 Sandhill Chinooks
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About Io
Io is a purebred registered Chinook with both AKC-FSS and UKC under the
name
Meadowbrook Io of Aspencreek. (Io is a
name derived from Greek mythology. A lot of people assume the
name
is all-caps IO and an acronym for something, but that's not the
case.) Her sire is Aspencreek's Jackson Tyee, and her dam is
Victors Echo. She was born on July 3rd, 2004 in
Colorado. We picked her up at eight weeks and brought her home to
Wisconsin where she currently lives.
She weighs about 64 pounds, and her height is around 25 inches, maybe a
skosh under. Her eyes are a deep brown, and although her masking
has faded a bit, it was quite dark for her first year.
Her
coloring is tawny with some deeply pigmented guard hairs on
her back and the tip of her tail. She has a good, solid
coat
and stacks well. Her ears are a little
asymmetrical, with one more up than the other. She can definitely
move them all around and makes good use of this ability to express her
current emotional state. It's one of our favorite things about
her appearance.
Io also has a wonderful temperament. She is extremely loving and
sweet. She has never snapped or growled at anyone (human or
otherwise) and plays enthusiastically with other dogs. She even
tolerates aggression from other dogs without getting her feathers
ruffled. In other words, there isn't an aggressive bone in her
body. She loves children and is great around toddlers. In
fact, she's more
patient than most humans we know when it comes to being tugged on and
crawled over.
Io is an active dog. She is a great running partner and gets out
for a run several times a week. We are also just getting into
skijoring. We always knew she loved to pull, but we are thrilled
that she is taking to the harness so naturally. Now we just have
to work on the commands! She settles
down well in the house and is adept at basic obedience. She can
be willful, and she is often excitable around new dogs or in large
crowds; she will strain at her leash to try to meet dogs she sees
in public, and we work to desensitize her to these kinds of
situations by exposing her to them often. She is, however,
rarely if ever reserved. She was quite well socialized as a
young puppy, and we have worked hard to keep her that way with frequent
trips to bustling public places and to the dog park. She has
many, many friends.
And, finally, Io is a marvelous companion, both in the home and on the
road. She loves to be around us, her pack, and tends to settle
down in the house where we are. We hate to leave her alone at
all, but when we must we are careful to never leave her alone for more
than six hours. As a result, we have integrated her into our
daily lives as much as possible. She loves to ride along in the
car on errands and accompany us when we visit friends near and
far, and we have found that she adapts quickly to new and unfamiliar
places. Her favorite cities to visit are Minneapolis, Flagstaff,
and Vail. In short, Io has brought us more joy than we ever
imagined
possible, and we look forward to seeing her puppies do the same for the
people they love. |
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