NOTE: During my time as Chinook Owners
Association (COA) President
(1996-1998), I had the opportunity to address and COA Membership
with a series of letters in the Chinook Quarterly. The
following is from my Letter from the President in the
Fall 1996 edition of the Chinook Quarterly.
I have to start by relating an experience I had with
my first two Chinooks. Singing Woods Ayla (now age 11)
was my first Chinook. To an untrained eye, she looks
much like a reddish-gold German Shepherd Dog. North
Wind Kodiac (now age 10) came into my home about a year
later. He resembles a very light yellow Labrador
Retriever. When I picked him up from the airport,
I took him for his incoming checkup. Ayla went along
too, and when the Veterinarian saw them, he exclaimed
that these certainly were not the same breed. I assured
him they were, and he went on with the exam. After a
moment, the Vet had a puzzled expression come over his
face and he exclaimed, "They ARE both the same breed!"
Once he experienced them, he found something so distinctive
that he knew they were the same breed. Once you get to know Chinooks, you see why there are
sayings such as, "Do not judge a book by its cover."
Chinooks are more than just a physical description.
They are more than the stories we can tell about them.
They are an experience. When we go into the show ring
or hit the trail, Chinooks do resemble one another, but
the breed is not a "cookie-cutter" breed. It probably
will never be. Yes, we can describe their physical
characteristics. Yes, we focus on breeding only the
best to produce offspring that reflect the historical
look of the original Chinooks. Yes, we focus on breeding
for better movement and workability and all have great
stories that describe our Chinooks. However, along with
focusing toward this traditional look and performance we
should not forget that Chinooks are not just a picture
or a story. They are an experience.
How to describe a Chinook--that is the question. I'm often
asked to describe Chinooks to people that have never known one.
Because Tundra, my 3-year-old female, just had a litter of
nine puppies, I recently experienced answering many questions
from prospective families. However, it was really a question
on Chinook-L (the Internet) that caused me to think about
our Chinooks as a distinct breed. The question concerned
ear sets, and if we could predict them, or if they were
still a"surprise package." I started to answer it by just
saying "they are very much a surprise package," but I felt
there was more I could say . . . I was just not sure what.
To me, the most important characteristics of the Chinook
are personality and health. Everything else is secondary.
However, if that is true, how do we describe them as a
distinct breed rather than just another big yellow dog?
Back To The Top!
Back To The Top!
Joyce Maley
Questions and comments can be e-mailed to
hurricane@chinookdogs.com
Copyright Joyce Maley, 1999 - 2002
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