What was the Chinook dog intended to be, originally? A show dog? An AKC inbred, health-screened, sanitised, obedience-trialed status symbol? We don't think so! Surely breed founder Arthur T. Walden wanted his Chinooks to be sturdy, reliable sled dogs (like his treasured lead dog "Chinook") and superb loving personal companions (also like his original "Chinook").
Atholl Chinooks is the successor kennel to the Tullibardine Chinooks partnership of Susan E. Murray and her brother Jack R. Murray, which was in turn the spiritual successor kennel to Harry Gray's Northdown Kennel. At Atholl our prime considerations are temperament and sleddog capability. We do not believe that sleddogs can be produced by breeding for conformation, or healthy dogs by breeding for hip and eye scores. These are merely dysfunctional ways of passing the heavy responsibilities of the breeder's task on to someone else.
