New Hampshire’s State Dog: Loyalty, Versatility, Intelligence, Endurance

By Rosalie Triolo

Photo: courtesy of Koji’s Owner

The Chinook, pronounced (shuh-nuk), is a relatively rare breed of dog which was first recognized by the United Kennel Club in 1991. In 2013 the Chinook breed was officially acknowledged by the American Kennel Club as part of the Working Group. This breed also has the distinction of being officially named “The State Dog of New Hampshire.”

Born in 1871, Arthur Treadwell Walden spent much of his youth in Minnesota and was educated at the Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault. When his father Reverend Treadwell Walden, an Episcopal clergyman, was appointed minister of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston, Arthur chose to live in his father’s vacation home in Tamworth, New Hampshire.

An adventurous young man, Arthur Walden in 1896 at the age of 25 journeyed to Alaska during one of the most exciting periods in history, the Klondike Gold Rush. A territory of the Yukon in northwestern Canada, the Klondike River which is a small river, enters the Yukon River from the east at Dawson City, known as the “heart of the Klondike Gold Rush.” Most prospectors took the route through the ports of Dyea and Skagway in Southeast Alaska. They would then follow the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River and sail down to the Klondike gold fields. Walden found work as a freighter carrying supplies and mail down the Yukon River. He gained experience with sled dogs which were used to pull heavy freight over vast distances.

In 1902 Walden returned to his farm in Wonalancet, New Hampshire and married Katherine Sleeper. The couple managed the Wonalancet Farm and Inn. Walden, determined to breed his own type of powerful sled dogs, bred a female Greenland Huskey, sired by a large yellowish-brown Mastiff/St. Bernard mix. A litter of puppies was born on January 17, 1917. Walden named one of the pups Chinook, after an Eskimo sled dog he worked with in the Yukon Territory freighting heavy gold mining supplies. Chinook would become his lead sled dog, and afterwards the breed Chinook was named after its forerunner.

Walden bred his dogs to possess those qualities of loyalty, versatility, intelligence, endurance, power and speed, which today still are specific to the “Chinook” breed. Because of Chinook’s easy-going nature, he was especially gentle with children.

There were many “Firsts” for Walden’s “Chinook” dog sled team. They successfully climbed Mount Washington. Walden introduced the sport of sled dog racing to New Hampshire, and in 1924 he founded the New England Sled Dog Club.

Walden was designated by Admiral Richard E. Byrd to be lead driver and dog trainer on his 1929 Expedition to Antarctica. In his book Little America published in 1930, Admiral Byrd wrote: “Had it not been for the dogs, our attempts to conquer the Antarctic by air must have ended in failure. On January 17th Walden’s single team of thirteen dogs moved 3,500 pounds of supplies from ship to base camp, a distance of 16 miles each trip in two journeys. Walden’s team was the backbone of our transport. Seeing him mush his heavy leads along the trail, outstripping the younger men, it was difficult to believe that he was an old man of 58 with the determination and strength of youth.”

In 1929 Chinook was 12 years old. Too old to lead the team, yet young at heart. Walden would use Chinook to “shock the troops.” It was said, “Walden would put him into the team when the going got rough. Then the gallant heart of the old dog would rise above his years and pull with the glorious strength of a three-year-old.”

On April 25th, 1930, news of Chinook’s death saddened many who mourned the loss of one of the greatest dogs in history. New York, April 28th 1930 Headlines: Chinook Said Goodbye! Arthur Walden returned home from Antarctica without his friend Chinook. “Sixty-eight dogs came back with him – heroes, their job well done. But Chinook, their undisputed king when they sailed from Norfolk a year and a half ago – Chinook who always slept at the foot of his master’s bed was not among them. And Chinook’s master will never return to Antarctica.”

On June 9th, 1930, in a special dispatch from The Evening Star Newspaper, Washington D.C and the New York Times, headlines read “Byrd Dogs’ Leader Honored by State. New Hampshire Dedicates Road as “Chinook Trail” as Tribute to their Four-Footed Hero.”

An excerpt reads, “While medals are being struck for Admiral Byrd and the men of his Antarctic Expedition, now rolling homeward on their two ships off the coast of their own country, an enduring honor has been paid to one who is not coming back, a four-footed hero of the great adventure who died alone out on the desolate ice barrier.”

When he returned from Antarctica, Walden found his wife ill. Due to financial difficulties, she had sold half the farm to Eva and Milton Seeley, who maintained the Chinook Kennel. Walden then sold his Chinook dogs to Mrs. Julia Lombard. From the latter part of the 1930’s, the breed had gone through a succession of buyers and breeders.

When they were shown at the New England Sportsman’s Show in Boston, a famous woodsman, Perry Green was fascinated by the breed, and when Lombard decided to sell the dogs, Green was the buyer. In the 1940’s Green moved the breed to Maine eventually becoming the world’s only producer of Chinooks. He still held to Walden’s standards of choosing prospective owners. It involved having the person stay at the kennel for twenty-four hours. If the dogs did not like the person, he would go home without a dog. Walden died in 1947. After Green’s death in 1963, the breed declined to one hundred twenty-five living dogs. Two years later Chinook dogs were recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Rarest Dog in the World.”

As the breed’s numbers steadily declined throughout the 1980’s, three breeders from Ohio, Maine and California divided the remaining 11 Chinook dogs whose line went back to the original Chinook dog. By the 1990’s as other breeders developed interests in bringing back the numbers, the Chinook population began to grow. Today, there are about 800 Chinook dogs in the world. Only 100 puppies are born each year worldwide. 

Some say the life expectancy of the Chinook is between 12 to 15 years, while others claim it to be between 14 to 17 years. The Chinook stands from 22 to 26 inches tall and usually weighs between 50 to 90 pounds. Their colors vary between a tawny brown, reddish-gold and honey. They are said to be highly affectionate with family members, and friendly towards strangers and other pets.

Here in the lakes region, Koji, a tawny Chinook, is super friendly and very affectionate. He loves being petted and wants your attention whether he has just met you or has known you for a long period of time. He’s obedient and acknowledges commands. According to Koji’s owner, “Sometimes Koji thinks he’s a lap dog.” And how did Koji get his name? The owner had been a Koji Uehara fan. He explained, “Koji Uehara was a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, who was named Most Valuable Player in the 2013 American League Championship Series. In the 2013 World Series Uehara threw the winning pitch in Game 6 and the Boston Red Sox won the Series.”

What about grooming? As far as grooming he added, “Chinooks have a double coat. This means they need to be brushed at least once sometimes twice a day especially during shedding season, or you’ll need to vacuum twice a day.” There are many breeds with double coats which gives them fluffier look. A double coat is an undercoat of short hair and a top coat of longer hair. The dense undercoat protects the dog from both hot and cold temperatures and the top coat helps to repel moisture and dirt.

Koji was born at Granite Hill Chinooks in Dover, New Hampshire. Owned and operated by John and Leslie Donais.