The breeds · northern
AKC Miscellaneous · UKC Northern Breed
Alaskan Klee Kai.
UKC: developed in Alaska by Linda Spurlin and family from the early 1970s to 1988 as a companion-sized version of the northern spitz-type Alaskan Husky; made available to others in 1988; named Alaskan Klee Kai in 1995; UKC recognition January 1 1997. AKKAOA: Spurlin used the Alaskan Husky, a small dose of Siberian Husky and smaller dogs of similar conformation; Klee Kai comes from the Eskimo words for "little dog". Wikipedia: also an American Eskimo Dog and Schipperke contribution; a companion dog and not a sled dog..
Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.
The lines
Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.
UKC Miniature variety: over 13 in and up to and including 15 in.
UKC Standard variety: over 15 in and up to and including 17 in (over 17 to 17.5 in a serious fault; over 17.5 in an eliminating fault).
UKC Toy variety: up to and including 13 in at the withers.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
Whole-breed row spans the AKC page (12 to 17 in) and the UKC varieties. The three variety rows below carry UKC cut-offs. Same for both sexes.
UKC Miniature variety range as printed; no single ideal, so center is blank.
High of 17.5 includes the UKC serious-fault band; the show cut-off is 17 in.
Low is the AKC page breed-wide minimum; UKC prints no lower bound.
Weight
UKC and AKC print no weight by variety (UKC: weight proportionate to height and bone). Wikipedia says the original 1993 AKKAOA standard gave weights and later revisions dropped them. The Wikipedia figures are editorial and the article contradicts itself between infobox and text.
UKC and AKC print no weight by variety (UKC: weight proportionate to height and bone). Wikipedia says the original 1993 AKKAOA standard gave weights and later revisions dropped them. The Wikipedia figures are editorial and the article contradicts itself between infobox and text.
UKC and AKC print no weight by variety (UKC: weight proportionate to height and bone). Wikipedia says the original 1993 AKKAOA standard gave weights and later revisions dropped them. The Wikipedia figures are editorial and the article contradicts itself between infobox and text.
UKC and AKC print no weight by variety (UKC: weight proportionate to height and bone). Wikipedia says the original 1993 AKKAOA standard gave weights and later revisions dropped them. The Wikipedia figures are editorial and the article contradicts itself between infobox and text.
Coat
UKC Miniature variety range as printed; no single ideal, so center is blank.
Shedding
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Heat tolerance
Derived from a double coat of northern heritage with ruff and furred tail (heavy double = 2). No measured data.
The dog at home
What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.
Energy
AKC trait bands are 1-5 scores, not measurements. AKC (openness to strangers 1) and UKC (aloof) agree.
Grooming load
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
A companion breed; not a hunting dog. AKKAOA states the AKC Foundation Stock Service accepted the breed in October 2020.
Also used on
Companion and sport use only; no hunting use is stated by any source read.
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Hip dysplasia
Voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so true prevalence is higher. Small n.
More
akc bands
Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.
What to ask a breeder for
The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.
- USAKK blood panel (CBC, chemistries with liver enzymes, thyroid profile)Dodds panel · Alaskan Klee Kai Association of America, Frequently Asked Questions (archive copy)
- USFactor VII deficiencyDNA · Alaskan Klee Kai Association of America, Frequently Asked Questions (archive copy)
- USEye examCAER (formerly CERF) · Alaskan Klee Kai Association of America, Frequently Asked Questions (archive copy)
- USCardiac examveterinary exam · Alaskan Klee Kai Association of America, Frequently Asked Questions (archive copy)
- USPatella evaluationveterinary exam · Alaskan Klee Kai Association of America, Frequently Asked Questions (archive copy)
How to read this page
Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.
Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 5 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Klee Kai, AKK, Mini Husky
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour alaskan klee kai, on the record.
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