NPS Photo
Welcome to the home of the Puppycam, an annual webcam that depicts the early lives of sled dog puppies at the Historic Park Kennels at Denali.
The webcam is available each year during the time that we have puppies. This is variable year-to-year, and it depends on:
- when our breeding female enters her heat cycle and
- whether or not our breeding is successful.
Intact female dogs generally go into heat a couple of times a year. Breeding usually takes place in late winter or spring, but the exact date varies depending on when the chosen breeding female goes into heat. With a successful breeding, the puppy camera might be turned on as early as May or as late as August in a given year. Even when a female is in heat, however, she may not be receptive to the breeding male; and even if the big event occurs, she may not become pregnant.
June Update: This year’s planned litter will hopefully arrive in early August.
We were able to breed Clove and S’more in early June and gestation is 60-65 days once a breeding takes place. Each year we carefully assess our dogs’ performance to choose just the right breeding pair. Clove is a 4 year old female and she and her siblings have all shown great leading skills on the trail in winter. S’more is an impressive 2 year old male who shows early signs of being just as talented in leading as his father, Lucor.
Fingers and paws are crossed for a healthy pregnancy for Clove and an easy delivery if/when the pups arrive. Remember the old adage, “Never count your pups before they whelp.” For the first few weeks of their lives the pups and mom will be busy eating, sleeping and growing inside their house. Once they are about three weeks old and starting to venture outside we will turn on the puppycam for everyone to enjoy their adorable antics sometime in late August. Stay tuned!
And as always, we'll post updates on the pups and the dogs on our blog.
—Jennifer Raffaeli, Kennels Manager
