A dose of cuteness-the Denali Puppy Cam returns

Between the rising gas and food prices, the soggy rains, and hustle and bustle of daily lives, who couldn’t use a little cuteness right about now? The cure? The Denali Puppy Cam!

The live Puppy Cam is back at Denali National Park and Preserve, in time for the kennel centennial. This year’s litter was born on June 18, and at a month old, the puppies are exploring their surroundings, playing, and maybe causing a little mischief.

The sire is Steward, a park lead dog, and the dame, Olive, comes from a well-respected partner kennel in Healy, Alaska.

A quick view shows a protective mama dog closely watching her litter as park guests stop by for a quick visit to the pups as a brave one steps out of the doghouse and explore the world around them, which includes an obstacle course and a doggie pool.

This is the 100th year or operation for the kennel, and the puppies have been named in honor of the first dogs acquired by Harry Karstens, used for patrolling the park back in 1922. The pups’ names: Bos’n, Skipper, Dynamite, Mike, and Rowdy.

The Denali Sled Dog Kennel has been the only sled dog kennel in the National Park Service and at 100 years, and is one of the oldest sled dog kennels in the country. Dog and man have worked together since 1922 to preserve the park’s wilderness, even as the role of the kennels may have changed during the last century.

The Denali sled dogs have a long lineage and history of being tenacious, a passionate love to pull and run as part of a team, and adept to being sociable with the thousands of visitors to Denali National Park.

Besides being adorable, the dogs at Denali are authentic working dogs; they continue to haul materials in Denali’s 2 million acres of the federally designated wilderness area, provide transportation for rangers during the winter months and are a part of the park’s popular interpretive program during the summer.

Managers of the dog kennels take great care in breeding for qualities suitable for the challenges and responsibilities of a Denali sled dog. Their physical traits include long, strong legs to break trail through deep snow, compact paws to resist buildup of ice between toes, and sturdy coats and puffy tails needed to keep warm in the depths of frigid Alaskan winters.

To catch the pups, visit www.nps.gov/dena/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams-pups.htm

Visitors to the park can visit the kennels and maybe glimpse the puppies daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The park offers free sled dog programs at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m.