Chinook - TOP 10 Interesting Facts

1) Origin
The first Chinook litter was born in 1917 in New Hapshire to explorer Arthur Treadwell Walden. He owned a large mixed breed who was crossed with one of the dogs on Peary’s North Pole team, possibly a Greenland dog. All the Chinook we have today are descendants of the one male born in 1917, who was named as Chinook.

2) Ancestry
This first Chinook was not similar to its parents, it was a very sporty dog and excellent sled dog who accompanied Admiral Byrd's South Pole expedition in 1927. Because it was such a great dog, he was bred further and all the offsprings who shares his quality were again used for further breeding. It is believed that they were crossbred with some other dogs as well, probably with German and Belgian Shepherds, Canadian Eskimo dogs and possibly some other breeds.

3) Sled dogs
If there is one thing Chinook excells at, than it is sledding. It can be said, that it is one of the best sledding dogs in the history. When the Chinook, the original Chinook born in 1917 was in lead, Mr. Walden was the first to climb Mount Washington, he was part of many polar expeditions and Mr. Walden with his Chinook are credited for bringing sled dog sports to New England.

4) Ears
Chinook dogs can have different ear types, to be more specific, they can be found in three ear types, which are down, pricked or flying. And it is impossible to tell what ears your dog will have when you buy it as a puppy, because it is not until after teething that you will know what the ears will do.

5) Companions
Chinook is not only a great athlete and sled dog, it is also amazing companion dog. This is pretty sensitive and definitely very intelligent dog breed who is highly trainable by positive reinforcement training methods. Chinooks are also known to be very gentle, loyal and calm dogs. They totally love their family and thrive for its companionship, but they tend to be resereved with strangers. But they should never be agressive towards them without a reason.

6) Rarity
It is true, that the Chinook breeds popularity is slowly raising, but it is still a very rare breed. It is estimated, that there is only between 1-3 thousands of purebred Chinooks in the world and most of them are in North America and almost all the breeders are based in the USA. It is very hard to find Chinook outside America.

7) Other pets
Chinooks should never be agressive which is why they make excellent companions for people with other pets and they can even live on farms with a lot of livestock. If they are socialized with other animals from their puppyhood, they can happily live with other dogs, cats and other pets. They also get along very well with kids, which mostly thanks to their calm, patient and gentle personality. But of course, you should never leave a very young child with any dog breed unsupervised.

8) Size
The Chinook is well balanced and muscular dog breed with average height between 21-27 inches, which is 53-69 cm and weight is typically between 55-90 pounds, which is 25-41 kg. Females tend to be slightly smaller than males.

9) Maintenance
The Chinook has a dense doublecoat which sheds a little bit every day, but profusely twice a year. Daily brushing during the shedding season will help to minimize the shedding and keep the coat in good condition, but it is impossible to stop the shedding. They do not have other special grooming needs and they do not need almost any bathing. Just like with all the dogs, you should regulalry check their ears, eyes, nails and teeth and clean them or clip them if needed.

10) Health
Chinook is a breed with relatively small gene pool and those breeds often time suffer from a lot of health issues. But the Chinook is actually pretty healthy dog. They have amazing lifespan between 12-15 years and the health concerns iclude hip dysplasia, seizures, allergies, eye abnormalities and hypothyroidism