Building Your Alaskan Klee Kai Puppy’s Confidence
Raising a Confident and Obedient Pup
When beginning to raise your young Alaskan Klee Kai puppy, there are a few things that are important for your puppy’s growth and development. Beyond the usual nourishment and love, your puppy needs your help to build their confidence.
At Kika’s Klee Kai, we are committed to not only starting the confidence building process with all of our puppies, but also to educating you as a new Alaskan Klee Kai owner in how to continue building that foundation. Continue reading to learn more about building your puppy's confidence, and contact our team today with any additional questions!
Socialization
A major part in the process of building a confident Alaskan Klee Kai puppy is socialization. This should be a major focus when the puppy is 8 to 12 weeks old. Socialization helps build confidence as it introduces them to many new things during an age where they are less fearful and anxious. Using the puppy’s rambunctious personality and early confidence to socialize and introduce them to things that may make them hesitant or scared in the future will build their lasting confidence against these specific things. Below are the major categories of socialization to focus on within this time, and it is important to note that you want to introduce them to as much variety within these categories as possible.
Sounds
People
Places
Other Dogs
Desensitizing
In addition to socializing, you also want to desensitize your Alaskan Klee Kai puppy to different textures and feelings that could make them feel insecure in the future. This should include introducing them to a variety of surfaces such as grass, concrete, carpet, hardwood flooring, and large toys such as plastic or wood at the dog park.
If you notice that there is something that your puppy is already hesitant about, introduce them to it from a distance, and then motivate them with food. This helps make them feel comfortable about the new things and slowly desensitize them to it. Doing this in these early stages will also help build that lasting confidence your puppy will need to flourish the rest of their lives.
Obedience Training
Desensitization to distractions and scary situations can also occur through obedience training. One of the first things that we encourage you to do with your Alaskan Klee Kai puppy at Kika’s Klee Kai is to teach them their name to get their attention. That is the first step to more complex obedience training such as staying near, sitting, and staying. As their obedience training grows, your puppy will not only become more confident, but they will be desensitized to loud noises, crowds, and other distractions as you will be able to easily pull their attention to you whenever they are feeling anxious or scared. Over time, they will have enough confidence that those situations or sounds won’t be an issue for them at all.
What Role Does the Breeder Play?
To start, breeders have a major role to play in the building of an Alaskan Klee Kai puppy’s confidence. The environments that these pups are first introduced to, socialized in, and desensitized to in the first few weeks of their lives set them up for success or failure in terms of confidence. This means that breeders need to make sure that they do their part in starting the process of building that confidence. In addition, this is what makes it so important that the soon-to-be-owner also takes the time to choose the right breeder to ensure that the puppy has been provided with this foundation of confidence, as well as does their research to better understand how to continue that confidence building.
Kika’s Klee Kai
At Kika’s Klee Kai, we are dedicated to providing Southern California with confident Alaskan Klee Kai puppies, along with the knowledge and tools needed to raise the confident pup you have always dreamed of owning. Much like young children, it is important that you allow your new puppy to explore and experience as much of the world as possible, but doing so safely. With the techniques discussed above for socialization, desensitization, and obedience training, you will be able to do just that. Contact our experienced team today at info@kikasleekai.com with any questions you may have!