Saber | Alaskan Klee Kai | Los Angeles, CA | In Training
- Alex Kruse
- Apr 5
- 19 min read
Updated: Apr 23
Meet Saber! He's a 2-year-old Klee Kai from Los Angeles, California, and he's here for our Three Week Reactive Board and Train Program. Saber loves his family and his fellow dog siblings, but after a big family move, he's been having difficulties adjusting to his new surroundings. He's become very reactive on leash towards both people and dogs, and will bite if he feels like his space is being invaded. He doesn't have much training with commands, and he suffers from separation anxiety. He's had a little backslide when it comes to having accidents in the house, as well. Over the next three weeks we'll work on establishing boundaries and rules with all his commands, we'll let him know that being away from family isn't the end of his world, work on his housebreaking, and teach him how to be calm when he's passing other dogs and people on his walks. Stay tuned for Saber's three-week transformation!
4/5/26
Saber and I headed home after our little session of getting to know each other in the park. The drive went pretty much exactly as I said it would! He was singing the songs of his people the whole way there, but he was really good about getting out of the crate with me. He's very responsive to the treats so I had a much easier time maneuvering him around than I honestly thought I would. We've been hands-off, just guiding him on the leash only, but he hasn't made any attempts to lunge or snap yet. He seems to be fine with me being in his space, but he sure starts singing again when he's alone! He'd clearly rather be with a stranger than alone, which is at least a little promising when it comes to his reactivity issues. Most of the time the badly reactive dogs hide or lunge their first day, so I'm glad he's willing to compromise with me on sharing space in that regard. On the other hand, the separation anxiety is definitely a big thing we'll have to work on! It's not great for him to be so stressed when alone, so that'll be my top priority along with the reactivity. Outside of that, he's been fairly cooperative with getting leashes on and off, and shuffling him between outside and in. I haven't made any attempts to touch him, which he seems to appreciate, and I watch his body language very closely for signs he might lash out. I was able to get him on the scale and sitting with only the usual small amount of struggle dogs tend to do when introduced to it for the first time. He's been sitting very nicely for me when I have a reward for him, so he's willing to listen to at least that when he knows there's a treat. This all feels like a good sign that we'll bond faster than I anticipated, which means we can truly dig into the reactive work earlier than I thought we might. I'm hopeful!
4/6/26
I have to say, the difference between yesterday and today in Saber is making me think I have a whole different dog! He did have a bit of a first rough night, doing quite a bit of fussing, so maybe he's just tired today, but I like to think he's just gotten more comfortable with his surroundings already. I put him out with my dogs in the yard this morning so he could have some canine company, and he did fantastic. He got along great with our male corgi in particular. Then I got him back in the crate in the car to take him to our weekly Off Leash group practice. He only fussed for about half the drive this time, then napped. Once there, I was expecting the same levels of reactivity he displayed yesterday with the other dogs, but through the entire session he only wound up sort of barking at a younger dog that arrived late. But he was over it quickly and we continued on with what we were doing. For commands today I mostly just worked on getting his Sit more solid, and also did some work on his Heel and just a little bit on the Recall. My bigger focus was exposing him to the other dogs and their trainers. He didn't try to lunge at or bite anyone, but there were moments when he was definitely giving warnings. Warnings are good, though, I'd much rather have that than biting out of the blue! Mike took him for a few minutes too, and there were no biting attempts this time. He also did a lot better at home once we got back. He ate all of his breakfast (he didn't like it in the bowl though, he only ate it from the ground lol), and then decided he liked me enough to follow me around and sit next to me. I haven't done much in the way of trying to pet him, I'm respecting his space, but I like that we can just chill out together already. We'll probably be able to get into the heavy training work faster than I anticipated, which is great. A little cheese and good company apparently goes a long way with him!
4/7/26
It was a big day today! I pet him! He was a little uncertain at first so I moved really slow and gave him treats, but once he realized I was scratching that magic spot at the back of his neck under his collar, he was all about it. Which was great because his collar is exactly what I needed to handle. I was able to swap it out for my tracker collar, and tomorrow I should be able to get the e-collar on him. I didn't push that one today since I need to be able to weave the longer strap a few times through the loops and I wasn't sure if he'd have the patience for that. So far so good though! We worked today at a low-distraction park so I can start building his obedience foundations more. He was able to extend the length of his Sit from yesterday, I got him to do Down pretty cleanly and started working on extending that one as well - we do this by introducing a release word to them and making sure the dog doesn't get up until they've heard their release word. Saber's word is 'Break!', which will be applied to every command moving forward.
I also worked on letting him know what position he should be in for his Heel, and while he's pretty good at maintaining it when there's some tension on the leash, I'm working on getting him to do it while the leash is loose. And then last we did some Recall work and teaching him what position he should be in once he's been called. Everything's a little slow and awkward right now, but he's smart, and now that he's comfortable with me I'm sure he'll catch onto everything quickly!
4/8/26
The progress continues! I was able to get the e-collar on him today with only a touch of his stink-eye, and I was able to use it without issues. We worked at another neighborhood park today where I ran him through the commands we've been working on over the past few days while also now pairing it with the collar. This way he can learn to move faster into positions when asked, but also to not break the position until he's been released. He accepted it all very well, which I'm guessing is because he's already familiar with e-collars so it didn't freak him out. I was worried that part was going to make my job much harder, but he's a champ! He's also calmed down at the house almost entirely. He got through the whole night without singing, and he really loves just lounging out in the yard with the other dogs. Sunbathing seems to be his favorite activity when he's not actively running around with his friends. He also let me pet him properly today after our session at the park. I let him hang out and sniff around and roll in the grass a bit, and when he was comfy and sprawled out, I chanced giving him a more thorough rub. He rolled on his side and let me pet his belly lol. Now that he likes me and I can work him on the collar, we can really start shaping up those commands!
4/9/26
It was another good day at the park with Saber today! He had no issues with me putting the collar on him, and in fact I accidentally tugged his hair a little in the buckle and he squeaked, but he did not try to bite me over it. I take that as a great sign! He was responsive to it when I needed to use it, which was namely on his Down position. He's been a little stubborn with that one, but he again doesn't try to get nasty with me when I'm letting him know he does need to follow through on the command. I also introduced Place to him today on the cot so he knows when I say the command he needs to go lay down on it and stay there until released. He's catching onto the concepts of the commands very quickly, so mostly with those we'll just need to continue refining everything so he's quick and sharp with them. There was another dog at the park today walking around that he noticed but didn't go after, but it was at a little bit of a distance. I'm going to start challenging him more with places that are more dog-heavy to see if I can get those initial reactions out of him I saw when picking him up. Now that he's more comfortable with me I'm curious if he'll start reacting as a means of being protective, but I won't know unless he does it, so we'll keep putting him in more and more scenarios where I might be able to see and correct the behavior. Otherwise he's doing great!
4/10/26
I made things a little harder for Saber today by taking him to one of my area's biggest parks. I made sure to take him during a slower time so it wouldn't be too hard to work on his basic commands, but there were still plenty of people around, a few dogs, and lots of squirrels. He didn't care about any of the people, for one. No one tried to approach us but some came pretty close on the walk path and he completely ignored them. When we saw dogs I made sure to keep him at a tolerable distance and made him sit. I'd let him look as long as he wasn't getting reactive about it, and any time he disengaged from the dogs, I gave him a treat. This is to help him learn that staring down fellow dog friends gets him either nothing, or a correction if he gets reactive, but keeping his focus on me and staying calm earns him rewards. For the squirrels we mostly worked on his Leave It, and this was hardest for him (naturally!). We only worked on that one for a little bit so I wouldn't overwhelm him too much with furry creatures teasing him, but he was getting the idea to turn away when I gave him the command pretty quickly. The rest of his commands are getting cleaner day by day, and he's testing me less on whether I'll make him follow through. He also continues to let me handle him more - there's still a little hesitant jumpiness when he's not sure what I'm doing, but there are no attempts to bite or any signs that he's thinking about it. It hasn't even been a week yet and he's already come such a long way, I'm really pleased with his progress!
4/11/26
Saber and I headed out to the upper Royal Oaks trail today where we could see plenty of dogs and people passing on the lower trail, but we weren't crammed right next to them. We worked mostly on refining his Heel more, having him Sit when I stop walking, and also taking some time to let him walk ahead to work on his Recall. I wanted to do this while he was super distracted and not just on a focused Sit because most of the time when you need to call them in, they're going to be off ahead doing something. It's especially important with him that he can come back in and relax even when he sees other dogs ahead, so getting it really solid with fewer distractions is an important step to getting there. We did pass a few dogs directly on the way back when the trail opens up wider, and while he was very alert and stiffened up some, I stayed ahead of him so he wouldn't get to the point of lunging or barking. We made more distance, used our Leave It command and the e-collar in tandem if he wasn't listening, and offered rewards if he disengaged. It's important to note that I'm not using the treats to lure his focus away from the other day. I'm waiting for him to look away either on command or on his own accord and then giving him a bonus for doing so. This is ensuring he doesn't think he's getting the treat for squaring up on the dog, and that he only gets it when he's choosing not to pay attention to them. He only struggled with it some when one dog started being reactive towards him first, which did make it harder to grab his attention, but he still didn't try to lunge or bark back. We're getting there!
4/12/26
I've come to the conclusion that Saber just doesn't like to get his photo taken lol. He'll sit for me all fine and pretty until I get the camera out, then he hunches over like a little gargoyle and it's hard to get him to look at me. I'm doing my best to make these cute, but I can see the wheels in his head turning as he contemplates how he can thwart my efforts lol. On the other hand, he at least does go into his Sit and Down every time, and he'll stay there until released or until I call him back to my side, so I guess I can cut him some slack on not wanting to be a supermodel anytime soon. He definitely gets a pass today since we worked in the Home Depot for the first time, so it was a lot of new experiences coming at him at once. He wasn't nearly as anxious as most dogs during their first run, which was great. It meant I got to do a little more with him than I normally would, and push him a little harder on getting those commands right. He understands everything now, so at this point it's mostly just working against his stubborn tendencies that pop up here and there. And then of course continuing to work on the reactivity. There weren't any other dogs in the store today to pass by, but I did work him much closer to other people than I have in the past. He gave some wary looks, and I made sure to avoid the hyper child just in case, but he didn't give me any signs that he was going to bark or lash out at anyone. Overall it was a nice session where we could stay out of the rain, and was a great indicator that he can function indoors with heavy foot traffic without having to worry about him biting. He was perfectly mannered today (even if he didn't want his picture taken!).
4/13/26
It was group practice again for Saber, and I was thinking maybe since he's more attached to me that I might see more of that reactivity with other dogs, but no. He was still mostly okay. He mumble-talked a little bit when a bouncy puppy was nearby, but was quick to quiet down on command. The only time he actually snapped was when an off-leash shepherd got right in his face. Saber very firmly told the dog to back off, and it did, and then everything went back to fine. He was a little skittish when people moved too quickly around him, but a few of the trainers braved petting him even when he was looking shifty. Again, he was fine with it once he realized they were petting him in the places he liked, but he does always sort of shy away at first. I wouldn't recommend having strangers just come up to pet him since really it just isn't his favorite thing anyway, but he is capable of being nice when people go slow with him. I also worked him around and past the other dogs. A few of them he leaned towards in a curious way, but outside of the previously mentioned moments, he wasn't trying to lunge at anybody. His biggest issue is still going into that Down on command! He'll do it, but he likes to push back on the first ask every time unless he's on his cot in a Place position. Something about laying on the ground when told is beneath him, apparently, lol. He'll get there, though, we still have two more weeks to get it right!
4/14/26
I brought Saber over to the Library Park today for some more distraction work. It's a big park in the center of Old Town Monrovia where there are usually lots of dogs and kids running around, and a few squirrels. We worked on our Heel on the pathways just walking close by other park-goers. He tried to sneak a few sniffs at some people, but no reactive behaviors, and a quick Leave It command had him snapping back to attention. He was fantastic with his Place command today, going right into it without fighting me at all regardless of where I put him. I didn't actually teach him to put his head all the way down like he's doing. I think it's his way of pouting that he has to lay still for a little while lol. I'll take it though! He was really sharp with his Recall today too, and with holding his Sit commands. He was once again interested in other dogs and perked up when he saw them, but there were no growls or barks or even muttering today. He just looked, disengaged, got his cookie for that, and moved right along! It was a perfectly pleasant park visit!
4/15/26
Saber and I headed out to Live Oak Park today where there are usually big activities going on here and there. It was a little quieter today than usual, but we still passed by a few dogs, a scooter, a crowd watching Pickleball, and near the playground (it's always crawling with screaming, running children so we'll save getting close up to that one for another day!). Saber barely looked at the other dogs, was a little curious about the scooter, but outside of that just seemed to enjoy his walk just fine. After the walk I worked him on his commands in the soccer field a bit more. We've been working on his Down a lot since that's the one he's been pushing back on the most, but now I have to go back to having him just Sit because he keeps going straight into that Down instead! I introduced the command "Stand" to him today, which is just asking him to stand up. If he knows all three, then he can't predict which one I'm going to ask for next, so he actually has to listen to what I'm saying and reading my hand cues instead of just assuming I'm going to ask for that Down. He was very confused by it, which most dogs are at first, but he was starting to get the idea by the time we finished! I'll keep working on it as it's a good command to have in your pocket for dogs that need brushing anyway. You can ask him to stand up on command when you need to reach those back areas. On top of that, he's really made himself comfortable at home now. He's been going potty outside with no accidents in the house, he only makes noises when he's playing with the other dogs, there haven't been any squabbles, and he actually gave me some kisses this morning! He strolled right on over and licked the back of my hand a couple small times. Made my whole day!
4/16/26
I walked Saber through Old Town Monrovia today, which has narrow sidewalks for passing, outdoor dining areas where dogs are usually tucked under chairs, and surprise people coming in and out of businesses. Saber was an absolute gentleman. He sat when we were waiting to cross streets without being told, he stayed at his Heel, he's still interested for sure when we come across other dogs but no lunging or barking even when he was surprised by one, and he was able to do his Place beautifully for me. We worked on his Recall more when we got to the park at the end of the street, and he had no issues with that either even when I purposely brought us close to a little yappie yorkie playing ball. He would watch the dog, then I'd call him, and he'd come right over without any hesitation. We still need to refine his positioning just a little bit more on his proper place at the end of the Recall, but he comes every time which is the more important thing. And he isn't pushing me on his Down anymore. He truly impressed me today!
4/17/26
I brought Saber out to the dog park today to test him again around other dogs. We didn't go into the park, just worked along the fence outside it and around in the field across the parking lot. Most of the dogs were on the other end of the park unfortunately and didn't come running up to the fence, but a few came over to say hello and Saber was totally unbothered by them. He sniffed, touched noses, then we went on our way with no fuss. A couple german shepherds were in the field trying to greet each other when we were over there. They both got reactive with each other a little bit, but Saber just watched curiously and had nothing to say about it at all. He performed all his commands for me with only a little bit of getting sidetracked by what was going on, and we went on our way! Last night we also had him just wandering around in the living room as we had some guests come over. He was laying on his cot and definitely watched people for the first few minutes, then laid his head back down and went right back to snoozing, totally ignoring them. I gave him a treat here and there just for doing nothing to help encourage that 'doing nothing' is exactly what I wanted. Everything went great and he didn't even move when they got up to leave. He's really mellowed out with everything over the weeks!
4/18/26
Can Saber handle Live Oak Park in the middle of a Saturday where there's soccer games, a ton of screaming children on the playground, several other dogs, and walking with a friend and their dog? He sure can! He didn't even blink at the kids even with as noisy and fast as they were. He just held his commands like nothing was happening in the background that was any cause for concern. He got a little feisty when a Boston/Frenchie mix was going psychotic at the end of its leash, but he didn't bark or growl at it or anything. He did break his Sit and took a couple steps forward before I corrected him, then right back into his calm, quiet Sit he went! He had zero issues walking along with my friend's dog, which was great considering she can be reactive as well. He didn't mind any of the people or the sports players at all either. It was just a lovely, warm day wandering around the park!
4/19/26
I keep challenging him and he keeps passing with flying colors! I brought him into the big Santa Anita mall on a Sunday when it's nice and busy, and he was great! He was definitely a little anxious, which is common for most dogs when they first cruise through the mall during peak hours, but it didn't keep him from doing his commands and holding his positions despite all the people moving around him. We passed a few other small dogs here and there as we were walking through, and he barely even looked at them. The only thing he struggled with a little bit when we first got in was his Heel. He was so busy looking around at everything that he lost track of where I was here and there. There was never any pulling in front, just off to the side a little too much, and it was easy to correct. He did fantastic for how busy it was and all those people moving closely around him. No one would've guessed he started out as reactive as he was!
4/20/26
We had our last group session with Saber today, and he did amazing. We had one small moment where his hackles went up slightly around a big puppy that was being chaotic, but he settled down pretty fast and didn't make any noise or attempts to lunge. I just walked him away, re-set, and he was totally fine after that. He was able to get pets from people without issues, some dogs sniffed him and he sniffed back, we had dogs laying next to him on a bed, and he did all his commands like the little pro that he is. One of the other trainers said he's become a whole different dog, which made me very proud of how far he's come! Don't worry, though, he still very much has his lovable, playful personality intact! He's become a well-balanced, fun little guy to hang out with all around!
4/21/26
Saber did awesome today! We went back to the mall to give him a little more exposure to those busy indoor environments. He was much less anxious today and did really well focusing up on me as we were Heeling through the halls. The only times he got nervous were when excited kids went by while he was doing his extended Sit. It happened two different times! He didn't go after them at all, though, he just pinned his ears back slightly as they screamed things like, "A baby husky!" and then started slinking towards me without being released. I simply put him back in his spot and started again until he gave them that Sit without breaking. Everything else he did with no issues like the pro he is!
4/22/26
For today's video I wanted to showcase some of Saber's home skills, which mainly focuses on the Wait command. We use Wait any time we want to basically hit the pause button on what your dog is doing or wants to be doing. It comes in handy to curb some of the impulse control chaos we often see at the worst moments! For the video, we're demonstrating waiting before getting into the car, which helps if you're trying to load things or children in and don't want your dog flying into the seat and getting in the way. He should also Wait before getting out of the car, especially if you're parked along the street and need to be worried about traffic. He should Wait until released when he's fed his meals, as well. He's not a fast, messy eater, but making him Wait for your cue helps establish the fact that you're in control of when he's allowed to eat, which helps boost your role as the authority figure. Then, most importantly, we want to make sure he knows to Wait at doors. He should not be going through any door or gate until you tell him it's okay to do so, which will prevent those moments of dashing out the doors when they're open. This one he caught onto pretty quickly, so as long as practice is kept up at home, he'll keep being a well-mannered boy!
4/23/26
We had such a great day for Saber's last one before his break! We did some practice at the park, and he excelled in all his normal things, but then he also became my calm, obedient dog to help work with another reactive dog. The student has become the master, lol! Normally when we work with reactive dogs, the dog being introduced into the reactive dog's space needs to be super calm to help keep the situation from escalating at all. We keep distance to make sure both dogs stay safe, but the new dog did act out towards him a few times. Saber super did not care at all. He just kept on walking with me and following my lead when I gave him instructions. He went from one end of the reactive spectrum all the way to the other in a relatively short amount of time, and I'm really really proud of how far he's come over these last few weeks! Both at home and while we're out, he's become a fantastic little guy, and I'm going to miss him over this break! I'll be looking forward to seeing him again when it's time to reunite him with his brother!
Comments