Hi, I'm James. And I'm Laurent. And this is Beedi, our little Pomsky.
Pomskies are a fairly new breed. And when we walk Beedi down the street,
we constantly have people come to us, and ask us what kind of a dog she is.
And one question we get a lot is: Is that a Klee Kai?
I'm not that a Klee Kai, Daddy! I'm a Pomsky.
Klee Kais and Pomskies have this in common, that they are both a mini Husky-mix.
So, they can look very similar, and get people confused. This little guy here, is called Kai.
And Kai is a Klee Kai. And this little guy here, is called Meeko. And Meeko is a Pomsky.
But even though Kai and Meeko look almost identical, they are two completely different breeds.
And in this video, we'll explain all the differences between the two. So, let's go!
Difference Number 1: Alaskan Klee Kais are an official breed, when Pomskies are not.
Klee Kais and Pomskis are both a mix of several other breeds. And both are recent breeds.
But Klee Kais are now an official breed, recognized by the American Kennel Club,
while Pomskies are not. Pomskies are basically expensive mutts, at this point.
I'm not a mutt, Daddy! I'm a designer dog!
For us, we couldn't care less that our Pomsky is not a recognized breed. We love her just as much,
mutt or no mutt. But the reason why we bring this topic up, early in the video, is because a lot of
the differences, that we're going to cover in the rest of the video, come from the fact that
Klee Kais are an official breed, with strict breeding standards, while Pomskies are not.
Klee Kais only started in the 70's. And only became an official breed in the 90's.
So, it's a very recent breed. But there is remarkable consistency in Klee Kais.
Pomskies only started in the 2000's. And as you'll see in the rest of this video,
there is no consistency at all, when it comes to Pomskies. None!
There are groups, who are trying to make Pomskies recognized, as an official breed,
and develop standards, that Pomsky breeders have to follow. So, maybe down the road,
Pomskies will become a bit more uniform. But for now, that's not the case at all.
Difference Number 2: Klee Kais are an Alaskan Husky-mix, when Pomskies are
a Siberian Husky-mix. Pomskies and Klee Kais are both Husky mix. And people refer to them,
as mini Huskies. But the big difference is that Pomskies are a Siberian Husky-mix,
while Klee Kais are an Alaskan Husky-mix. We're not going to cover all the differences,
between Siberian and Alaskan Huskies. That would require an entire video, in and of itself. But we
are going to cover some of the basics, that impact the differences, between Pomskies and Klee Kais.
When people use the word Husky, they normally refer to the Siberian Husky.
It's a very old breed, that originated from Asia, as the name indicates.
People think of Siberian Huskies as sled dogs. But it's actually the Alaskan Husky, that makes
for a better sled dog. Alaskan Huskies are not a recognized breed. They were developed in Alaska,
by mushers, who tried to breed the strongest, and most endurant sled dogs. And they did this,
by mixing Siberian Huskies, with other breeds, like English Pointers, or even Greyhounds.
It doesn't mean that Alaskan Huskies are necessarily smaller than Siberian Huskies.
But they do tend to be leaner. They also tend to have a shorter hair,
because the other breeds they were mixed with, like Greyhounds, are short-haired dogs.
And they have bigger ears. They're not always pointy, like Siberian Huskies. And those are
some important points, that translate into differences between Pomskies and Klee Kais.
Difference Number 3: There is no Pomeranian in Klee Kais.
As the name indicates, Pomskies are a mix, between a Siberian Husky, and a Pomeranian.
And Klee Kais are a mix, between an Alaskan Husky, and an American Eskimo Dog.
And that's probably the biggest difference, between Pomskies and Klee Kais.
There's no Pomeranian in Klee Kais.
Klee Kais are not just Alaskan Husky and American Eskimo. There's also a bit of Siberian Husky,
and a bit of Schipperke, a Spitz breed, that is completely black.
The presence of the white Eskimos, and the black Schipperkes, are important details to remember,
as it relates to Klee Kais' coloring. Interestingly, some Pomskies can also have a
bit of American Eskimo in them. But most Pomskies are exactly half Husky, and half Pomeranian.
Difference Number 4: Klee Kais tend to be smaller than Pomskies.
Both Pomskies and Klee Kais are a mix, between a Husky and a smaller breed:
Pomeranian for Pomskies, and American Eskimo for Klee Kais.
Therefore, both breeds are designed to be smaller than a Husky.
But Klee Kais tend to be smaller than Pomskies, on average.
And the word average is important here, because there's a lot more variability
in Pomskies' weight distribution, than in Klee Kais' weight distribution.
Because of their strict breeding standards, Klee Kais' weight tends to stay within a narrow range.
On average, Klee Kais weigh 17 lbs, a little bit more for males, and a little bit less for females.
But small females can weigh as little as 10 lbs. And large males as much as 30 lbs.
Pomskies, on average, weigh 28 lbs. Here as well, a little bit more for males,
and a little bit less for females. But the range for Pomskies is a lot wider,
with small females weighing as little as 10 lbs, and large males as much as 50 lbs.
That's a very large range. And a much larger range than for Klee Kais.
There are several reasons for this large range.
The 1st reason is that, because Pomskies are not a breed, there are no standards that Pomsky breeders
have to follow. As long as they are mix, between a Husky and a Pomeranian, they qualify as a Pomsky.
The 2nd reason is that Pomskies are not always a 50/50 Pomeranian-Husky mix.
Breeders are still trying to figure out what Pomsky buyers want.
And some are back-breeding Pomskies, with Pomeranians, to create a teacup Pomsky,
that are more Pomeranian-like. Appa here, is a Pomsky. But is only 10 lbs.
Other breeders, on the opposite side, are back-breeding Pomskies, with Huskies, to create
larger Pomskies. Rocco here, is 3/4 Husky and weighs 40 lbs, which is bigger than some Huskies.
The 3rd reason is that, some Pomskies are not really Pomskies.
Because Pomskies sell for a lot of money, there are lots of scams on the Internet,
of shady breeders, passing off as Pomskies, dogs that are not really Pomskies.
Some of them may have some German Shepherd or Malamute in them, which makes them bigger.
And until their owners do a DNA test, showing they're not really Pomskies,
they skew the statistics a bit.
We're sure there are also Internet scams with Klee Kais. But it's easier to find
official Klee Kai breeders, that can guarantee that a Klee Kai is a purebred.
Because of the high variability, you can have large Klee Kais,
that are bigger than an average Pomsky.
And small Pomskies, that are smaller than the average Klee Kai.
But most of the time, Pomskies are bigger than Klee Kais.
To put things into perspective, Siberian Huskies are 51 lbs, on average.
Much bigger than either Pomskies or Klee Kais. But here again, there is a wide distribution,
with small female Huskies, being as little as 30 lbs, and large male Huskies, being as big as 80 lbs.
So it's possible for larger Pomskies to be bigger than a small Husky, especially if
they're 3/4 Husky. But you probably won't find any Klee Kai that is bigger than a small Husky.
Difference Number 5: Klee Kais are mostly black and white, while Pomskies can be any color.
More than half of Klee Kais are black and white. Remember the white American Eskimo Dog?
And black Schipperke, we mentioned earlier in the video?
And if you add Klee Kais, who are gray and white, they add up to around 90% of all Klee Kais.
Some Klee Kais can be brown and white or even completely white.
But it's a very small number. So when it comes to coloring, Klee Kais are really mini-Huskies.
They replicate the black and white,
or gray and white standards, that are most common among Huskies.
Pomskies, however, have a much wider variety in colors. We're not going to cover in details,
all the different Pomsky color variations. We already have a whole video about this very topic.
And we're going to put a link to that video, right here.
But we're still going to cover some basics in this video. Just like for Klee Kais,
black and white is a very common color combination for Pomskies, as well as gray and white.
But not quite half of Pomskies, are either black and white, or gray and white.
If you remember 90% of Klee Kais are black and white, or gray and white.
The most common color combination for Pomskies is actually brown and white.
Light brown, like Beedi, or darker brown, like Beedi's sister Maud.
For Klee Kais, brown and white is less than 10%.
And then, around 17% of Pomskies are white, or mostly white,
like Leo here, who is one of Beedi's littermates.
And around 5% of Pomskies are black, or mostly black,
like Mamba here, who lives just a few blocks down the road from us.
And some Pomskies can even be ginger, like Thai here, who's almost totally orange.
So, a lot more variations for Pomskies than the traditional black and white.
Including some very unique patterns, like Blue Merle Pomskies, that you won't find among Klee Kais.
Difference Number 6: Klee Kais tend to have shorter hair than Pomskies.
As we mentioned earlier, Klee Kais are an Alaskan Husky-mix, not a Siberian Husky-mix.
And Alaskan Huskies tend to have shorter hair than Siberian Huskies.
As a result, Klee Kais tend to have a shorter hair too. And, even though
there are some variations among Klee Kais, this variation tends to stay within a narrow range.
Pomskies, however, are not always short-haired.
Some Pomskies have medium length hair, like Theo here, who looks more like a Pomeranian.
And some Pomskies can be completely woolly, like Mamba here, and look more like little bears.
Woolly like that, is not something you'll ever find in a Klee Kai.
Because they have short hair, Klee Kai have skinnier legs than Pomskies.
Beedi also has skinny legs, when she's wet. But when she's dry, her legs definitely look bigger
than they really are. So, to summarize: When it comes to hair color or hair length,
all Klee Kais look like a Pomsky, but not all Pomskies look like a Klee Kai. If that makes sense.
Difference Number 7: Klee Kais tend to have a rounder face than Pomskies.
Aside from the fact that there is a lot more variety in Pomskies than in Klee Kais,
Klee Kais have a very distinctive face. So, let's look at the difference,
between Zina here, who is a Klee Kai. And Beedi here, who's our little Pomsky.
If you look at Zina's face, it's almost a perfect circle. And underneath her hair, Beedi probably has
a round face too. But because of her longer hair, her face is more oval, with hair that
extends on the side of her jowls. That's a very Husky-like feature, that Pomskies tend to have,
but that Klee Kais tend not to have, because of their shorter hair. And when Beedi plays
with other dogs, at the dog park, they love to grab the fur on the side of her face.
If you draw a triangle, between their two eyes and their snout,
you can see that Zina has a much smaller face, while Beedi's face tends to be a lot wider,
because of the hair on either side. And Beedi is not even considered to be a long-hair Pomsky.
Some woollier Pomskies even have more hair on their side.
Difference Number 8: Klee Kais tend to have bigger ears than Pomskies.
Here again, this comes from the various breeds,
that were mixed to produce Klee Kais and Pomskies. Klee Kais
are an Alaskan Husky-mix. And Alaskan Huskies, tend to have bigger ears than Siberian Huskies.
And most Pomskies are half Pomeranian. And pomeranians have tiny little ears,
that barely stick out of their fur. If we compare Zina and Beedi, side-by-side again,
you can see that Zina's ears are bigger and wider, in comparison to the size of her head.
vs. Beedi's ears, and the size of her head.
Klee Kais tend to have bigger ears, but their ears also tend to point more to the side of their head,
while Pomskies' ears tend to point more to the top of their head.
If we draw a line, extending the direction of their ears, you can see that, for Zina,
the two lines cross right at her snout, while for Beedi, the two lines cross much lower.
And we understand that every dog is different, and that dogs move their ears around. And they're not
always in the exact same position, as in these two pictures. But we picked Zina and Beedi, because
they illustrate a recurring theme, as to the size and position of Klee Kais vs. Pomskies' ears.
Difference Number 9: Pomskies can have fluffier tails than Klee Kais.
This difference is mostly caused by the fact that, Pomskies are half-Pomeranian.
Huskies have a skinnier tail, while Pomeranians have a fluffy, bushy tail.
And Husky-looking Pomskies will tend to have a more Husky-looking tail, like Beedi here.
While Pomeranian-looking Pomskies will tend to have a bushier tail, like Theo here.
On the Klee Kai side, there is no such thing as a bushy tail.
Their tail is always Husky-looking.
And in both cases, their tail tends to be curled up, like a Husky.
And Difference Number 10: Pomskies tend to be more expensive than Klee Kais.
Although neither breed is cheap, if you get them from a reputable breeder,
Pomskies tend to be a bit more expensive than Klee Kais.
In the US, the price of a Pomsky tends to vary between $2,000 and $4,000.
While the price of a Klee Kai tends to vary between $1,500 and $3,000.
And there's a lot of factors that impact the price of a Pomsky or a Klee Kai.
Buyers are willing to pay more money, for dogs that are more Husky-looking.
And there's a premium, for dogs with blue eyes.
Some Pomskies, with unique features, can even go for $5,000 or $6,000.
And if you find Pomskie or Klee Kais for less than $1,000, it's probably an Internet scam.
And your dog really won't look like advertised.
Or it will be a dog with unusual features, that won't conform to the standards.
Some of you are probably wondering why Pomskies are more expensive than Klee Kais,
when Klee Kais are a recognized breed, and Pomskies are not.
This goes to show that a lot of buyers don't really care,
whether their dog is a purebred or not.
And are willing to pay a lot of money,
for what can be considered as a mutt, if it's a good looking mutt.
Enough already, with the mutt jokes, Daddy!
Joking aside, people usually use the word mutt, to refer to an accidental mix between two breeds.
While they use the term designer dog, to refer to a mix that was done on purpose,
like a Labradoodle or a Pomsky.
Right now, Pomskies are very popular, and can command a high price.
And to be fair, when 1st generation Pomskies had to be bred from a Pomeranian dad, and a Husky mom,
artificial insemination was not cheap. And breeders had to incur high costs to breed Pomskies.
But now that there are enough Pomskies,
it's becoming more and more rare, to find a 1st generation Pomsky.
And most Pomskies, on the market, are 2nd or 3rd generation Pomskies.
So, hopefully, Pomsky prices will eventually come down, and get closer to Klee Kai prices.
So, we hope this video was helpful, in explaining the differences between Pomskies and Klee Kais.
If you enjoyed this video, like and comment below.
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Bye. Bye. Beedi says bye.