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Chief |
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In Memoriam Chief left us on May 15, 2008. He was a very special guy with a big personality and a real love for life - especially food and tummy rubs. He'll always have a very special place in my heart. The text below has not yet been updated to reflect the fact that he's gone. I'll get around to doing it one of these days when it feels right. Chief is Celticfrosts DarkNStormy. He was born in Sydney, Australia on the 29th of January, 1997. We also call him Chiefy, Chiefy Boy, Chief Master, Master Chief, Chief O'Brien and Little Lion (because he has what appears to be a mane). When Chief was still with his littermates, his breeder, Steve, called him Big Bear because of his size. When we visited this litter at four weeks of age, all the pups were running around biting our feet and trying to get their teeth into anything they could. As we were dealing with the attack of sharp little teeth from all directions, along strolled this absolutely gorgeous little bundle of fur. He plonked himself down in front of us and rolled over to expose his tummy for a rub. We fell in love with this boy immediately. Chief was easily the biggest pup of his litter and it was obvious from a young age that he was going to be a lap dog. Whereas most of the other pups would play furiously outside, Chief would go inside the house and sleep. As he was so big compared to the other pups, he had no problem establishing his dominance and got his fair share of food at mealtimes. Chief is built very much like Kira - big bones, large head, very soft coat and even has very similar markings. Both Kira and Chief have a cap and goggles - Chief has a half mask and Kira with the bar running down to her nose, has a full mask. Chief was also registered as a black and white Malamute but he is even more of a seal and white than Kira is. His undercoat is very light in colour all over. Chief's coat is a groomer's nightmare. He has very little guard coat or undercoat but what he does have is very long and soft. It tangles and knots easily and picks up all kinds of burrs and other junk in the bush. Chief is generally a pretty lazy dog and would never make it as a sled dog. In deep snow, I will have one arm stretched out behind me as Chief reluctantly follows, and the other arm stretched out in front as Kira tries to drag me along to keep up with her! If an activity requires any amount of work, Chief will voice his opposition vocally. Kira and I are trying to instill a work ethic in him but it is obvious he will remain a clown and somewhat of a pup for the rest of his life. Although he gives Kira a good run in the wrestling stakes, Kira can leave him in her dust when it comes to running. Like Kira, Chief is an extremely sweet and overly friendly dog although he is very dominant with other dogs. He is also very vocal and does a lot of the crazy, funny things that many soft-coat boys seem to do. Chief is a reasonably smart dog but he is easy to mislead and often acts first before thinking. An example is if there is a bird in the yard. Kira will use stealth and slowly creep up and hide behind bushes - she has patience (although it still never nets her a catch). Chief will just charge and of course the bird flies away. When food is present, Chief completely forgets about anything else. Kira on the other hand will even refuse treats if she thinks you are trying to use food to get her to do something she doesn't want to do. Kira is a perfect example of a Northern breed dog that must want to do something - fortunately she loves to please. Because of Chief's dominance, we will never let him socialise freely with cats. He will also only be allowed to play with other dogs (besides Kira), when strictly supervised and mostly outside where there are less items for him to lay claim to. Despite his issues with other dogs, 99% of the time he loves to play with them. It is just that when there are items up for grabs (including even drinking at the water bowl), he tries to show other dogs that he is the boss. He has no problems sharing the water bowl with Kira though. The fact is anyway that Kira could beat Chief up in a second! Chief's Mum is Nootak Kishkimo Kid (Kishka) and his Dad is Aust. Ch. Paharey Ccooler Atcidaq (AI) (Vaska). It turns out that Vaska is a brother to Cocaine, whom I mentioned earlier as Kira's grandfather. If you take a lot at the picture of Cocaine, you can see the resemblance to Chief - same face, very similar soft coat, and in fact similar personalities too. Chief is a little over 25 inches at the shoulder and weighs about 45 kg (99 lbs). Chief has an amazing voice. Due in part to his huge barrel-chest, Chief sounds like James Earl Jones when he speaks. Duffy calls Chief the 'Louis Armstrong of Dogdom'. When Chief was just a pup, he one day uttered his first "woo" and I was speechless at how deep his voice was for such a little guy. Chief often 'rumbles'. To some people, it sounds like a growl but this is one dog whose woo is far worse than his bite. The tell-tale sign is when Chief rumbles and wags his tail at the same time! Chief's "woo" is famous in many parts of the world. Duffy and I, and many friends use Chief's "woo" as a sound event to signal when we have incoming e-mail. Listen to Chief speak by playing one of the audio files below. If you don't know which format is suitable for your computer, consult this page.
For something extra special, listen to Chief singing. Send an e-mail to Chief. His e-mail is ChiefMaster@DogsOfTheNorth.com.
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