on Mud Hill
Shale at 5 Weeks
Frontier's 2007 Litter
Frontier Chinooks is proud to announce the arrival of a long planned and deeply hoped for litter. This is the breeding we've been leading up to for years, bringing together the genes of two of our earlier litters. Having a healthy batch of four boys and three girls is like seeing our dreams come true. Pups are healthy, happy, and enjoying life on Mud Hill (which luckily isn't too muddy this spring). They are ready for new homes beginning Memorial Weekend of 2007.
Mom is the beautiful and gentle Grand Ch. PR Frontier Indian
Summer. Indy was born in the 2002 Frontier litter of Ch.
WoodsRunner Rorik and UWP Grand Ch. PR Frontier Rain Dancer Quinault
CGC FDX, also known as Quinnie. Indy left Mud Hill and her
Frontier family at eight weeks old, joining the family of Laura Morgan
of Rivertrail Chinooks in Ithaca, New York. Even when Indy
was a baby, Susan and Laura talked of breeding her one day to one of
the males of the Frontier line. Time and family responsibilities
caught up with Laura so she sent Indy back to her birthplace for a few
months so Susan could breed her and raise the litter. Indy
slipped right back into the family, getting reacquainted with her full
sister Frontier Fern, half sister Frontier Akeena, and mom
Quinnie. Indy is OFA Good and CERF Normal. This is her
first litter.
So that the potential for Indy to get pregnant could be maximized and so genetic diversity could hopefully be increased in the pups, a dual sire breeding was undertaken. This involves breeding a female at exactly the right time to two different males. Ideally, some pups in the litter will be sired by Dad #1 and some will be sired by Dad #2. At worst, the pups will all be from just one of the males. This lets breeders have what is virtually two litters for the price of one. The dam only goes through one pregnancy, one labor and delivery, and only raises one litter. But the genetic assortment is such that it's the same as if she was bred twice, once to each of the two males. DNA profiling is used to assign the pups to the correct sire. The United Kennel Club was an early adopter of DNA parent verification technology just for situations like this. So sorting out the pups is as simple as filling in a form and sending it and the DNA cheek swabs into the UKC.
Potential Dad #1 is PR Frontier Jackson. Jackson is from the
June 2000 Frontier litter of Grand Ch. PR WoodsRunner Boone CGC and UWP
Ch. PR Tamanawas Dakota CGC. Jackson is co owned by Susan and
Shelly Brickson. He became one of the few Chinooks ever to have
lived outside the US or Canada when he traveled to England with Shelly
and her husband Mike during the years they lived and worked in
London. Jackson has only been bred once before, siring two
Chinook Crosses for GreatMountain Chinooks. Since Shelly
and Mike not only just returned to the States but are also dealing with
a new baby, they offered to send Jackson back to his birth home
too. Jackson is a large and handsome mature Chinook and hopefully
he'll pass on his OFA Excellent hips to his pups, presuming of course
that some or all of them are his. Click here to see the pedigree of
pups sired by PR Frontier Jackson.
Potential Dad #2 is PR BrownStone Rodion of Frontier. In
keeping with the theme of this breeding, Rodion is co owned by Susan
and long time Chinook owner Pam Wilmot. Normally Rodion lives
with Pam, her husband Tim, and their sons on a small alpaca hobby farm
outside of Duvall, Washington, a Seattle suburb. Here, he has
mini schnauzer Flaire and his grandsire, Ch. WoodsRunner Rorik for
canine roommates; the family also includes cats, llamas, alpacas,
horses, a Shetland pony, and African Gray Parrot. Rodion's mom is
a littermate to Frontier Indian Summer and his sire is Ch. PR Hurricane
Malibu Rain. He's just started his show career but has quickly
earned championship points and majors and should have his official UKC
Champion title soon. Rodion is CERF Normal; we're waiting for his
official OFA hip rating but the x-rays look gorgeous and there is no
question that he'll pass easily. He's a large Chinook who is
still filling out though he weighs 80 pounds already and stands roughly
27 inches at the shoulder. Click here to see the pedigree of pups
sired by PR BrownStone Rodion of Frontier.
Inquiries are now being accepted for pups. If you're interested, please call
Susan Fletcher at (360) 835-5803. Please fill out the questionnaire
located by clicking here. Pups are ready to start leaving on Memorial
Weekend. Performance homes and show/breeding homes are going to be the best fir for some of these very special Chinooks.
But enough about Mom and the two Dads. I'm sure you'd rather get rolling on meeting the four new Frontier boys -- Cap, Topper, Shale, and Brick -- and three girls -- Tiger Lily, Bunny, and Candy.
Meet the Girls -- Tiger Lily, Candy, and Bunny Bunny & Tiger Lily |
 Left to right: Bunny with hoof in her mouth, Candy, Tiger Lily |
 And it's Tiger Lily in the lead with Bunny coming up in second and Candy holding a strong third! |
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 Tiger Lily did not enjoy being put on the table for her conformation evaluation  But exploring Ginger's backyard was fun and worth the torture of the evaluation. |
Tiger Lily Soft, sweet, becoming more outgoing as she learns a bit more about the Big Wide World. 7 1/2 week weight is 12 pounds, 1 ounce. Tiger Lily will be staying on Mud Hill with Susan. |
 Tiger Lily at 7 1/2 weeks gets a conformation evaluation at the home of Susan's friend Ginger Corley. |
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 Who's that gorgeous pup in the mirror? |
Blue Bunny Scrimshaw Smart, funny, outgoing, and very coordinated, Bunny is the first of the girls to try any new activity. She's just a bit full of herself. 7 1/2 week weight is 11 pounds, 15 ounces. Bunny will be living near Portland, Oregon with Susan's friend and co worker Jenna Kirby. |
 Litter evaluator Melissa Knapp cuddles Bunny before setting her on the table for her evaluation. |
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  Candy too has to endure the torture of standing on the table and having people oooh and aaaah over her excellent structure and gorgeous coat. |
Penny Candy Sweet and gentle like her mom Indy, Candy may not be tough but she's no doormat either and easily stands up for herself with her littermates. 7 1/2 week weight is 9 pounds, 15 ounces. Candy is looking for a permanent home interested in showing and breeding. She'd be a great family dog and would be good with kids of all ages. |
 Candy at 5 1/2 weeks. She has the dramatic masking of her mom Indy. |
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| The Boys -- Brick, Shale, Cap, & Topper Many of the photos you see here of both the boys and girls were taken during their conformation evaluation when they were 7 1/2 weeks old. This is where we bring in an expert in canine structure to look over each pup carefully one at a time and give the breeder feedback on each pup's strengths and weaknesses. Melissa Knapp evaluated the Frontier 2007 litter on May 20th at the home of Ginger Corley, longtime friend (and webmaster) for Susan Fletcher. Carie Taylor (Moonsong Chinooks) helped out with taking notes and wrangling pups. First up werre the girls. Melissa held each one to get acquainted then set them up in a formal "stacked" position on the table with the pup's reflection easily seen in a mirror. Melissa checks the angles of the shoulder bones, size and shape of the head, topline, and angle of the rear legs. Like a mini dog show, each pup is compared to the UKC Chinook Standard. After she's gone through each girl individually, all of them are taken outside so she can see how they move. Then the whole process is repeated with the males. When the whole process is done, Susan has excellent information from an impartial person about each pup. As a bonus, since she brought the whole litter the 200 miles from her home in southern Washington State to the Seattle area where Melissa, Ginger, and Carie live, Susan got to see how the pups would react to many changes, strange environments, and a whole slew of different dogs too since they got to meet many of their Rain Mountain and Moonsong Chinook cousins. |
 The boys are very curious about what cousin Bucky has in his hiding place under the tree.
Or were they just hiding from the rain? |
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  Brick at 5 1/2 weeks left and 7 1/2 weeks right |
Brick House One of those pups that scores in the perfect middle range on his Puppy Aptitude Test, he has the near perfect temperament to do great as a family dog. 7 1/2 week weight is 12 pounds, 7 ounces Brick may be available to homes interested in showing and hopefully breeding him when he matures and passes his health screens. |
 Brick at 5 1/2 weeks already has a gorgeous natural stack |
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 Shale at 5 1/2 weeks |
Shale Landslide A big, soft mush with an easy and relaxed nature. He may not be the smartest but he definitely is willing to go with the flow. 7 1/2 week weight is 13 pounds, 6 ounces Shale would be a great family or guy's dog but he's not right for a co dependent owner who will coddle him. |
 Shale at 7 1/2 weeks as seen in the mirror during his evaluation, is the biggest of the pups in the litter. |
 Topper at 7 1/2 weeks during his evaluation |
Topper Sure of himself, sometimes a bit cocky but always cheerful, he's the watch dog of the litter. Even at a young age, his movement is wonderful. 7 1/2 week weight is 11 pounds, 1 ounce Topper could go into nearly any home environment and thrive. He must remain intact for possible future breeding. |
  Topper at 5 1/2 weeks in top photo and 7 1/2 weeks in bottom photo. Though he has an odd patch of white on his neck, he has excellent structure. |
  Cap at 5 1/2 weeks in top photo nibbling Susan's fingers and bottom, at 7 1/2 weeks during his evaluation. He has a white collar and white aplash on his face, not typical in Chinooks. But hey, as the saying goes, "Ears & Color Don't PUll the Sled!" |
Cap A brilliant comic, outgoing, first of the boys to try anything new, and interested in other people and dogs, he has a lot to say. 7 1/2 week weight is 11 pounds, 10 ounces Cap is perfect for the performance competitor, as a therapy dog, or in any endeavor; he'll be a very competitive dog. His white facial and neck markings make him unsuitable for future breeding or the show ring but he's still perfect in every way. Let's face it, color isn't even skin deep. |
 Cap at 5 1/2 weeks |
