Golden Harness Yearlings

Let’s talk about the SP Kennel Golden Harness Yearlings. What a dynamic bunch!

We knew very little about what type of pup this breeding — between two-time Golden Harness winner Quito and Kosak (look HERE for more info on him) — would produce. We thought that the chances were very good that they would have that extra energy and enthusiasm that all the “Quito” pups have acquired from their Mom.

But to bred in somewhat different genetics with Kosak rather than the traditional SP Kennel lineages was a bit of a gamble.
This gamble, however, has paid off! Now we are:

G – O – L – D – E – N.

Overall the standout personality trait from these six yearlings is that they have focus. They watch, listen and learn. They are certainly more patience than the Quito Pups that have come before them (Chipper, Izzy, Sandy… to name a few.)

The Golden Harness litter seem to have the enthusiasm, but perhaps some of the ‘high strung’ energy has lessened somewhat.

These photos (by Jeanne) shows the litter with Scout and their half brother, Woody, in lead.
(L-R): Woody and Scout, followed by Chevie, QT, Bruno, Dancer, McCaw and Jefe.

Chevie already has the confidence to run in lead. Pretty impressive for a youngster. She is tall and lanky. Her grey coloration comes directly from her Mother. She is a happy dog, but not silly. She is business minded when in harness.

Bruno looks exactly like Dad. He has become quite a bit ‘chestier’ than his lanky sisters. He speaks his mind when getting harnessed and certainly has some vocal chords on him. Bruno has never stopped working and likes a position right in the middle of the team.

QT is delicate-boned. She is very tall and this most likely accentuates her ‘Super Model’ stature. QT likes to scream at hook up and whenever we take too long of a break out on the trail. Her composure while working in the team however, is very mature.

McCaw is still the big fellah – long, tall and husky. He is really starting to get some rear end muscles that should be able to pull a tractor trailer before Springtime. We will see. McCaw gets excited at hook up and tends to jump all over the place. After we start, he does settle down. Thank goodness.

Jefe has surprised everyone with his chunky muscle, weight-lifter growth spurt. In the past two months he has changed from a puppy to ‘the Man’. His voice, however, does NOT correspond to his Mr. Universe body – it is high pitched and squealing. YIKES. Perhaps after puberty his voice will drop. If not, he can certainly hold his own if ‘push comes to shove’.

Dancer seemed like she was going to be the small intelligent one. But she has sprouted in the last month as well and now stands taller than all of the Coffee Pup girls. She is proud of that. Dancer is proud of a lot of things. She is the pup who notices the most things on the trail: “Do you see that grouse? Do you see that tree? Do you see that house?… Oh… that’s mine!”