McCracken's Huskies

Miracle delivered 3 puppies today!   Two males and one female and all are healthy, strong and positively gorgeous!   I am so very pleased with this litter as Yuri's second as a sire.   This was a perfect match of structure, intelligence, temperament and beauty.   Pictures of the pups will not be on the website for a couple days as I really don't like to disturb them during this period but the puppies are incredible!   Absolutely perfect head shapes and all three puppies were well over a pound in size, strong and vigorous and are nursing wonderfully.   Both Yuri and Miracle enjoyed a huge steak for dinner and mother and babies are settled peacefully into the nursery!   I continually catch myself going in and sitting quietly and watching.   I'm not sure there is much more in life as beautiful and inspiring as newborn puppies and a content mother.  

Descriptions of the puppies are as follows:

Male one - black and white with small flash and very tiny white flash on back of neck.  White tipped tail and white right arm!   He is going to look just like Yuri!!!  

Male two - black and white with very narrow flash, no splash mark, white tipped tail and white left arm!   Black circle on white tummy!   Dirty faced siberian.   Absolutely stunning.

Female - Deep dark mahogany female with dirty face (tiny bit of white on cheeks I think) and a very tiny bit of white on chest but otherwise all mahogany.   She is on hold!  

What a wonderful Sunday!   Tomorrow I will be baking peanut butter dog biscuits for the pack as a treat.   Yesterday we spent the entire day working in the kennels.   Fresh hay for everyone, a good brushing and our monthly heartworm preventative.   Where is winter????

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  

The pack would like to know, "Where is winter???!!!"   The weather has been cool but certainly not "winter cold" nor have we seen a flake of snow yet.      Perhaps it's just running late?   Regardless, I hope it arrives soon.   There is nothing more beautiful than a snowy day with huskies running!   And the kids are excited to go sledding with the juveniles we have now (Heaven and Tamara).   I don't know who has more fun on these ventures, the kids or the pups but considering the smiles, laughter and racing puppies, I'm thinking it's all involved.

We are currently in the process of building new doghouses, as nobody is impressed with any I have tried.   The girls like to lay on top of them and I wanted some that seemed more functional (with the opening not too large for heat to escape in the winter, nor low enough that all their hay bedding ends up outside of it).   Thanks to a wonderful breeder in Canada who was dealing with the same issues, we now have a complete hit!   I will post pictures soon!  

Nanook, Shalimar and Sasha are enjoying their pups that we still have here.   Nanook must positively be the best mother I've ever seen.   She will still give her food up to Lobo and Tamara first before eating herself.   Her patience and dedication to motherhood have been a true joy to watch.   I liked the spacing of these litters, considering I had three at the same time.   It really seemed to work well.

Currently, we have Miracle due with a litter of puppies sired by Yuri.   This will be his second litter and I am so excited over it.   His first litter with Nanook was incredible and the easiest litter I've ever raised.   I have filled notebooks on observations of this litter and am so pleased their new owners are so informative with updates and pictures!   I will be watching Miracle's litter just as closely.   She is spending most of the end of her pregnancy sprawled out across my bed and the living room couch.   She generally does not go to her whelping box until right before delivery.   She is eating wonderfully though and besides craving the occasional spaghetti dinner, I am not seeing any differences in this pregnancy!   Puppies have dropped back some and I can definitely feel and see them moving.   She has also lost the hair on her belly, and I am wondering if she might go this coming weekend.

We have started a program with Walmart and Quest Recycling to get our meat for the pack (which are raw fed) and it has been working out wonderfully!   Our pack gets plenty of beef, chicken, lamb, salmon, and turkey.   Variety is important and I am really pleased to be able to now afford to give them salmon and lamb on a more regular basis.   In the winter I also add oatmeal and warm beef broth as they truly enjoy it.  

We have finally finished our future breeding list for the year (which you can see on our website) and I am truly looking forward to several of these breedings!   Akuma is a new addition to our pack, our first agouti siberian husky and I am so thrilled with him.   His intelligence matches Yuri's and Leo's and although he is still young enough to have plenty puppy in him he's extremely well mannered.   He is currently being bred with Beauty and their puppies will be arriving in January!  

I am considering posting a page on my website showing "before" and "after" pictures of adult siberians we have taken from a kibble fed diet to a raw diet as the difference is just incredible.   Hopefully I will have this up within the next month.  

Training-wise, I am considering and researching clicker training once again.   We have used this training in the past but as I do not always have a clicker handy, I have gone back to hand signals and verbal commands.   I would like to start a litter of pups early though with some clicker training to see the results of this.   All of our training is done with positive reinforcements and I cannot stress the importance of this enough.   There are many wonderful books on this subject and also trainers who use it, so if you would like some references, please ask!  

For now I would like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!!!   We will have more updates soon!

We are currently in the midst of our last 3 litters for the year.   So far, Nanook and Shalimar have both delivered their puppies with no complications whatsoever and Sasha is due in a week.    I am enjoying every single second with these puppies as far too soon they will be going to new homes and will be incredibly missed.   

I am so pleased with the quality of these puppies and have spent hours sitting quietly observing the dynamics of the litters.   So much can be learned from simple observation and it is a joy to watch them grow up.   Nanook's litter has playtime daily now in the living room and are discovering toys, textures, new smells, belly rubs and romping as fast as little chubby legs will allow.   Shalimar's litter has just reached the point where they will start their bio sensor exercises and are content now to cuddle up with Shalimar and nurse to their hearts content.  

Over the next few weeks I will be finalizing our future breeding plans for next year.   We have several up and coming stars in our pack who will have their first litters this next year.   Katinka is Leo and Miracle's daughter and it has truly been a joy to watch her grow up in our home.   Leo's daughters tend to be "talkers", both Katinka and little Sophia (his daughter with Shalimar) do their best to carry on conversations with us constantly!    Katinka is her father all over again.   A beautiful build on this girl, with a stunning coat and grace that is just beautiful to watch.   She will be bred next year with Yuri who has proven to be an amazing sire with this first litter of puppies he's had with Nanook.  

Tatiana is another upcoming star in our kennel who came from Iowa and has been Katinka's best playmate since they were very small.   It is wonderful to see these two girls romp and play and chase balls, tug with ropes and leap on top of their doghouses, toppling them constantly.   Today's goal is to strap these houses down so we don't have to constantly fix them.   Faith Ann is queen of their little group and could not be happier with this arrangement.   She is probably half their size, but being a couple years older, keeps the girls in line beautifully and the respect they give her is just wonderful.   

We also have the exciting news of FINALLY ADDING A STUNNING WHITE FEMALE to our pack!!!!   I have searched far and long for a white female and was thrilled to find this beautiful girl in Louisiana who is so beautiful she reaches right out and grabs your heart.!   A beautiful plush coat, ice blue eyes and the most incredible structure I've seen in ages.   This little girl is going to be spoiled rotten!!!!   Pictures coming soon as she is arriving tomorrow night!  Many thanks to Val and Dana for this beautiful girl!!!!

Our summer has been productive in that we've done everything we can to make our pack happier through the heat of Indiana.   We've installed misting systems in the kennels that have been wonderful.   We've also set up sun shades in some of our kennel runs that don't have as many trees.   This has been a wonderful investment.   They absolutely love them.   This is, in addition to our constant use of wading pools and ice blocks of frozen toys, treats, etc..........that they all seem to enjoy.   Even with all of this, we are so looking forward to fall.   As the weather cools and the leaves start to fall, everybody seems happier.  

We have rearranged our pack several times this summer and I believe we have finally found the perfect group for Faith.   She is currently in a large kennel run with Katinka, Tatiana, Sweet Tea and Miracle and is quite happy being queen of the girls!   Nanook, Shalimar and Sasha have been spending quite a bit of time inside our home, nesting and getting ready to deliver their litters this fall.   Nanook will be due first in just over a week but all three girls are doing wonderful.   We have been diligent with the healthiest raw diet possible at all times and also with our Nu-Vet Plus vitamins, which I swear by.   Healthy adults and the best care possible brings forth healthy strong puppies.   I am truly looking forward to each one of these litters and have been counting down the days for weeks now!

I have also been trying out some new toys for the pack, in the constant search for some that the adults can't destroy, and I believe I have found a winner!   Orbee balls, which I found at www.dog.com have been a huge hit and mine have lasted over three months now.   They are well worth the price and everybody has loved them.  

My children have become much more involved with our pack while home from school over the summer, which has been wonderful.   Lindsay will actually be helping to raise a litter of pups this fall.   She did this about six months ago and did fantastic.   I am so thankful for the joy and love our siberians have added to our family.   I cannot imagine life without them.

More updates soon, as the girls progress towards delivery!