How long have you had both dogs? Are they both from the same breeder or are they adopted? Was the breeder registered with the UKC? What were conditions like at the breeder’s place?

I have never lived with a Klee Kai, so I am not too familiar with their temperament. My Husky breeder tells me that they can be aloof and skittish around new people. Here is part of their temperament description from Wikipedia-

Alaskan Klee Kai can be standoffish and cautious around unfamiliar individuals. Because of their inherently reserved disposition in the presence of strangers, continual socialization throughout an Alaskan Klee Kai’s life is highly encouraged.

ASPCA article on puppy socialization.
More on dog socialization.

I do people desensitization exercises with my dogs to help them be more relaxed around new people. I also do touch desensitization exercises with my dogs, to help them be more relaxed with handling and grooming. This helped to increase my Shiba Inu’s tolerance for handling, but he is a more aloof dog by nature, and is therefore less affectionate than my two Huskies.

I set up a fixed routine for my dogs and consistent house rules. In this way, my dogs know exactly what to expect from each other, what to expect from me, and what I expect from them in return. This helps to create certainty and certainty helps to reduce stress and conflicts.

More on how I set up structure and teach my puppy self-control.
More on how I deal with puppy biting.

I make sure to only reinforce/reward good behaviors, and to be very consistent with my rules. When my dog shows an undesirable behavior, I no-mark, and then I tell him what to do instead. For example, if my dog starts to jump on me when I am preparing his food, I no-mark, and then I ask him for a Sit (pre-trained). When he sits, I can reward him for the good behavior, thereby reinforcing something positive. However, if I give my dog food when he whines or jumps, then I will only encourage him to whine and jump more in the future.
More on how I train my puppy.
More on how I handle meal-time with my dogs.

My dogs work for all of their food (regular meals and treats). I make sure not to over-feed, so if I am giving them a certain amount of treats, I reduce their other food by a proper amount so that I keep their daily food intake consistent. I reward my dogs for simple commands, for following house rules, for walking well, for playing well, for being calm, etc. It does not have to be for something that I explicitly asked them to do at the current moment. However, the behavior needs to be something desirable, so that I am reinforcing/encouraging a positive behavior. Whatever food is left-over I put in a safe interactive food toy so my dog works for that too.
More on how I implement The Nothing in Life is Free program.

Finally, there are certain behavior conditioning (training) principles but dog behavior is also very context dependent. Each dog and situation are going to be different. The dog’s temperament, routine, environment, past experiences, and more will all play a role in defining his behavior. Therefore, I always make sure to listen to my dog first and foremost, and to adjust my training methods to suit my dog and my situation. Something that works well for me and my dog, may not work as well for someone else and vice versa.

When Shiba Sephy was young and I was having problems with some of his behaviors, I got help from several professional trainers. In this way, the trainer can observe my dog within the context of his regular routine and environment. He can also help me with reading my dog’s body language, with timing, technique, as well as management.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/

With my dogs, I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, I supervise very closely, and I use management equipment (leashes, gates, etc.) as necessary, to make sure that all dogs and people are safe. In this way, all my dogs know exactly what to expect from each other, what to expect from me, and what I expect from them in return.

Rules, structure, and consistency are very important for my dogs. They help to create certainty, and certainty helps to reduce stress and conflicts.
How I introduce a new dog into my household.

However, dog behavior is very context dependent, and there is even more complexity with multiple dogs. Therefore, when in doubt, I always get help from a good professional trainer/behaviorist.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help

These two articles have some good information on recall training-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-come-when-called
http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/teaching_rover_to_race_to_you_on_cue

I walk my dogs on-leash when we are at the park. My Huskies have really high prey drive so if they see a squirrel or deer, they are off like a shot. It is very difficult to trump their very strong instinct to give chase.

Thank you Veronika. 😀

Yeah, my Shiba Inu was also very dog focused especially when he was young. One thing that worked pretty well with him in terms of recall was to walk him with other dogs. One of our neighbors had a couple of dogs that Sephy absolutely loved, so when we went to the park with them, Sephy would be following our neighbor’s dogs. When she calls back her dogs, Sephy would come along too.

We later got a dog walker to do group dog walks with Sephy and that was also what she did for getting him to come back. The thing though is that we had to call back the dogs early, before we get too near other dogs. Otherwise, he might run to go meet the other dog, so the risk is still there.

What actually works best with Sephy are structured, small play-groups, with other dogs who also love to play. I do this in an enclosed space in my house, and I supervise closely to make sure that everyone is following play-rules. In this way, Sephy gets to enjoy time with other dogs, he learns good social behaviors, and he has a great positive activity to release his energy.

As for recall, the important thing is that when I issue the recall command, I need to make sure that my dog comes or if he does not, I need to have a way to get him back quickly and effectively. I need to be very consistent about that, or else my dog will learn that recall means sometimes come and sometimes not.

Also, recall is very dependent upon competing stimuli. If there is something out there that is a very strong and all consuming stimulus, then I will need to find something even stronger to deter my dog. This is why dogs with high prey drive usually get walked on-leash, because when they see prey animals, they switch to instinct mode, and it becomes difficult to get them to break focus on the prey animal. My Huskies have high prey drive so I always walk them on-leash when in unenclosed spaces.

This article from the ASPCA has a good list of recall training techniques and also what to expect-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-come-when-called

your articles amaze me and I love the positive approach that you use in your training methods. I would really like to ask you for a piece of advice, please. I have a 2 year old Golden Retriever. He is super energetic, really sociable (runs to every dog he sees) and is very smell-driven (when he catches the sense of something in the grass, it’s like he doesn’t hear me).

I really need to teach him more reliable off-leash obedience… When we’re alone he listens well and comes on command, this get’s a little worse when he notices an interesting smell (takes him a few seconds and maybe two recalls until he comes, but this isn’t such a big problem). The problem is, when we are in the forest and i let him off leash, he sprints after almost any dog that he sees. We’ve had an incident last week where a dog attacked him because he wouldn’t stop and return to me, he would just sprint towards the dog.

This happens sometimes when we are coming close to our front yard gate and he still wants to say hi to the dog down the street behind his fence, again, he just starts sprinting down and won’t listen when I call him back.

I guess you could say the main problem is a weak recall. Maybe I didn’t focus on this enough when he was a pup. Would you suggest that I put him on a long leash? However with this method I feel like, doesn’t the dog know when he’s on the leash and when he isn’t, and when we eventually go out without the leash, he’ll know he can run and nothing will stop him? Also, how long would I have to have him on this long leash before I could let him off leash? (I really need him to let his energy out, and on the leash, it’s difficult…. get’s tangled up everywhere all the time and he can’t run around and sniff around..) I hope it’s not too late at 2 years…

I don’t want to use punishment, I really want to work on a strong bond with my Arnie, just like you describe. Thank you so much in advance if you get to read this long comment.

Regards,
Veronika