Call name: Ginger
OFA Good, CERF Normal
Born October 5, 2003
Breeder:  Richard Strle (Bear Creek Chinooks), Joyce Maley (Hurricane Chinooks), and Ginger Corley (Rain Mountain Chinooks)
Sire:  PR Rain Mountain Steele of Bear Creek
Dam:  Grand Ch. PR Hurricane Starseeker

It may take a village to raise a child but it took a lot of transportation to raise Ginger and her siblings.  During the summer of 2003 Joyce Maley traveled from South carolina to Seattle for the Chinook National Specialty.  Just the day before the Specialty, Joyce had helped me whelp a litter from Rain Mountain Jenna of Bear Creek, a beautiful female from the Rain Mountain 1996 Snowflake Litter.  Jenna and her siblings were sired by North Wind Riki of Bear Creek, a wonderful working Chinook who'd ranked at the top of his class worldwide in IWPA weight pull competition and who excelled on the Bear Creek Racing sled team.  Riki had only this one litter of offspring and we were determined not to let his genes fall by the wayside.  Jenna produced twelve pups in total out of her two litters with Ch. WoodsRunner Rorik and her sister Rain Mountain Anasazi Mystic produced one litter sired by Grand Ch. PR Hurricane Janacek.  But when looking over our Xs and Ys in 2003, we realized that we had no direct male offspring of Riki.

Since Joyce was heading home via California, she stopped in for a visit with the Strles of Bear Creek Kennels and Racing.  By this time Riki had passed away but the Strles still had his son Steele, brother to Jenna.  Work and family responsibilities made it impossible for Strles to raise a litter and being located in the middle of the southern California high desert, they were miles and miles from any other Chinook breeders.  Phone calls were made up and down the West Coast and back to New England and when Joyce headed east towards home, she had Steele along with her.  Via long distance and with Joyce's generous donation of the services of her Starseeker, we all combined efforts to raise a litter from Steele and Starseeker.

Of course since we were hoping for males, we got three females and only one male pup.  When the babies were old enough, all four flew up to Seattle.  They were all so similar in looks that we had to code them with permanent markers just to tell them apart!  Polaris and Amber went to homes here in the Seattle area (though Polaris and his family have since moved to New England), Siskiyou went to live in northern California, and the fourth pup, a spunky girl I called Echo, stayed with me until the perfect home was found.  It was tempting to keep her myself but at the time I was full up with both young dog and oldsters needing more and more of my time and attention.  Echo was the spitting image of her grandsire Riki and I was determined to find a place for her where she could contribute to the future of the Chinook breed.

Finally I met Karen Hoffmeister and with a few emails and phone calls, we hit it off.  Next thing you know, Karen was on a flight to Seattle to meet Echo.  It took mere seconds for them to fall in love with each other.  Echo went home with Karen to join her Maryland household of husband, son, and two other dogs (Karen's daughter had already moved out on her own).  For a few years as Karen finished her career as a doctor for the US Navy, Echo, now renamed Ginger, hung out as a family pet and occasionally ventured out to a dog show or two.  Her early wins got Karen excited and she quickly earned her championship.  When Karen was able to retire, the family relocated to New England and Karen and Ginger were able to join the Chinook community there.  Ginger knocked the socks off folks at Chinooks New England! events when she was put in harness for the first time.  Though her grandsire was long gone, there was no doubt that Ginger inherited his genes for pulling.

During the summer of 2007, Ginger was bred for the first time to proven sire Grand Ch. Lakeside Run Indiana Jones. Eight pups were born just before Labor Day weekend. Click here for photos of the babies and their very handsome dad. Applications are being accepted for pups now. Please fill out the questionnaire and email it to info@rainmountain.net.