In the spring and summer of 1995, my friend Connie Jones and I were both raising litters of pups.  Our litters were two of only three born that year if I remember correctly.  My litter was Holly's pups with North Wind Kiska -- the Heatwave Litter.  Connie's pups were also sired by Kiska but out of her Chinook x Malamute Cross, Bowerbank Timba.  I thought Timba was a gorgeous dog, looking like the perfect purebred Chinook, and I think I was just as excited about Connie's pups as I was my own.  I hated comparing my pups to Timba's as Holly's were smaller and all colors of the rainbow where Timba had big healthy pups and all were the perfect golden colors, most with black masks.  Connie and I had fun that summer talking about how someday we could come back to the breedings that had taken place in their backyard and breed the offspring of those litters to each other.

From my Heatwave Litter, Thunder, Quinn, and Misha went on to be bred and produce pups.  Holly's second litter was sired by Kiska's littermate, North Wind Riki of Bear Creek, and from that breeding, Jenna, Dixie, and Steele went forward to add to the Chinook population.  From Connie and Bob Jones' Kiska x Timba litter, Erebus, Trailbreaker, and Althea went on to further the WoodsRunner Chinook Cross line into future generations.

Fast forward a few years, twelve to be exact.  Bob and Connie had bred Erebus to their gorgeous Chinook bitch Lucille and one of those pups, WoodsRunner X Raquel went to live with Ann Eakin and Syd Craig, becoming the foundation of their Balsam Ridge bloodline.  Holly's daughter Jenna went to live with the Strle family, owners of her sire Riki, in California but later came back to me for a year to produce two litters with WoodsRunner Rorik, a purebred Chinook from Bob and Connie's WoodsRunner bloodlines.  One of those pups, Rain Mountain Tatla of Bear Creek, headed east and joined the Balsam Ridge pack which by then included not only Raquel but purebred male Rainy and two pups from a breeding of Rainy to Raquel, Katie and Tucker.

Finally in February of 2007 the breeding I'd dreamed of came to fruition and Tatla produced three male pups sired by Tucker.  Ann and Syd graciously offered me Jose, one of the three, and Leslie Donais (of Granite Hill Chinooks) was enlisted to fly out to Seattle and deliver my new pup.  I was thrilled to see this husky little Chinook man come out of Leslie's Sherpa bag   We got him to a patch of grass as quickly as possible.  This sweet boy at a mere eight weeks old, had managed to hold his bladder all the way from Boston to Seattle.

And so Bucky joined the Rain Mountain household.  He came in the front door and settled down within mere minutes as if he'd been born here.  Three of the pups from my On No! Litter were still here; they were only four days younger than Buck.  It was as if he instantly became a member of their litter.  Right from the start, he joined in all their activities, chewing on bones, eating as a group from the big puppy pan, sleeping in a pile with them at night, and even talking Lolo into nursing him occasionally.  Likewise, the adult dogs of the Rain Mountain pack accepted him right away too.  By the end of his first day, Bucky was following Taga around like a groupie.  Taaku, his aunt, added him to the list of dogs whose faces and teeth she had to clean every day and Bucky joined the other pups in attacking her bushy tail.  All the pups are fascinated by her tail for some reason and spend a great deal of time playing with it.  Taaku lies quietly and pretends that she doesn't see them.   Lolo accepted him as if he were another pup that mysteriously she hadn't noticed during her first eight weeks of motherhood.   Every morning she does a check of all the pups' privates, washing them as needed, and Bucky is now just one more that needs washed.  She also loves to "mouth wrestle" with him, frequently holding him down with one of her paws.

Bucky is a solid boy.  I find it amazing that a pup as young as he is has such good muscle definition in his rear.  though only four days older than the Oh No! Litter, he's far heavier though roughly the same height.  I suspect he'll mature into a good sized and very strong dog.  His gait has a lot of reach already.  Though his eyes are still blue, gray, and green, they will turn amber someday.  His silver masking will most likely fade but his coat color is still up in the air.  He could get lighter with cream markings or he may stay the color he is now.  Ask me again in a few months what color he is.

For now, Bucky is just going to learn about being a puppy.  He'll start puppy classes soon so he learns to get along with other breeds of dogs (Chinooks can be very clannish, preferring the company of their own relatives) and begins to pick up on some basic commands.  For now, I'm happy when he gets at least one foot on the newspapers before he lets loose.  But someday I hope that Bucky will contribute his genetic diversity to the Rain Mountain bloodline and that he and Taga will give me a strong recreational sled team with great working ability and drive.

For more information on the Chinook Owners Association Cross Program, please read the information on the COA website, please click here.