Every dog that steps foot into the house steals a small piece of my heart but Lolo has taken possession of a huge chunk  There is no doubt that Lolo is one of the sweetest Chinooks I've ever known.  An air of naiveté and innocence follows her everywhere she goes.  Maybe it's the dark smudge that looks like a thumbprint in the middle of her head.  Or maybe it's the big brown eyes.  Though my only Chinook to be reserved with strangers, once she decides she loves you, she loves you with every ounce of her being.  Though I sometimes place dogs that don't meet all the requirements for being used for breeding or those who are retired from showing and breeding, Lolo will be with me forever.

Lolo had a rough first few months.  No sooner had she got started in her puppy obedience class than she came down with a bad respiratory infection and was side lined for a month.  No sooner was she back on her feet than she managed to break a front leg while playing with Taaku.  Having a cast and e-collar on didn't slow her down much though.  Despite efforts to keep her quiet so the leg could heal, Lolo's enthusiasm for life was not daunted  But the black cloud wasn't gone yet.  In January of 2006 after only a few times in harness for the season, the dogs got out of the yard and within mere minutes Lolo was hit by a car.  This time her other front leg was broken.  Two broken legs in less than a year!  I must be the most horrible of owners.

Even before her first turn in harness, she learned about keeping up with the team by running with the big dogs while they pulled the sled.  Between illness and injury, Lolo started pulling when she was just four months old.  Being in harness was fun when she could do it with her best friend Brett (PR Springcreek's Lambeau Leap, Carie Taylor's pup who is just two weeks older than Lolo).  Even her great grandmother Holly came out of retirement to help Lolo learn to run with the rig.  Lolo is a very "honest dog" in harness and runs beautifully with tight lines. I'm looking forward to having her back in the team.

Lolo in the Fall of 2006, still a lean and lanky teenager but with great promise (Photo by Pan Graf)
Stopping for a breather during playtime on a sunny day.	If ever there were a dog that wants to be a mom, it's Lolo.  Above and below, she plays mom to visiting Granite Hill Enatai Rain and Granite Hill Ruby of Rain.
The picnic table on the back patio is Lolo's favorite outdoor perch.  Inside she loves to hide under the wing chair in the living room, especially after I added the slip cover.

Lolo has superb conformation.  We had the opportunity to have her evaluated by my idol, Patricia Craige Trotter (noted author, judge, and breeder of Vin-Melca Norwegian Elkhounds), when Lolo was just five months old.  Ms. Trotter pronounced Lolo to have a magnificent front assembly, otherwise known as perfect shoulders, leg length and structure.  Since this is a trait that is hard to get in our breeding stock, I hope that Lolo will grow up to pass on her good shoulders to future generations.  She's a taller Chinook compared to my other girls and stands roughly 24" at the shoulder.

Lolo's maternal instincts are wonderful.  She was just eight months old when Taaku weaned her first litter of pups.  They had sharp teeth and no one blamed Taaku for running from them.  Lolo stepped in to take over the pups and from then until they left home, Lolo was with them almost every minute of the day.  She shared their meals, washed their faces, and broke up their puppy spats.  In turn she let them climb all over her, chew on her ears and tail, and fall asleep with her warm flanks as a pillow.  This role of "auntie" always falls to the youngest dog in the pack and with the girls, it teaches them to be moms to their own pups in the future.  When Taaku had the Big Dog Litter in fall of 2006, Lolo again played auntie.  And as you can see in the photos above, she takes full advantage of any visiting pups to practice being a mom.

Lolo started her show career slowly.  She did well on a summer of 2005 trip to New England with her favorite person, my friend Carie Taylor, and even won some classes under heavy competition.  She finished her UKC Championship in November of 2005, again with Carie handling (I was laid up with a torn tendon).  But her second broken leg (after being hit by the car) required a plate to out it back together securely and the plate interferes with the movement of her "wrist," throwing her gait off just slightly.  She has managed to gain two of the five wins needed for her Grand Championship but is only being shown on a very limited basis now.  She is a very strong dog and we'll see if she like doing weight pulls in the upcoming season.  She earned her AKC Canine Good Citizen title in December 2006 and continues to take obedience classes.  Training Lolo has taught me a great deal about keeping a dog motivated to learn as she doesn't take well to badly timed corrections or me nagging her.  I figure I've trained roughly twenty-five Chinooks over the years and the fun comes from learning something new from each one in the process.

As I mentioned, Lolo has always had strong maternal instincts and in December of 2006 she acted upon those instincts.  Lolo had her first litter in February of 2007, sired by Taga (Ch. PR Rain Mountain Tonasket Legacy CGC).  This breeding was Lolo's idea, not necessarily mine since I had just finished raising a litter of Taaku's.  But I suspect it was one of those situations where Lolo knew more than I do about what makes nice Chinook pups.  Her son, Ch. PR Rain Mountain Skookum TumTum (his name means "great heart" in Chinook Jargon; on a day-to-day basis he's called Harry after my maternal grandfather; all the pups in the litter were named after various relatives of mine), won Best Male at the 2008 Chinook National Specialty.

Lolo will be bred in the fall of 2008 to the very handsome PR Frontier Jackson.  Jackson is a handsome, mature Chinook who has only sired one previous litter thanks to his family spending many years living in England where he was just a bit too far away to be on the Chinook Singles Scene.  Please email ginger@rainmountain.net if you are interested in pups from this litter.  You can see a pedigree for the upcoming litter here.  I'm sure that Lolo will be in heaven to have another litter of babies to raise up.