UWP Grand Ch. PR Rain Mountain Kutaan Taaku CGC HIC DNA-VIP
Taaku




Call name: Taaku or Boo Boo
OFA Prelim Excellent, OFA Permanent Good, CERF Normal
Born November 10, 2002
Breeder:  Ginger Corley, Rain Mountain Chinooks
Owners: Michael Choy and Ginger Corley
Sire:  Ch. WoodsRunner Rorik (OFA Fair, CERF Normal)
Dam:  Ch. Rain Mountain Jenna of Bear Creek HIC (OFA Good, CERF Normal)

I think that Taaku arrived into this world wiggling and giggling and she continued to wiggle and giggle and wag every day of her life, spreading joy in the simple things: riding along to the grocery store, going for a walk in the neighborhood park, or just hanging out at home. She definitly brought happiness to every person who knew her. Everyone was her friend. She wasn't a big Chinook but she packed a lot of life into her ever-wagging body. Her registered name of "Kutaan Taaku" means 'warm wind' in Inuit and she always was a warm breath of fresh air, though occasionally with muddy paws.

Originally the big girl pup with the black mask from the first litter of Jenna and Rorik was to go to Corine Lindhorst of High Plains Chinooks in Montana.  But shortly after they were born, Hurricane Chinooks had a litter with a gorgeous black and tan Chinook girl and between Corine, Joyce Maley (of Hurricane Chinooks), and me, it was decided to place the black and tan girl (Hurricane Mariah Rain) with Corine and I would keep the pup who grew up to become Taaku.

Taaku had that wonderful sense of confidence I find in pups that are raised in my home. She knew from birth that she was going to stay.  By 10 weeks old, she was coming along to weight pulls and dog shows, visiting friends and family, and starting puppy classes.  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 her brothers (Kodi, Dave, and Timberrr all lived in the area) figured out they were much bigger than she was and could actually take her down in a wrestling match.

Taaku's innate gentleness and love of puppies became readily apparent with the arrival of a litter of six little brothers and sisters when she was 7 months old.  She spent a great deal of time helping her mom Jenna raise them and was exceptionally gentle.  You could see her mature into the role of Big Sister and assume her place in the Rain Mountain pack as second female in command after her grandmother Holly.  Thunder fell under her spell too.  By the time she was a year old, she was one of the only dogs that could take a bone right out of his mouth simply by batting her feminine eyelashes.

Taaku's wonderful conformation and independent spirit made her a good sled dog. She started out running with Holly and later after Holly and Thunder retired, ran with Carie's Moonsong team. She and Chili were well matched for gait. Sorry to say though that Taaku just never had the personality for being a lead dog. She was too easily distracted. She would run good as a team dog if someone was watching to make sure she pulled her share. I put her into weight pull competitions mostly as a joke.  We teased her that she was the Prom Queen, too preoccupied with her hair and nails to actually pull anything heavy. I was shocked when her Weight Pull title certificate arrived in the mail, surprised that she had actually qualified enough times, since she would often just sit down and refuse to even try. She retired from weight pulling as soon as she earned her UKC UWP title. No more pulling heavy things for her. Taaku was able to earn her Herding Instinct Certification on her first try at herding sheep. She also managed to pull off her Canine Good Citizen award. But mostly she was just our Prom Queen.

Training Taaku was a challenge. The instincts that make a sled dog are not the same as those that make a good obedience dog. The first four years of her life, she was my only Chinook that was not trustworthy off leash. Even just going from the front door to the van, she wanted to take off for the horizon. It was nothing personal, she just liked to run. Consequently we spent a lot of time in training classes working on basic obedience and I went to lengths to ensure that she got plenty of exercise. Eventually she became my most trustworthy dog but it took work and maturity. It just goes to show that every Chinook is different. I couldn't pay the others to leave home but Taaku was always willing to go anywhere for the sake of a good run.

Taaku found her true calling in the show ring where all good Prom Queens belong. There she was hot stuff. She earned Best Female and Best of Winners at the 2003 Chinook 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. She retired from the show ring to have pups after reaching #6 in Top Ten.

In May of 2005 she presented me with her first litter, sired by UWP Grand Ch. Rain Mountain Tonasket Thunder CGC HCT eight 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 her first litter. The Legacy Litter was probably the most fun I ever had raising pups since there were just three of them. Of that litter, I kept one male, Rain Mountain Tonasket Legacy, my sweet Taataga, who has become my boon companion since the death of his father.

Her second litter was born in October of 2006. The Big Dog Litter was sired by Rain Mountain Bannack, probably the most titled Chinook ever; officially he is UCDX (obedience) UWP (weight pull) Ch. (conformation Champion) PR Rain Mountain Bannack CGC (Canine Good Citizen) HIC (Herding Instinct Certified) NAP (agility) DNA-VIP (his pedigree is DNA verified). While she was staying in Montana with Marne and Corine Lindhorst for the breeding, Corine called to complement me on how well trained Taaku was. Huh? I was sure she was joking or talking about a different dog. But no. I guess dogs can be like children and pull out their company manners when away from home.

After her second litter, Taaku retired from motherhood and focused on raising her grandchildren and the other young Rain Mountain dogs. First was a surprise little Taataga sired with Lolo, conceived just as the last of Taaku's Big Dog pups were leaving for new homes. In 2008 I sold the house in Kirkland and moved north to property in the vortex of Arlington, Mount Vernon, and Stanwood. Here the dogs had five acres to run though we only had a very small house. Taaku met Brad Garner who had come to talk with me about getting a pup from a future litter. Next thing I know, Taaku was spending a few days with Brad, his son Chris, and their young Lab, Buddy, to help Buddy develop some confidence. Later Brad's friend Michael Choy borrowed her for a weekend, hoping to bolster the confidence of his young Chinook, Chaka. We compromised on a schedule that worked for both of us humans and, most of all, for Taaku. She spent most of her time with Michael, where she was spoiled rotten, having weekly sessions at daycare and daily walks and trips to the dog park, and spa days with the groomer. Michael got her over her fear of water and bought her endless gifts and toys, as befitting a Prom Queen. According to Michael, "Taaku had no problem settling back into suburbia.  She loved her daily walks in the park and her weekend adventures with Chaka."  Taaku truly loved having Chaka to boss around and he quickly became devoted to her. And whenever Michael traveled both Taaku and Chaka came to stay with me here at the Slug Ranch where Taaku went back to sleeping on the foot of my bed -- or draped over my body like a dead weight so I couldn't move at all in my sleep. In between Michael's trips he brought Chaka and Taaku up for monthly visits so that Taaku could see her son and Taga could hang with his new best buddy Chaka. Later when Kai joined the family, he and Chaka likewise hit it off and the "three bro's" would hang out together the whole time Michael was gone. It was like having my own Cub Scout Troop of Chinooks! I also enjoyed making a good friend in Michael through our shared love of Taaku and my growing love of Chaka. It soon felt like Chaka was just as much a member of the family as Taaku was.



Taaku nursing her 5 week old pups from the Big Dog Litter
sired by Rain Mountain Bannack

Taaku's Accomplishment's

v Best Female and Best of Winners,
     2003 Chinook National Specialty
v Best of Breed & Group 2,
     2003 UKC Washington Classic
v #10 in UKC Top Ten for 2003
v #6 in UKC Top Ten for 2004
v Grand Champion Award of Merit at 2004
     Premier

v UKC Champion & Grand Champion titles
v UKC Weight Pull title
v AKC Canine Good Citizen title
v Herding Instinct Certified (HIC) by AHBA
     (American Herding Breeds Association)
v Experienced team dog
v Dam of 2 Rain Mountain litters: Legacy Litter
     (2005) & Big Dog Litter (2007)

Slowly I began to notice that Taaku not only had a bit of gray on her face but that her lashes had turned white as well. There was the soft tissue injury that just didn't want to heal up even though Michael took her to see specialists and tried all sorts of physical therapies on her. I knew that some day she wouldn't be with us any longer but I thought that she had always been so healthy, it would be a long time before anything major wopuld happen. After all Taaku was still wiggling and wagging like a puppy most of the time.

But that wasn't to be the case. Taaku was felled by a tumor on her spine in January of 2015. She was 12 years old. We were glad that she had not suffered for weeks on end. It had been a fast growing though aggressive tumor. She was such a stoic dog with such a high tolerance for pain that she gave virtually no sign of trouble until Michael came home one afternoon and found her collapsed on the floor. He got her straight to an emergency vet, calling me along the way. She was transferred to a large vet hospital with a veterinary neurologist on duty and MRI capabilities. But I've been through numerous surgeries on my own spinal cord so I know what pain she must have been in. We met at the vet hospital the next evening and spent an hour with her, saying our goodbyes. We couldn't ask her to wait any longer when her pain level was so high. A few days later Michael brought Chaka for a visit so he could see that I didn't have Taaku here. Taga was confused when Michael and Chaka got out of the car and Taaku wasn't with him. But she'd been slower lately, not as playful. At least his buddy Chaka was here and Michael had brought extra treats. Taaku's ashes will go into the Memorial Garden here.

As Michael says, " She certainly left quite an imprint on Chaka. I know we'll both miss her and I'll always remember her for the proud gal she is."


Photos above:
Top center - Taaku managed to pull off the one-ear-down, one-ear-helicopter look and make it stylish.
Top left - Taaku at 3 weeks old was known as "Fawn" in her litter; her siblings were Mink, Otter, Badger, Cougar, and Bear.
Top right -
Taaku taking a Group 2 at the UKC Washington Classic under the highly respected judge Richard Beauchamp when she was just 7 months old.
Second from top on left - Taaku in harness with her brother Kodi.


TAAKU'S PHOTO & VIDEO GALLERY

Taaku as she first learns to walk


Playing in the rain

Winning Group 1 at the Washington Classic at just a year old

She looked damn good in harness even if she wasn't
always the most honest dog. Taaku needed a good
lead dog to bring out the best in her as a sled dog.
 

The sweet soft expression matched her personality to a T


With Rain Mountain Bannack, sire of her second litter
(Photo by Corine Lindhorst)

With her son Rain Mountain Tonasket Legacy - Taataga - who keeps
me company every day and who was tightly bonded to her even
after she moved in with Michael and Chaka. Michael brought her
over for frequent visits and she always stayed with us when he
traveled. I was always amazed that big old Taga came out of little Taaku.

The happy face of her later years showed some
gray but she was still wiggling and wagging.




Above, left and right, and left: Taaku meeting the puppy Chaka.
As you can see though her first instinct was to act like a mom dog,
rolling him over to thoroughly smell him all over and make sure he was
keeping his nethers clean, but once that was done, they were the best of
friends and it was Taaku who was always flopping over on her back,
into the position she had been taking since she was a puppy herself
and would lie in the crook of my arm while I sat in my leather
armchair reading or watching TV.
(Photo by Michael Choy; also shown in the video below.)



Above: Chaka grew up to be a big Chinook, much like Taaku's son Taga,
but he was always willing to snuggle with Taaku.

Left: Taaku and adolescent Chaka waiting at the top of the stairs for Michael.


At the beach in Edmonds. Check out the video below to see
Chaka catch her a crab for lunch
(Photo by Michael Choy)


Her favorite creek at the Kenmore Park where she
takes a dip year 'round
(Photo by Michael Choy)

Taaku's favorite creek at Kenmore Park
(Photo by Michael Choy; also shown in the video below.)


VIDEOS:
Playing on the sandbar at low tide at the beach in Edmonds: Edmonds Beach. You can really see how fast Taaku could run in her prime. She was one of the fastest Chinooks I've ever owned.
Cooling off in her favorite creek at Kenmore Park: Taaku in Creek. How Michael got her over her hatred of getting wet, I will never know. She used to be famous for leaping over puddles while in harness rather than getting so much as a single toe wet.
Chaka catches Taaku a crab for lunch: Crab for Lunch You've just got to love a guy that serves you fresh crab for lunch!
Taaku jumps into the puppy pen to say hello: Taaku & Puppies. Taaku never could resist puppies so when Lolo was taking a break, she jumped in to say hello to the  100 Acre Wood Litter.
(All videos by Michael Choy.)


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