Chinooks New England!
An
Affiliate Club of the
Chinook Owner's Association, Inc.
|
|
Chinooks New England! An
Affiliate Club of the |
| Home | Upcoming Events | Past Events | New England Chinook Breeders | New England Chinook Studs |
| Membership | Board Contact Info | Chinook Owners Association | Chinook Store | United Kennel Club |
Rigging Event
April 22, 2006 - Dover, N.H.
Dogs patiently awaiting the start of the event - why do the boring humans have
to set things up?
|
|
When Chinooks New England! had to cancel Winterfest due to a lack of snow, we knew we had to do something else this spring for a New England get-together. So, we sponsored a rigging and harnessing event in New Hampshire. This was the first time we'd done an event like this and we didn't really give people a lot of notice of the event, so we weren't sure what to expect. As things turned out, it was a huge success and we very well may incorporate this type of event into our normal line up! John & Leslie Donais did a super job of organizing this event. They found a great venue in Durham, NH - a park on a lake that permits dogs. We rented a specific area right next to the lake with a large grassy field that hooked up to the dirt road that winds through the park. This made for a perfect area for the dogs to practice pulling and then try out their paws for real! |
|
In all, we had 34 humans show up for the event, with 28 Chinooks and 1 Akita in tow. We drew a big crowd from NY and NJ! The gathering started very nicely with about an hour for folks to unpack their dogs and have a chance to catch up with each other before formal activities started. John & Leslie had prepared a nice handout with sledding and harnessing images and terms. They went over all of the different equipment from Springers, to Scooters, to bikejoring setups to skijoring and hiking harnesses to drag sleds to rigs - three different types! John taught everyone how to measure their dogs for harnesses and explained how harnesses should fit. We'd brought a combined huge number of harnesses, so everyone was easily able to find one that properly fit. |
|
|
|
John made up 15 or so motorcycle tires with tug lines so that everyone could start their dog off with a positive pulling experience before moving up to actually working on a team. For some dogs (particularly young dogs), pulling the tire around was a major accomplishment and all that they did that day. Some dogs didn't like the tires, but were really fine with pulling the drag sleds around. |
 Penny pulls like a pro |
 Tamworth Tugger tries the tire |
Leslie coaxing young Abnaki (6 months) on her first try at pulling
 Ande & Calli bikejoring |
 McKinley on the Springer |
|
After about an hour of everyone working positively with their dog pulling something, dogs who wanted to move on were invited to pair up and join a four dog team or to try bikejoring. Owners ran along side the dogs and encouraged them as they worked in the team or successfully got their dogs to move out ahead of them on a bike. We successfully ran five or six 4 dog teams short distances with most dogs having a great time and showing wonderful aptitude for working. Some dogs were a bit more apprehensive about teamwork, and we were quick to stop the activity on a positive note for these dogs. |
 Cody pulling a scooter |
Tugger, Tanacross and Tatla
Mother/son team - Trav'ler with son McKinley behind and Moxie with son Atlin
behind.
Charley, Moxie, Moose and McKinley
| No CNE event would be complete without food, so we took a break to chat and have some burgers, salads and desserts. But talk at lunch turned to the absurd. Could we really create the longest team of Chinooks in modern history? Oh, why not try! So, after lunch, all those with dogs who'd shown promise that day (we didn't want to inflict this onto any dog who was initially tentative or too young), were invited to join our very long Chinook team. It took every line we had brought to the event to string out a 16 dog team, but we managed. Then, we had to figure out the dynamics - a couple of females in heat, several intact males, but it all worked out eventually! |
 Lincoln watches as Ben carries a box around |
 Akita Fennikusu and Kalitan wonder when the humans will finish lunch? |
 Bryrdie says, "good question!"
|
| After careful planning, it was all arranged, and 16 Chinooks were hooked up to Granite Hill's brand new Risdon rig (very cool, by the way!). Jess Maurer road her bike in front of her dogs, who ran in the first four positions on the team. All 16 dogs pull remarkably well out of the gate and we didn't even have a false start. We got about 2/10 of a mile up the trail and one dog wanted off the team! Thankfully, all the owners had kept up (mostly) with the dogs and we were able to drop him quickly and move on our way. We had a couple more stops before we'd traveled over ½ a mile. It was time to stop at an old wagon on the crest of a hill for a photo op, before we carefully turned the team around and headed back down the road. The team just flew home, with only one quick stop because of a tangle. Jen Johnson got to drive the team on the way to the wagon (and did a super job) and John Donais got to drive the rig back to the start - what a great way to break in a new rig - by driving a 15 dog Chinook team at a full run! |
 The team running on the road |
Climbing the hill to the wagon - the prize!
Reaching the goal!
Turning the team around
Heading back down hill.
John's view!
|
The day was very successful for all the dogs present and owners were very anxious to have another event like this in the future. We also had lots of fun reconnecting with family and meeting new Chinook owners. Participating dogs were: Pippa Passes Amorok, Pennacook, Kodiak and Callicoon, Moonsong Tookie, GreatMountain Trav'ler, Mahoosuc, Atlin, Yukon Charley, McKinley, Tanacross, Kusko Kwim, and Abnaki, Seven Lakes Byrdie, Mountain Laurel Tamworth Tugger, Rain Mountain Moxie, Tatla, and Tatoosh, Frontier Rain Tolo Kalitan, Balsam Ridge Lincoln & Akutaq, Sischu X Cody, Forever Greene Millinocket, Northeast Wind Moose and Polar, WoodsRunner Ande of GreatMountain, Hurricane Lily Blossom and much to our great delight, two of the shelter puppies rescued in December, Tavin and Holly. Speaking of the shelter rescue, this event also collected donations for the shelter. We collected nearly 150 pounds of food to the shelter! |
 A successful end! |
|
 Tavin & Holly were rescued by the Chinook Owners Association from a shelter in Maine at 9 weeks old. They're doing great! |
Family Reunions
Trav'ler (far left) with four of her pups, Tanacross, Yukon Charley,
McKinley & Kusko Kwim
Moxie (second from left) and Moose (middle behind) reconnected as a family
with
their children Mahoosuc (middle front) and Atlin (right). Also present
was Uncle Polar (far left).
Parting shot
Lily was pretty excited to meet McKinley!
Copyright © 1999-2006 Chinooks New England! All rights reserved. Last updated March 2006.
