Breathy sound of dogs reaching pole, having kept north (9)

'breathy sound' is the definition.
(as in a husky or breathy voice)

'dogs reaching pole having kept north' is the wordplay.
'dogs' becomes 'huskies' (husky is a kind of dog).
'reaching' says to put letters next to each other.
'pole' becomes 's'.
'having kept' indicates putting letters inside.
'north' becomes 'n' (synonyms).
'huskies'+'s'='huskiess'
'huskiess' enclosing 'n' is 'HUSKINESS'.

'of' acts as a link.