Once again I was NOT planning to keep a pup from our first breeding of Jenna and Rorik.  Jenna was staying with me while she had two litters as part of a joint project with Rain Mountain and Bear Creek Chinooks.  The big girl pup with the black mask was originally planned to go to Corine Lindhorst of High Plains Chinooks in Montana.  But shortly after Taaku was born, Hurricane Chinooks had a litter with a gorgeous black and tan Chinook girl and it was decided to place the black and tan girl with Corine (now known as Hurricane Mariah Rain) and I would keep Taaku.

Taaku has that wonderful sense of confidence I find in pups that are raised in my home.  She seemed to know from birth that she would stay.  By 10 weeks old, she was coming along to weight pulls and dog shows, visiting friends and family, and starting puppy classes.  Three of her siblings -- Dave, Kodi, and Timberrr -- stayed in the area and frequently come for play sessions.  As a baby Taaku was one of the biggest in the litter and even as her brothers outgrew her, she made it clear that at her house, she was still in charge.  It was not until they were 6 months old that they figured out they were much bigger than she was and could actually take her down in a wrestling match.

I like to have my dogs know how to obey all the humans they meet in their lives so when Taaku was 5 months old, Susan Fletcher and I tried an experiment that we had talked about for many years.  Taaku went to spend a week at Susan's, learning to obey Susan and her partner Marian, meeting and learning to get along with the other Chinooks, and not to tiddlywink Susan's Chihuahuas.  Susan took her to the doggy daycare where she works, and Taaku got wonderful socialization with many other dogs.  Taaku also got to visit with Susan Shemeta and Ron Schoener at their beautiful lake house, along with their Chinooks Ladybug (Taaku's aunt) and Sky (Taaku's half sister).  The added socialization has paid off and now Taaku has not met the dog or human that she doesn't like and listen to.  Okay, she listens MOST of the time.

Taaku's gentleness has become readily apparent with the arrival of a litter of six little brothers and sisters.  She spent a great deal of time raising her younger brothers and sisters and was exceptionally good with them.  You could see her quickly mature into the role of Big Sister and assume her place in the pack as second female in command after her grandmother Holly.  When Carie Taylor and her pack moved to the Seattle area from Florida and stayed here, Taaku delighted in having so many playmates.  We spent much time laughing at Taaku learning to flirt with Carie's males Tay, UConn, and Pharaoh and it didn't take her long to have Thunder under her spell too.  By the time she was a year old, she was one of the few dogs that could take a bone right out of his mouth while batting her feminine eyelashes.

Taaku has wonderful conformation and an independent spirit that make her a outstanding sled dog.  She spent the winter of 2003/2004 running lead with Holly and did quite well.  Once she is in harness, all she wants to do is run.  She ran some long (for us) trips of up to ten miles and never faltered.  During the winter of 2004/2005 we didn't have much snow but with Holly and Thunder retired, Taaku moved onto the Moonsong team and ran regular ten mile trips with Carie's five Chinooks.  When the run was finished, Taaku still was full of energy so helped with training the next batch of sled dog, Carie's Brett and my Lolo.

Training Taaku is a challenge.  The instincts that make her an outstanding sled dog are not the same as those that make her a good obedience dog.  She is my only Chinook that is not trustworthy off leash.  Even just going from the front door to the van, she is very willing to take off for the horizon.  It's nothing personal, she just likes to run.  Consequently we spend a lot of time in training classes working on basic obedience and I go to lengths to ensure that she gets plenty of exercise.  It just goes to show that every Chinook is different.  I can't pay the others to leave home but Taaku is always willing to go anywhere just for the sake of having a good run.  

Taaku was able to earn her Herding Instinct Certification on her first try at herding sheep and is beginning to practice weight pulling though she would rather be running fast.  She has competed in UKC weight pull competitions but has yet to earn a leg.  It's not that she can't pull the weight!  She just is sometimes in the mood to pull and sometimes sits and looks at me.  When she does pull, her form is beautiful so we are working on her being more consistent.

She earned Best Female and Best of Winners at the 2003 Chinook Round-Up and National Specialty, bringing the Best Female plaque back to Rain Mountain after an absence of many years.  (Rain Mountain girls won this award for five consecutive years in the 1990s.)  She earned the final points for her championship at a mere seven months of age by taking Best of Breed and a Group 2 under judge Richard Beauchamp at the UKC Washington Classic and went on to win enough Best of Breed awards during 2003 to be ranked in the UKC's Top Ten for 2003.  Her show record in 2004 was even better with a Group 1 at the UKC Washington Classic and #6 in Top Ten.

Taaku took 2005 off of showing to undertake her grreatest accomplishment to date.  In May of 2005 she presented me with her first litter, sired by UWP Grand Ch. PR Rain Mountain Tonasket Thunder CGC HCT six weeks after he passed away.  After having been president of his fan club and his primary groupie all her life, it was only fitting that he sire the first of what we hope will be many wonderful pups.