Welcome to Laughing Mountain Chinooks

Established in 2000 after many years of looking for just the right dog and the perfect Chinook, Laughing Mountain Chinooks is located in Boulder, Colorado, the home of Andy Malkiel and Mary Berg Malkiel.  Mary and Andy both arrived in Boulder in search of the perfect place to enjoy their love of the outdoors, Mary from her family home in Seattle and Andy from the Boston area.  They now share their home with three Chinooks -- Zydeco, Freyja, and Zuzu -- and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first litter in February of 2007.  When not playing with their Chinooks in the Rockies, Andy owns and manages a rock climbing store and gym in Estes Park, Colorado and Mary works as an RN, juggling two jobs, one in an Oncology clinic helping cancer patients and also doing accupuncture on a variety of patients.

Zydeco (PR High Plains Zydeco)

Zydeco, also known around home as the Pupster, came to live with us in the fall of 2000.  He's our first Chinook so maybe that's why we think he's what we think of as our "perfect" Chinook.  He's a solid 78 pounds, give or take a few, and has (we think) beautiful conformation -- his long legs can break through all but the very deepest of our Colorado snows and I love being able to touch the top of his head without bending.  He's a lighter color than many Chinooks -- his color is known as buff -- but Andy and I think his gold-over-beige coat is like snow in the summer sun.  He runs like a hot knife through butter and has a nice blocky head (plenty of room for brains), and an incredibly strong hind end.  Zydeco's a strong puller and loves to hear me scream as we zoom downhill while skijoring.  He's done well with agility classes but sometimes gets more distracted by wanting to know what everyone else in class has for treats.  He is a very intelligent dog and I joke that he came to us pre-programmed.  From day one, he could sit, do a spectacular down (flop!), and was very easy to teach new skills.  I think a lot of the credit for his early training goes to Zydeco's breeders, Marne and Corine Lindhorst of High Plains Chinooks in Great Falls, Montana.

Zydeco is the Elder Statesman of Laughing Mountain.  He is the head honcho, leader of our pack of three Chinooks, and watches out for us very well.  As gentle and friendly as he is, I never have to worry if Andy works late or I want to drive back alone (or I should say more appropriately, with no other humans along) to visit my family in Seattle.  He's very gentle with young pups yet is able to discipline the girls Freyja and ZuZu when needed.  It's not uncommon for him to relinquish the toy in his mouth to Freyja since our greedy girl tries to steals it straight away.  He is very attached to his humans, Andy and I, and social with people when he first meets them.  But he is an example of Chinook reserve and once he says hello to a stranger, is rather disinterested, going about doing his own thing.  Unless, of course, you have treats.  Then you are his best friend, at least as long as your cookes hold out.

Zydeco's dignified look can change in a flash to that of a pup. It's amazing the resemblance to this old 1950s-era Chinook	Teenaged Zydeco in the spring of 2001 above and below. Eventually his ears decided to be "helicoptered" all the time.
Zydeco loves snow, a good thing here in Colorado, especially this winter while we've had so much.

Freyja (Ch. PR Hurricane Freyja Rain)

Freyja is our "Southern Belle.”  Demur yet confident, she has been the alpha girl since she arrived in our home. Even as a pup, she would playfully launch herself at Zydeco, despite his far outweighing her. Poor Zydeco didn’t know what hit him!

Freyja has fluid movement, a nice chest, wonderful angulation, and powerful rear.  Her balance is perhaps her best feature and it’s topped off with a nice head.  Though she’s not large, weighing between 50 and 55 pounds, she has nice substance to her bones.

Freyja has done well in the show ring and won many notable awards including Best Female at the UKC Premier in 2004, the Champion class at the 2006 UKC Washington Classic over tough competition, and another Champion class at the 2006 UKC Premier in Kalamazoo, Michigan while competing against eight other nationally-ranked champion Chinooks. She also took Best of Breed at the 2005 Washington Classic over the best Chinooks in the West. She loves the snow for both playing with her pack mates and skijoring where she pulls either Andy or I. She does well in harness when paired with another dog.  She loves to run, obeys commands promptly, and has taken to training easily to the point that she can be trusted off leash in safe environments. Her personality is outgoing and confident. She’s tough, resilient, and handles pressure without falling apart, necessary traits for a sled dog. She is dominant with strange female dogs yet coexists easily with other dominant females she knows. She has been playing Mom to our Zuzu since Zuzu arrived as a nine week old pup. As far as humans go, Freyja loves every adult or child she meets.

Best of Breed at the 2005 UKC Washington Classic over a large field of outstanding Chinooks
Just hanging out, chewing on a favorite stick.	Lounging in the backyard with Zydeco
Freyja and Zydeco's buff coloring seems to take on different colors depending on the background, sometimes more gold, more cream, or even the color of our Colorado dust.

Zuzu (Ch. PR Alpine Babazuzu)

If Zydeco is the Elder Statesman and Freyja is our the Southern Belle, then Zuzu is the Rasta Girl. She's so laid back, you think she is just going to fall over in a heap on the floor. I've had her sit in front of me, gazing into my eyes, then s...l...o...w...l...y her eyes begin to close and she falls asleep, slowly sliding to the floor like icecream melting on a hot car. I don't think she realizes that she weighs 72 pounds since her favorite friends while she was at daycare were the Chihuahuas. I can't help but to love her dearly.

Zuzu loves everyone, especially kids. She's independent and somewhat stubborn, but very loving Chinook nonetheless.  Her favorite position is belly-up and if you'll rub her tummy, her day will be near perfect.  Zuzu is very enthusiastic about mealtimes.

Zuzu has done well skijoring and is an incredibly strong puller even when in harness alone. She has great size and substance, a deep and broad chest, and a traditional Chinook head.  Her eyes are a beautiful amber color accentuated by dark eye-liner (natural of course though she is the one dog who probably would hold still for me to put make-up on her). I find I can almost be hypnotized by her eyes.

Zuzu was born at Alpine Chinooks in Wenatchee, Washington during May of 2004.  Her sire is National Best of Breed Grand Ch. PR Aspencreek's Jackson Tyee and her dam is Mountain Laurel Nesika.  She is CERF Normal and will have her hip x-rays submitted to OFA for review and rating soon.  We hope to breed her possibly during 2008 if the right mate is found.

Zuzu officially became Ch. PR Alpine Babazuzu at the 2005 UKC Washington Classic.
Zuzu was a chunky girl even as a pup.	Her love of children started at a very young age.  She loved her breeder's children..

Breeding Plans & Puppies
Laughing Mountain welcomed their first litter in 2007.  Click here to visit the pups as they grew up, frolicking in the Colorado sun.  Mom is Ch. PR Hurricane Freya Rain and dad is Ch. PR Springcreek's Lambeau Leap. 

Click Here to Visit the Pups' Webpage
Registered Name:  Ch. PR Hurricane Freyja Rain Call Name:  Freyja Bred By:  Joyce Maley of Hurricane Chinooks Sire:  NBOB Grand Ch. PR Hurricane Janacek (OFA Good, CERF Normal) Dam:  PR Hurricane Riker (OFA Good, CERF Normal) Owned By:  Mary Berg Malkiel and Ginger Corley 55 pounds, 22 inches, dark buff color.	Registered Name:  Ch. PR Springcreek's Lambeau Leap Call Name:  Brett Farve Bred By:  Pam Chambers of Springcreek Chinooks Sire:  PR Alpine Trefenwyd of moonsong (OFA Excellent, CERF Normal) Dam:  Ch. PR Springcreek's Stormrunnerr (OFA Good, CERF Normal) Owned By:  Carie Taylor of Moonsong Chinooks 75 pounds, 26 inches, tawny with black masking
Click here to see the pedigree of the litter	Click here for our Prospective Owner Questionaire

Good health, temperament, and conformation were the primary goal of this breeding and, with the pups six months old as of this writing, we feel we were a success.  We wanted an increase in height since Freyja is not a tall girl and to increase the richness of color.  Brett Farve fit the bills on both accounts.  He's a tall, 26" or more with deep red coloring and rich black markings.  Where Freyja can sometimes be serious, Brett is a friendly, love-the-world type of guy.  He's a full-time working sled dog, acting as demo dog and ambassador for www.dogscooter.com and runs up to ten miles every day.  Despite his occasional silliness, Brett stays calm even when pulling the sulky through crowds at a dog show or state fair.  Since Freyja's dam died soon after giving birth to her only litter, we're happy Freyja could continue her dam's line.  The Hurricane bloodline is known for having excellent, fluid  movement and the pups have that beautiful movement along with other desired traits.

At this time we're still in the planning stages for breeding Zuzu in 2008. Stay tuned for more details as we narrow down the list of possible suitors.

Winter Fun

Still to come!

Summer Sun

Stay tuned for details.

For More Information

For more information on anything or dog you see here, please contact Mary Berg Malkiel and Andy Malkiel via email at laughingmountain@comcast.net.  You may also call us between 9am and 8pm Mountain Time (we're early-to-bed sorts) at (303) 402-0765.