and all members of the human race no matter how small, their alpha personalities will be an advantage. However, if you do not establish yourself with them you will be calling me with problems and I know that is not my goal and I am sure it's not yours either.
If you are expeciencing any other type of problem, please call me. I have lots of experience and copies of many articles written on obedience and behavior problems. I may just have the one that you need. If not, it is possible that the instructors at obedience class will have the answer that you need. Some times the only answer that I will be able to give you is to enroll in an obedience class yourself.
Do not take your puppy with you when you have to be on time for an appointment. I can guarantee you that you will always will be stopped by complete strangers asking about the breed. I had one fellow who followed a car in which a Klee Kai was riding for twelve miles until it stopped in the supermarket parking lot. So, if you find a strange car following you, it isn't necessiarily bad if you have a Klee Kai in your car.
Lavish love and attention on your pup and please be sure to socialize him with people and dogs (after his last puppy shots at four months old) outside the household to develop a well-rounded companion.
Your puppy has been given an Eskimo name. You may choose to keep this name as his/her registered name or you may choose an Eskimo name of your own but choose a more common call name, or you may not want an Eskimo name at all. We at Klee Kai have tried to use these names to identify this breed as unique and as being from Alaska.
Thank you for becoming part of our Klee Kai family. I hope you will be pleased a year from now that you have make this choice. If at any time you are not, I want to be the first one to hear about it and the first one to try to help you out of your situation. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances change and it is not a viable option to keep a pet, I can understand that and want to help if I can.