You're not imagining it -- I posted this piece a couple of weeks ago. Since then I've tweaked it so I'm posting it again. And I can do that. Why? Because it's my blog.
So there.
With all this publicity about Alaska swirling around, let's test our knowledge of Alaskan terminology, shall we? Who knows what an Alaskan Klee Kai is?
Is it a boat?
Image courtesy of Planet Earth Adventures
No, that's a Kayak.
Is it a fish?
Image courtesy of KRPGA.
Uh uh. That's a Kenai King Salmon.
Is it a river? Or an ice cream? Or an ice cream named after a river?
Image from Explore North
No. That's Klondike.
Give up? An Alaskan Klee Kai is a DOG. Not just a dog, but an adorable dog -- a miniature Alaskan Husky with some characteristics of the Siberian Husky and Alaskan Eskimo, that grows to a size slightly larger than a beagle. The breed was originated in the 1970s by Linda Spurlin from Wasilla, Alaska (no kidding), who created a new breed from scratch (no pun intended) because of her affection and admiration for one single dog:
"In the mid 1970's my husband and I had come down from Alaska to visit his relatives in Oklahoma. Of their various farm dogs, one of them was a 17 pound gray and white female husky. They called her 'Curious' because she was a curiosity to them. I thought this little creature was so cute that I asked if I could take her back to Alaska with us. They seemed quite pleased to be rid of an extra dog, and thus I acquired my first little husky. It seemed as though everywhere we went, people flocked around the vehicle to exclaim and marvel about this little dog. We went into a restaurant and discovered it empty because the patrons were over at the window looking out at our little dog! I knew I had to find a way to duplicate this little wonder."
Ever wanted a portable version of a large, feisty dog? The Alaskan Klee Kai is your man -- er -- pup. And look at that face. How could you not want to cuddle that face all day long?
Photo from Avaloniaacres.
Now you might ask: "Fee, we know you're a devotee of the Tibetan Terrierist -- er -- Terrier. What's with this sudden interest in the Alaskan Klee Kai?"
I got a call from a customer a few months ago, a Klee Kai breeder who wanted to design personalized calendars from FeeFiFoto for her breed club. You know dog people. We're They're crazy... about our their dogs. We'd much rather have a calendar with photos of our own dog than some stranger's, even if it's the same breed. She gathered photos from club members and uploaded them to FeeFiFoto; I helped her create calendars to sell as a fund raiser for the club.
I have a photo calendar with pictures of Bichons Frises on every month; I had two Bichons before Miss Puppy came along. I opened the calendar, cooed over the photos of adorable dogs and puppies, dutifully turned over a new page with the passing of each month, and never made a mark or a pinhole anywhere on the calendar. Why? Because a calendar with photos of MY. OWN. DOG. BREED. was way too valuable to be defiled by notations for dentist appointments and reminders to change the furnace filters. I still have that calendar, which I received as a gift in 1992, even though both Bichons are long gone and none of the photos of dogs in the calendar depicted my own pets, or even dogs that approached my beloveds in cuteness. I just can't stand to throw away anything with a picture of one of MY dog breeds.
The same thing happened when my niece and nephew were babies and my sister spent hours at some nameless national copy center, blinking frantically over a clerk's shoulder as he incompetently loaded her kids' photographs backwards or sideways to produce a rudimentary photo calendar that she gave to our family one Chanukah (Hannukkah?) Again, I hung the calendar and admired it breathlessly, never marking it even with pencil, and then I stored it in a drawer along with all my albums and loose photographs.
Now my customers and I can go online, upload our own photos, caption them as we like, and design personalized photo calendars with pictures of our own pets. The difference between having a photo calendar with someone else's photos on it and having one with your own photos is exactly the difference between displaying a picture frame on your desk with a picture of your own kids or dogs or cats and displaying the same frame with the glossy picture of the model that was in the frame when you bought it.
And that's how I developed my familiarity with the Alaskan Klee Kai. The minute she explained her goal to me I was all over it; I know exactly how it feels to KNOW that your pet is the absolute cutest, smartest, most precious creature on the planet. I understand the need to have a photo of your pet everywhere you look, whether it's on your purse, your coffee mug, your mousepad, or your calendar.
Piece of kibble -- er -- cake.
