Rain Mountain Chinooks - Mystic Sahalee Rain

Unless you're the lead dog the scenery never changes

Ch. PR Mystic Sahalee Rain, CGC HCT
Holly
Top Producing Chinook Dam (tie with UCD Grand Ch. PR Romano's Tundra)
as calculated by UKC in May of 2003

Also UCI Nat'l and Int'l Ch., ARBA Ch.
National Best Female, 1995, 1996, 1997
Call name: Holly
OFA Good, CERF Normal
February 1992 to October 2005
Sire: Grand Ch. Hurricane Mackenzie (OFA Good, CERF Normal)
Dam: Winterset Nikiska (OFA Good)
Breeder: Linda Daniels, Mystic Chinooks
Owner: Ginger Corley, Rain Mountain

Click Here for Holly's Pedigree

October 14, 2005
The Foundation and Lead Dog of Rain Mountain

Holly went to sleep this morning and won't wake up again. She is happily running near the Rainbow Bridge, reunited with her son and companion of ten years Thunder, and her daughters Leschi and Rangeley. Her absence has not yet sunk in but I'm sure it will be more intimately felt over the next few days.

Rather than see this as a sad event, I've been planning it as a celebration of the cycle of life. Where Thunder's passing was sudden, Holly's was planned out well in advance. I knew she was ready. One night recently she woke me up at 4 am and I got up to let her and the younger dogs outside for a bathroom break. When we came back in, Taaku, Taataga, and Lolo went right back to their beds and sleep but Holly was restless and confused. I sat on the bedroom floor with her for about a half hour, she sprawled across my legs while I stroked her. In that unspoken way that had evolved over our years together, Holly seemed to tell me that she was ready to say good bye. I was finally able to convince her that I should lift her up onto my bed so she could sleep with me the remainder of the night.

When we woke the next day, she and I left for a wonderful trip to the Oregon and Washington coast. Our first stop was near Salem where we met up with James Boisse. James had brought Holly's son Blue (PR Rain Mountain Chewalah Blue) up from California for a visit with his mom and to pick up Saber, who had been visiting in the Northwest. Where Holly liked to flirt with her grandson and Blue's housemate PR Rain Mountain Skagit Saber, she gave Blue hell for not visiting his mother for nearly nine years. We then headed out to the ocean where the views of the fall leaves, rolling surf, and mountains to both the east and west slowly edged out of the fog. Rather than riding in the dog crates, Holly had a special bed on the floor of the van. Though she slept for most of the time, she was well supplied with big knuckle bones, rawhides (her version of junk food) and meals that she shared with me. In true Holly fashion, she buried her lunch hamburger under her bedding.

We stopped on the beach near Manzanita for a walk. One of my favorite photos ever is of Holly and Thunder running on the beach when Holly was about four and Thunder just a year old. But this time Holly wasn't running. She didn't leave my side except once to roll in some decaying seaweed. Holly always loved the perfumes she found in nature. Over the years she and I had traveled many miles together and she always loved staying in hotels. On this trip she had trouble with the stairs to our second floor room but she is a seasoned traveler and led me straight to the elevator. The evenings we spent relaxing in our hotel room. I never even cracked any of the books I brought with me. Instead we simply watched television with on the bed; Holly snuggled in my lap with my arms around her. Being together on this special trip was far more important than finishing a murder mystery or historical treatise on Ireland.

Slipping north up the coast, we crossed the Astoria Bridge over the Columbia into Washington. If you turn west on the Washington side of the bridge and go just a few short miles, you come to the town of Chinook. We visited there before many years ago with Thunder and Chad when we took the scenic route home from a dog show. We stopped at the Port to see the boats then Holly napped while I shopped in the General Store. Susan Fletcher met us there and we took Holly and Susan's dogs to the Chinook County Park for a run. In true Holly fashion, she ignored her daughter Quinn and her granddaughters Akeena and Fern but flirted blatantly with her great grandson James. He was quite thrilled to have an older woman pay attention to him but was still careful not to knock her over in his excitement. Holly, Susan, and I sat on the rocks on the bluff while the younger dogs splashed in the river below, just a short distance from where the Columbia meets the Pacific.

Holly slept almost all the way home even though I tried to wake her when I stopped for gas. She was too tired to get up so I left her dream while I drove back home. When we returned the younger dogs greeted her with love, nuzzling up to her and washing her face carefully. I made sure the house was filled with fresh bones for the whole week and whenever Holly even looked at another dog with a bone in its mouth, it was quickly given up to the Queen. She ruled her pack up until the last moment. Throughout the week many friends stopped by to hug her and say their good byes. Melissa who had turned Holly and I into a real team in the show ring and had coached me into how to work with this flashy and vain dog. Scott got down to her level and thanked her for giving him such a wonderful dog in Kodi, Holly's grandson. Shannon, Carie, Linda, and many others as well; Holly gloried in all the love and affection.

For the last few months Holly has been very upset and restless in the evenings but this week we handled things differently. She had mild medications to help her relax and everyone around her made sure that she had anything and everything she wanted. I cooked special stews to go with her kibble and gave her meals as big as she could eat. The young dogs were not allowed to jostle her or to occupy her favorite bed under my desk during the work days. If I had to leave for a meeting or appointment, Holly rode along, snoozing in her soft bed in the van. The young dogs were very solicitous and even Kitty Rory spent a great deal of time rubbing around Holly, be it under her belly if she was sitting or standing or just along her sides when she laid down.

Our last evening together I had to try several foods before I found one that she wanted to eat. She didn't even touch the sirloin steak I had cut into cubes for her or the fresh cod I'd cooked for my dinner. I finally persuaded her to take some honey and later she deigned to nibble at some canned puppy food. Again, I devoted my time to her and we snuggled together on the couch. If I had to get up, I put a pillow under her head and she smiled at me gratefully. She was just too tired to keep going. Shortly after midnight, I lifted her up onto my bed so we could sleep together one last time, her stretched out against my side.

This morning Holly woke up happy and with a bit more energy than she'd had the last few days. She buried her breakfast in her bedding but eventually finished it and chased Taga off from his breakfast too. I let her. Carie came by on her way to work to give Holly hugs and say good bye. Shannon arrived to go with us to the clinic where Dan Frey had offered to come in on his day off. He had cared for Holly since the day I brought her home, seen her through her pregnancies including the complications with her second and last one, and took special care of her after she was hit by a car and suffered a head injury. All the dogs came with us for the ride and to give me courage. Holly loved visiting the vet clinic and was very happy to see the techs Tonya, Vicky, and Rochelle. Dan was one of her favorite people so when he led the way to the exam room with a big fluffy blanket for her, she followed happily. We all sat together on the floor while Dan gave her the shot. She wagged her tail gently up until the last moment while I tightly held her in my arms. It was a very peaceful journey. Afterwards, we looked at the photos from our trip: Holly at the Port of Chinook or posing on the boulders while her offspring romped in the water behind her or sat next to her posing, walking on the beach while the sun set behind us, and collecting her due admiration from James Boisse and his daughter Sara, Holly's son Blue, and grandson Saber.

Holly has been so much a part of my life every day for the last thirteen-plus years that the changes in her crept up gradually until this last year or so. On her 12th birthday she ran lead for a ten-mile jaunt and a team made up of her son Thunder, and granddaughters Taaku and Cheyenne. She retired from the team a year ago and sat out the last season other than a couple short runs to help teach her great granddaughter Lolo how to pull. Slowly she no longer leapt up in the air as I filled her food dish and she had become shaky when she tried to stand. But her opinions never faded and she told me off on a regular basis, yelping her orders to me, up until the very last morning.

Some people would label their first brood bitch as their foundation dam but in my case, Holly was the third brood bitch of Rain Mountain. However she is the one who has left me with a legacy of spirited, beautiful sled dogs. She is truly our foundation and lead dog, even in later years when leading from the comforts of her dog bed under my desk or now, the Rainbow Bridge.

I have many photos of our trip but even more images are in my mind and heart. I want to remember that young, vital dog running the beach in chase of the surf and wrestling with her handsome son. The Queen of Rain Mountain is dead. But long live our new Queen, Taaku, and her handsome son Taataga. Rain Mountain and Holly live on through them.

Please Visit "Across the Generations" and meet Holly's legacy

Photos in this frame from top to bottom:
Top center, Holly in lead with Leschi and Thunder in swing and Lady and Alki in wheel, sled being driven by Kurt Dally, February 1999 on the Iron Horse Trail, Snoqualmie Pass.
Second from top on right, Holly watches as her offspring play in the river; Chinook County Park in Chinook Washington, October 2005.
Third from Top, Holly on the beach near Manzanita, Oregon, October 2005. Fourth from top is the same location and day. Where she would have been chasing seagulls, digging for clams, and racing the surf in previous years, this time she only watched the world go on around her.
Fifth from top: Holly at the Port of Chinook, Chinook, Washington. Though a few locations lay claim to the honor, supposedly Lewis and Clark stayed in or near the town of Chinook and this was their turn-around point. chinook is right where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.
Sixth from top: Holly's reunion with her Frontier offspring. Standing next to her is her great-grandson James (Frontier Wild Wild West), sitting are granddaughter Frontier Akeena, daughter Quinn (Mountain Rain Dancer Quinault), and granddaughter Frontier Fern.
Above, sleepytime at home, Holly at bottom, Taataga (her great grandson who's also her grandson) above her, great granddaughter Lolo back left and granddaughter Taaku back right.

Holly has earned the status of a legend among Chinooks. Is it because she is a rare gray and tan Chinook? Is it because she is the three-time winner of National Best Female titles? Is it because she produced numerous pups, grand pups, and great grand pups that include many champions, grand champions, and Best in Show winners? Is it because she was the first Chinook to herd sheep or win a herding title? Or is it because of her skill as the lead dog on the Rain Mountain team?

No.

Holly is a legend because, even in her old age, she is a hellion to live with. She can open any door or container, jump anything, open gates, and raid garbage cans with the best of them. I think it's safe to say that, after owning more Chinooks than I care to count, Holly is five Chinooks in one. As a youngster I was afraid she would tear the house down around me. I kept telling myself that if I made it until she was five without killing her, I would have a great dog. I do have a great dog. She's twelve at this writing and still going strong. A few years ago I took her with me to a seminar on dog breeding where they were going over dogs. When I told them she was nine, they thought I said nine months and were shocked that she was nine years old.

Holly came to join my kennel in 1992 when my life was not going well. The software company I was part owner of had just gone under and I was out of a job just before I had planned to take my bitch, Northdown Skykomish, to our national specialty. Then Sky was unexpectedly killed. The wonderful people of the Chinook Owners Association decided that I needed another dog and arranged to present me with a three-year-old bitch, Rose's Vixon. At the same time, Linda Daniels of Minneapolis had a litter where many of the pups had turned out gray and tan or black and tan. At that time, this was unknown in Chinooks. Linda was having trouble placing these odd colored pups so I told her that I would take one and place it with a friend of mine here in Seattle. I didn't make the specialty that year but Linda did and passed Holly to TJ and Grace Anderson (Winterset Chinooks of Jackson Hole, Wyoming) to bring west with them. It was only a two-day drive for me to Jackson and by the time I'd picked up Holly and got her back to my home in the Seattle area, I knew that:

A. This was NOT a dog for amateurs and;

B. This was a heck of a Chinook even if she was gray and tan.

Holly required a lot of training, primarily because she was smarter than I was. Kudos go to the many trainers I worked with including the Academy of Canine Behavior, owned by my friend Colleen McDaniel, and Positive Dog Training, owned by Joan Fetty. We actually did get to the point of going into competitive obedience but Holly knew the difference between fun matches and real obedience trials. In fun matches she would do a flawless performance and in real trials she would lie down to watch me do the off-leash exercises alone, once even leaving the ring to visit friends and watch my solo performance. That was the end of Holly's obedience career.

Holly in the conformation ring was another story. At first she was quite wild but more than one judge told me that if she when she kept all four of her feet on the floor, she had flashes of brilliance. She pulled off a Best Female win at a regional show so we decided to head for the big time. Luck was on my side when I met Melissa Knapp. Melissa is one of the best conformation-handling instructors I've ever met and has also become another great friend. For months preceding Holly's first big show, I went to every class Melissa offered and a few with other trainers too. Holly's vanity kicked in and she loved showing off. The ARBA Cherry Blossom Classic (and Chinook National Specialty) of 1995 in Washington DC was Holly's first big win when she pulled off a Best Female award over much more seasoned competition. She repeated these wins at the 1996 and 1997 Chinook specialties also before I retired her from the ring. It was rewarding to see her daughter Quinn take the award in 1998 and her granddaughter Molly in 1999. (Then in 2000 someone else had the audacity to take the award!) The Chinook Owners Association now presents a "Holly" award and plaque to the dog winning Best Female each year at our specialties and I thoroughly intend to have my dogs names' on the plaque in future years. Since her hysterectomy and retirement from the ring, Holly now makes occasional appearances as a Veteran at specialties and even took a Best in Show Veteran at a recent IABCA show.

Despite some resistance from people who didn't think I should breed a non-standard colored dog, I knew that Holly had a lot to pass on to future generations. Bob and Connie Jones of WoodsRunner Chinooks in Maine agreed with me and were kind enough to allow me to breed Holly in 1995 to their dog, North Wind Kiska. Kiska was a large, very traditional looking Chinook who had won National Best of Breed in 1994 and had a long history as a great working sled dog. So the summer of 1995 also produced the Heatwave litter: Grand Ch. PR Rain Mountain Tonasket Thunder, Ch. PR Mountain Rain Dancer Quinault (aka, Quinn), PR Rain Mountain Stillaguamish (aka, Misha), PR Rain Mountain Tyee Wildfire, PR Rain Mountain Stehekin Wolf, and PR Rain Mountain Semiahmoo Mariah. Thunder, Quinn, and Misha have gone on to produce many wonderful grand pups, unfortunately some of who are as smart as Holly.

I've never been one to do things conservatively so in 1996 I tracked down a wonderful dog, North Wind Riki of Bear Creek. Riki had been included in the foundation registry when the COA transferred our studbook to the United Kennel Club but his owner had never filled in the paperwork to register him individually with UKC. Nor had Riki ever had his hips x-rayed. But at eleven years of age, Riki was still winning races for Rick Strle's team and was one of the top ranked weight pull dogs in the world. Richalene Kelsay of Thunder Paws Chinooks in California stepped in to provide a honeymoon hideaway and in a snowstorm just after Christmas of 1996, Holly gave birth to the Snowflake litter of nine beautiful babies: Grand Ch. PR Rain Mountain Rangeley Runner, Ch. PR Rain Mountain Leschi, PR Rain Mountain Jenna of Bear Creek, PR Rain Mountain Anasazi Mystic, PR Rain Mountain Steele of Bear Creek, PR Rain Mountain Cowichen Gromit, PR Rain Mountain Chewalah Blue, PR Rain Mountain Kootenai Kodi, and PR Rain Mountain Kamiakin Togo. (PS. North Wind Riki of Bear Creek was registered and had his hips rated as OFA Good on his eleventh birthday.)

Holly had a rough time with this pregnancy, delivery, and was sick the first few weeks after the pups were born so there was no question but that she was spayed and retired from motherhood at this point. But her life did not calm down in the slightest. I'd never known a dog could go through menopause but Holly did and it was not easy on the household. She went back to being a holy terror. Within a few months period, she had escaped and got herself lost for three days and later was hit by a car suffering severe internal and head injuries. Her recuperative powers and the help of my wonderful vet, Dr. Dan Frey, pulled her through. Her offspring have been wonderful. They all got her great movement and wonderful conformation. Only three of her fifteen pups inherited her color and now people are not as leery of the odd colored dogs as they were when they first saw Holly. We now know that Chinooks do come in different colors and always have.

Judge Betty Umberto gave Holly Best Female at our 1996
Chinook National Specialty. Holly also won this title in 1995 and 1997.
It was won by her daughter Quinn in 1998 and her grand daughter Molly in 1999.
In 2003 the title came home again when it was won by another granddaughter,
PR Rain Mountain Kutaan Taaku of Bear Creek.

Holly also found a new venue for people to enjoy their Chinooks. For most of Holly's life, I also had a mixed breed, Sarah Susan, that I suspected was part Sheltie and part lab. When Sarah was thirteen years old, a friend with collies, Marsha Milroy, convinced me to take Sarah out to try herding sheep at Ewe-Topia. I took Holly along for the ride as she had just weaned the Heatwave litter and hadn't been out in quite a while. I was totally embarrassed when, on arrival, Sarah was her normal calm and wonderful self but Holly turned into a raving maniac. Joe Kapelos, owner of Ewe-Topia, talked me into letting Holly have a go with the sheep. She did a great border collie impersonation, taking to it like a pig in mud. Within a few months of only occasional Saturday outings, Holly had earned her Herding Instinct Certification and Herding Tested Certification. The COA was also able to persuade the American Herding Breeds Association to accept Chinooks as a breed that had strong herding instincts. Since that time, I've taken a number of Chinooks to be instinct tested and they have all come through with flying colors.

Holly is not only the smartest dog I've ever owned (and I never want another as smart as her) but can read my mind. That makes it very difficult if I decide to go to the store and want to leave her home, as she promptly will hide so I won't be able to crate her or put her in the kennel. Luckily though she is very vain and I can flatter her into doing things. On occasion when I complain about Holly to my friend Colleen McDaniel, Colleen laughs at me: "You got exactly what you wanted with Holly. You wanted a winner and that's exactly what she is." She is my soul mate and a constant thorn in my side. Today her job is raising the newest generation of Rain Mountain Chinooks and she does a great job of it. She may be old now but she still rules the roost.

Health Issues

Holly was for the most part a very healthy dog. Virtually all my Chinooks have been. She had difficulties with her second pregnancy but otherwise rarely had a down day. However in 1997 she got out of the yard while I was at the next door neighbor's house and was hit by a car. She suffered near-critical wounds requiring over seventy stitches and a serious head injury. A few months later she began suffering from "Chinook style" seizures. By this time she was already six years old and had been spayed after producing two litters.

Luckily not all her offspring were afflicted though with hindsight, I wish I had known she had this problem earlier. Out of her litter with North Wind Kiska, Mariah had two seizures when she was six years old. When she was seven, Quinn also began to have Chinook style seizures though like her dam, by this point she'd had two litters already and was spayed. Thunder, Misha, and Mikey were never affected. All Thunder's children have been seizure clear. Out of Misha's nineteen pups, only one is affected and that one is from her purebred litter (her first litter was sired by a traveling salesman in a German Shepherd costume). Out of her first litter at least half the pups went on to have seizures and only one from this litter has ever been bred and that was just one time. Quinn's second litter have all been seizure clear. From Holly's second litter sired by North Wind Riki both Leschi and Gromit had initial Chinook seizures before their first birthdays though Leschi only had two more in her life; Gromit has had intermittent Chinook seizures, roughly every six to eight months, throughout his life. The offspring of the Chinooks in this litter have fared reasonably well, with only a few afflicted, one from Dixie's litter and one from Jenna's first litter, a total of two out of twenty-one pups.

Holly had very good hips and was extremely active up into her old age. Her pups that were checked for hip dysplasia (in those days, we only checked the dogs that were being used for breeding rather than the whole litter) all received either OFA Good or Fair. She also CERFed Normal and of her pups that were examined by a veterinary opthamologist (again, we were only checking those we used for breeding at that time) all were Normal with one exception. Thunder had a small cataract on the outside corner of one eye that was stable and never changed, nor did it interfere with his vision; he was considered Breeders Option. So other than the incidence of Chinook-style seizures, she did not seem to pass any other negative health issues on to her offspring.

Holly's Accomplishments in Brief:

1993 - First Gray and Tan Chinook to be shown in the history of the breed.
1994 - Best Female, COA Northwest Regional Specialty
1995 - Best Opposite Sex (to Best of Breed WoodsRunner Boone) at the Chinook National Specialty, ARBA Cherry Blossom Classic, Washington DC
1995 - Produced the Rain Mountain Heatwave Litter, sired by 1994 Nat'l Best of Breed North Wind Kiska
1995 - First Chinook used to herd sheep and to earn AHBA Herding Instinct Certified and Herding Capability Tested certifications (who'd a thunk it!)
1996 - Best Female, Chinook Nat'l Specialty in Berrian Springs, Michigan (in conjunction with UKC Premier).
1996 - One of the first Chinooks to ever win a UCI-IABCA Championship, both Nat'l and Int'l.
1996 - Produced the Snowflake Litter, sired by IWPA World Champion Weight Puller North Wind Riki of Bear Creek.
1997 - Best Female, Chinook Nat'l Specialty in Kalamazoo, Michigan (in conjunction with the UKC Premier. Holly retired from conformation competition after this show. All her remaining appearances were in either Altered, Veteran, or Junior Showmanship competition. She thrived with Junior Handlers, especially Anna Filce.
After her third consecutive “Best Female” (or Best Opposite Sex in the case of the ARBA sponsored Chinook Specialty in 1995) Rain Mountain Chinooks donated a perpetual plaque in her name to be given out to each year’s Best Female at the Chinook Nat’l Specialty.
1998 - Dam of Best Female, Chinook Nat'l Specialty in Boulder, Colorado (in conjunctions with High Plains Kennel Club Cluster).
Competed in rig races as command leader for the Rain Mountain team, assisted by her son Thunder and daughter Leschi.
1999 - Grand Dam of Best Female, Chinook Nat'l Specialty in Kalamazoo, Michigan (in conjunction with UKC Premier).
1999 – Best in Show Veteran, Cascade NW APBT Club Show, Tukwila, Washington.
2003 – Grand Dam of Best Female, Chinook Nat’l Specialty in Bothell, Washington. The “Holly” plaque comes back to Rain Mountain!
2005 – Grand Dam of National Best of Breed Grand Ch. PR Mystic Hurricane Sydney.