1999 Sled Dog Trade Show

Chinooks New England! sponsored a booth at the 4th Annual Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Show on October 9th & 10th. We had a wonderful display of club photos and had brochures available for folks who wanted to learn more about our club. Club members staffed the booth all weekend and many people came to the Trade Show just to meet some Chinooks. Seminars ran continuously throughout the two day event and CNE! member Connie Jones conducted a seminar entitled "Puppy Socialization to Create the Recreational Sled Dog". Connie's workshop focused on the history and temperament of the Chinook breed and the importance of puppy socialization when creating recreational sled dogs. We had many attendees who were very interested to learn about the breed and what Connie had to offer by way of advice on raising puppies. Connie brought Bowerbank X Timba and her cart to demonstrate the versatility of the breed. Timba pulled the cart off-lead, taking Connie's command's like a pro. All of the mushers were very impressed with the trainability of the Chinook.

Connie Jones & Timba demonstrate turning a cart.

A little bit of Chinook history also occurred at the Trade Show. Every year at the Trade Show, the Down East Dog Sled Club sponsors a rig and bikejor fun race. For the first time in over 50 years, three Chinook teams ran in a sanctioned sled dog race. Jessica Maurer ran in, and won, the bikejor race with Chinooks Rangeley & Baxter. Sam Clark ran in the four-dog rig race but only ran three dogs. He ran Chinook brothers Tracer & Rupert and Husky Ray. Karen Fass ran a four-dog team with Chinook sisters Trekker & Molly and Huskys Red & Domino. All of the teams ran great and looked marvelous! We congratulate all of our participating club members!

Baxter & Rangeley with driver Jessica Maurer

A close up of the team.

The winning bikejoring team with handler Tamara Clark.
Chinooks: WoodsRunner X Baxter & Rain Mountain Rangeley Runner

Sam Clark dresses Tracer while Ray & Rupert wait their turns.
Chinooks: Hurricane Tracer & Hurricane Rupert

Moosewater team at the starting line.

Chinook Tracer matches Alaskan Ray stride
for stride! (Are their paws actually
touching the ground?)

Karen & Rich Fass dress their team.
Chinooks: Enatai X Trekker & Enatai X Molly.

Karen and her team coming over the finish line.

Chinook Molly runs with Husky Red. (Molly's only been running on Karen's team for a few weeks and finds herself running in lead!)

We had lots of Chinook spectators lining the race route and cheering us on. Penthea Burns, Tamara Clark, Rich Fass, Connie Jones, Alan Robitaille, Laura Morgan, Cathleen Griffin, Betty Smith, Nancy Bartol and even Harry Gray were among our fans. Later in the day, C.O.A. president Donna Canfield and her husband Mark made a surprise appearance with Chinooks Alyeska, Shageluk and Trombone. Liz Stout came late in the day with Tucker who charmed many a visitors with his stunning puppy personality. All in all we had over 20 Chinooks visit the show!