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There is a point when you're headed into the North Maine Woods where everything starts to disappear. The pavement is long gone, your phone becomes basically useless, and the road ahead seems to stretch forever between the trees. That's usually exactly where we want to be. This past weekend, we packed enough gear for one night, loaded Nike into the truck, and headed roughly six hours north. We traveled through Millinocket, hit the Golden Road, continued beyond Telos Checkpoint

There is nothing quite like the day you bring home a new puppy. After weeks, or sometimes months of counting down, that little bundle of fluff finally walks through your front door, and suddenly all of the plans you've been making start to become reality. You imagine the hikes you'll take together, the training sessions ahead, the memories you'll make, and for us, the future of our breeding program. As many of you know, Victor's retirement from our breeding program due to cry

"An informed puppy buyer is one of the greatest advocates a breed can have." There are few moments in life as exciting as bringing home a puppy. For weeks—sometimes months or even years—you imagine what life will look like together. You picture weekend hikes through the woods, snowy mornings, camping trips, quiet evenings on the couch, and all of the little moments that eventually become your everyday life. You scroll through photos far more often than you'd like to admit, co

The philosophy behind health testing, lifelong responsibility, and preservation breeding at Dark Point Kennel. There are moments in every breeding program that remind you why you started. Sometimes it's watching a puppy confidently explore the world for the first time. Sometimes it's seeing years of planning come together in a litter that exceeds your expectations. And sometimes, it's something as simple as a date circled on the calendar. For us, August 1st is one of those mo

This Saturday, July 11th, we'll be loading up five dogs into the 4Runner and heading north. Really north. Our destination is Caribou, Maine—about three and a half hours from Dark Point Kennel—for a Gonioscopy and CAER eye clinic. All five dogs have been preregistered and prepaid, and while that's a long drive for a few appointments, it's one we'll happily make. One of the questions we're asked fairly often is, "How do you find these clinics?" The answer is simple: the Orthope

Some moments in a preservation breeder's journey become memories you'll carry forever. Saturday, June 27, 2026, was one of those days for us. After months of planning, paperwork, anticipation, and countless conversations across continents, Polar Souls Across Pandora Sky, affectionately known as Pandora, finally landed at Logan International Airport in Boston at 7:30 p.m., beginning the next chapter of her life here in Maine. For us, this wasn't simply the arrival of a new dog

One of the things we've always wanted Dark Point Kennel to be known for is transparency—not just when everything goes according to plan, but especially when it doesn't. We believe that responsible breeding isn't simply about announcing litters or producing puppies. It's about constantly evaluating our dogs, being willing to learn, and making decisions that put the long-term future of the Yakutian Laika first. Sonya at just 7 weeks old If you've been following our program for

If there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that dogs—and life in general—rarely stick to the schedule we've carefully planned. Whether it's an international flight delay, a young dog making an unexpected decision to chase wildlife, a new building project, or the annual battle against ticks, there's always something happening here at Dark Point Kennel. While we certainly enjoy the victories, it's often the unexpected moments that teach us the most. As summer settl

At Dark Point Kennel, we've always believed that breeding dogs is about far more than producing puppies. It's about preservation, stewardship, education, and a commitment to leaving a breed better than we found it. As we move through 2026, we wanted to take some time to discuss several important topics affecting our program, our future plans, and the broader dog breeding community. Breeding in an Age of Shortcuts One of the most concerning trends we've observed in recent year

There are some weekends that leave you feeling like you've lived three different weeks all at once. This past weekend was one of those. Between escaped pigs, goat fencing projects, puppy milestones, farm improvements, and preparations for an upcoming litter, there was hardly a moment to sit down. Looking back on it now, it's easy to laugh at some of it. In the moment, though, we were mostly just trying to keep up. The Great Pig Escape The weekend started with what should have

There are certain times in dog breeding when it feels like everything happens at once. Months of planning begin to come together, future goals start becoming reality, and suddenly the things you've been working toward for what feels like forever are finally within reach. For us, this is one of those seasons. For us, this is one of those seasons.

At Dark Point Kennel, every dog that joins our program represents careful planning, long-term goals, and a deep commitment to preservation. This week marked a very exciting milestone for us as we welcomed home a young Turkmen Alabai female from Hungary; a puppy we had been eagerly anticipating for quite some time. For us, the trip itself was an experience. Living quietly in rural Burnham, Maine, we are much more accustomed to dirt roads, peepers in the evenings, and star-fill