New Hampshire State Dog: Chinook

The state dog designation began as a civics project when Jen Johnson Wells, a seventh-grade teacher at Ross A. Lurgio Middle School and Chinook owner since 2003, brought her dogs to school events. Students fell in love with the breed and researched its New Hampshire origins, discovering that 12 other states had official state dogs but most lacked the strong ties the Chinook had to their state. In spring 2009, Senator Sheila Roberge sponsored legislation the students drafted. Johnson Wells and her students attended committee hearings to present their case. After unanimous committee and full Senate votes, the entire 100-student class traveled to the State House to watch the House vote. Following passage, House members turned to recognize the students in the viewing gallery, celebrating their successful civic engagement.

The Chinook stands as the only dog breed to originate in New Hampshire and one of the few breeds developed entirely in the United States. This distinction provided compelling rationale for the designation, as few states can claim native dog breeds. The students' research emphasized that while other state dogs had superficial connections to their states, the Chinook's entire development occurred in New Hampshire from the founding dog born in 1917 through decades of breeding at Wonalancet Farm. The breed's name itself—from an Inuit word meaning 'warm winter winds'—though not from New Hampshire's indigenous languages, honors Arthur Walden's Yukon experiences that inspired creating the breed in New Hampshire and reinforced the Granite State story.

The 2009 designation occurred during a challenging period for the Chinook breed despite recovery efforts since the 1981 crisis when only 11 breedable dogs survived. While the breed's population had grown to approximately 400-800 registered dogs by 2009, it remained rare with limited breeding stock and about 100 puppies born annually worldwide. The state dog designation provided valuable publicity for breed preservation efforts, raised awareness among New Hampshire residents about this unique heritage, and demonstrated how civic symbols can support conservation of rare breeds. The designation preceded the Chinook's full American Kennel Club recognition in 2013, when the breed joined the Working Group.

Arthur Walden's creation of the Chinook demonstrated quintessential New Hampshire pioneering determination. After learning dog sledding in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, Walden returned to New Hampshire and spent years developing the ideal sled dog through careful selective breeding. He sought to combine the power of large freight breeds with the speed of smaller racing dogs while maintaining friendly, gentle temperament. This systematic approach to creating a new breed for specific purposes exemplified innovative problem-solving and patient persistence characteristic of New England ingenuity.

The Chinook honors New Hampshire's winter sports heritage and outdoor recreation culture. Walden introduced dog sled racing to New England, founded the New England Sled Dog Club in 1924—the oldest sled dog club still operating—and organized the first Eastern International Dog Derby in 1922, a 123-mile race from Berlin, New Hampshire to Canada that drew national attention. The Chinook teams racing through New Hampshire's White Mountains established dog sledding as a New England sport rather than exclusively an Arctic activity. This heritage continues as modern dog sledding, skijoring, and winter recreation remain vital parts of New Hampshire outdoor culture and ties naturally to the White Birch state tree landscape.

The Chinook's survival from 11 breedable dogs in 1981 to over 1,100 registered worldwide represents remarkable resilience. The breed faced extinction primarily because breeder Perry Greene sold only neutered males or spayed females for decades, preventing others from breeding Chinooks and creating dangerous genetic bottleneck. When Neil and Marra Wollpert searched for Chinooks in 1981, discovering only 11 remained, dedicated breeders in Maine, Ohio, and California divided the remaining stock and collaborated to save the breed through careful breeding programs. This recovery demonstrates how small groups of committed individuals can preserve irreplaceable heritage through cooperation and systematic effort.

The Chinook's participation in Admiral Richard E. Byrd's 1928-1930 Antarctic expedition connects New Hampshire to historic polar exploration. Walden served as chief dog driver despite being 56 years old, beyond the expedition's age limit, leading teams that hauled 650 tons of supplies from ships to Little America base camp nine miles inland before Antarctic darkness descended. Byrd wrote that 'Walden's team was the backbone of our transport,' and Walden received the Congressional Medal in 1931 for his Antarctic service. The loss of Chinook the dog on January 17, 1929—his 12th birthday—during this expedition made international news, demonstrating the breed's fame and the deep bond between Walden and his foundation dog.

Arthur Treadwell Walden was born May 10, 1871 in Indianapolis, Indiana, son of Episcopal clergyman Reverend Treadwell Walden. After attending Chattuck Military School in Faribault, Minnesota, Walden rejected city life in Boston where his father became minister of St. Paul's Cathedral in 1890. Instead he moved to his father's vacation home in Tamworth, New Hampshire. Restless for adventure, Walden traveled to Alaska in March 1896, arriving just months before gold was discovered in the Klondike in August 1896. For years he worked as a 'dog-puncher' (dog sled driver) hauling freight and mail across the Yukon, where he learned dog sledding and worked with an Eskimo dog named Chinook who made a deep impression on him.

On January 17, 1917, a litter of three puppies was born at Wonalancet Farm from a female Greenland Husky directly descended from Polaris, Admiral Robert Peary's lead dog on the 1909 North Pole expedition, and a large tawny Mastiff/St. Bernard-type farm dog. Katherine Walden named the three larger puppies Rikki, Tikki, and Tavi after characters in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. One puppy, originally named Rikki, showed exceptional intelligence, size (eventually 100 pounds), and temperament. Walden renamed him Chinook after the Eskimo dog he had worked with in the Yukon. This dog became the foundation sire of the entire Chinook breed—every Chinook traces descent from him.

Walden systematically bred Chinook to German Shepherd Dogs, Belgian Sheepdogs (all varieties considered same breed at that time), Canadian Eskimo Dogs, and possibly other breeds, then bred offspring back to Chinook and to each other. Chinook proved to be a 'sport of nature'—a genetic phenomenon—because he consistently sired puppies resembling himself in size, color, drive, intelligence, and temperament rather than showing more variation typical of mixed-breed offspring. This unusual genetic prepotency allowed Walden to establish breed characteristics across multiple generations. The resulting dogs combined the power needed for hauling heavy freight with the speed of racing sled dogs, while maintaining friendly, gentle temperament making them safe around families and children.

In 1922, Walden convinced a local newspaper to sponsor the first Eastern International Dog Derby, a 123-mile race from Berlin, New Hampshire to Canada that made headlines nationwide. Walden's Chinook team, with Chinook in lead, won first place, plastering newspapers across America with images of the tawny dogs and their driver. This victory established Chinooks as premier working sled dogs and promoted dog sled racing throughout New England. The race demonstrated that New England's mountains provided ideal training grounds for sled dog teams previously associated primarily with Alaska and Canada.

In January 1927 at Poland Spring, Maine, Walden raced his Chinook team against Leonhard Seppala's Siberian Huskies. Seppala, hero of the 1925 Nome Serum Run that saved Nome, Alaska from diphtheria epidemic, toured America with his fast Siberian Huskies. Walden underestimated the smaller huskies' speed, and Seppala's team beat the Chinooks by seven minutes. This defeat proved Chinooks were not the fastest sled dogs available—Siberian Huskies held that distinction—but Chinooks remained beloved for their combination of power, endurance, gentle temperament, and versatility. The race demonstrated different breeding goals produced specialized abilities: Seppala's dogs for speed, Walden's for balanced power, endurance, and friendliness.

From late 1927 through early 1928, dogs, drivers, and equipment assembled at Wonalancet Farm for training in White Mountains' harsh winter conditions. Walden guaranteed to Byrd that no dogs would be shot to save supplies, as had occurred in previous Arctic expeditions. In September 1928, Walden, his drivers, and 97 dogs (16 of them Chinooks, half sired by Chinook) boarded ships for Antarctica. Upon arrival, teams had little time before winter darkness descended to haul 650 tons of supplies from ships to Little America base camp nine miles inland. Walden's teams broke records for loads carried and weight hauled. Admiral Byrd wrote: 'Walden's team was the backbone of our transport.' In 1931, Arthur Walden received the Congressional Medal, the highest civilian honor, for his Antarctic service.

On January 17, 1929—Chinook's 12th birthday—the aging foundation dog disappeared while teams moved supplies to base camp. Despite extensive searches, Chinook was never found. Walden suffered profound grief, and expedition members reported watching Walden age ten years before their eyes at Little America. Admiral Byrd wrote: 'The second incident, perhaps the saddest during our whole stay in the Antarctic, was the loss of Walden's famous lead dog, Chinook. Chinook was Walden's pride, and there was no doubting the fact that he was a great dog. He was old when brought to the Antarctic, too old for hard, continuous labor, and Walden used him as a kind of shock troop, throwing him into a team when the going turned very hard. Then the gallant heart of the old dog would rise above the years and pull with the glorious strength of a three-year-old.' News of Chinook's death spread worldwide, and many mourned the loss of one of history's greatest lead dogs.

When Perry Greene died in 1963, wife Honey Greene tried continuing the breeding program, but by 1965 the Guinness Book of World Records listed the Chinook as the world's rarest dog breed with only 125 dogs alive and numbers dropping rapidly. The breed earned this Guinness distinction three times as the population continued declining. The Greenes' policy of selling only sterilized dogs meant no new breeders could expand the gene pool or increase numbers. The breed faced a death spiral with declining population, shrinking genetic diversity, and aging remaining dogs.

By 1981, when Neil and Marra Wollpert of Ohio searched for Chinooks to purchase, they discovered catastrophic situation: only 28 Chinooks remained alive, with just 11 dogs capable of breeding. The remaining eleven breedable Chinooks were divided among Neil and Marra Wollpert in Ohio, Kathy Adams working at Sukee Kennels in Warren, Maine, and Peter Abrahams in California. These three breeders and facilities held the entire future of the Chinook breed. Without immediate coordinated action, the breed would become extinct within years as the small remaining population aged.

Neil and Marra Wollpert founded the Chinook Owners Association and worked with the United Kennel Club to establish a recovery program. Breeders implemented coordinated breeding strategies to maximize genetic diversity from the eleven foundation dogs while avoiding dangerous inbreeding. By 1990, the population had grown to 140 Chinooks. The Chinook Owners Association instituted a controversial but necessary crossbreeding program: Chinooks were bred to individuals of other breeds thought to have contributed to original Chinook development (German Shepherd, Belgian Sheepdog, Canadian Eskimo Dog). Fourth-generation backcross descendants of such crosses meeting breed standards could be registered as purebred Chinooks, adding genetic diversity to the limited gene pool while maintaining breed characteristics.

Through dedicated breeding efforts, the Chinook population grew steadily from its 1981 low point. The breed obtained United Kennel Club recognition in 1991 with approximately 400 registered dogs. In 2001, the American Kennel Club accepted Chinooks into the Foundation Stock Service. By 2009 when designated New Hampshire's state dog, approximately 638 Chinooks were registered with AKC's FSS. In January 2013, the AKC granted full recognition to the Chinook, placing the breed in the Working Group. As of 2025, approximately 800-1,100 Chinooks are registered worldwide, with only about 100 puppies born annually. While recovered from near-extinction, the Chinook remains one of the rarest dog breeds, requiring continued careful breeding management to maintain genetic health.

New Hampshire's state motto 'Live Free or Die,' adopted in 1945 from General John Stark's toast, embodies fierce independence and self-reliance. Arthur Walden exemplified this spirit by rejecting conventional paths—leaving Boston for New Hampshire wilderness, seeking adventure in the Yukon, creating a new dog breed rather than using existing breeds, and persisting despite setbacks. The Chinook's recovery from near-extinction similarly demonstrates determination to preserve independence and heritage against overwhelming odds. Both motto and dog symbol celebrate choosing difficult paths requiring courage and perseverance.

The White Mountains, New Hampshire's defining landscape feature and recreational centerpiece, provided the harsh training environment where Walden prepared his Chinook teams for Antarctic conditions. The mountains' severe winters, deep snow, and challenging terrain tested dogs, drivers, equipment, and supplies before the Antarctic expedition. Modern Chinook owners continue using White Mountain trails for dog sledding, skijoring, and winter recreation, maintaining connections to the breed's heritage. The Chinook thus links state landscape to state symbol, acknowledging how New Hampshire's mountains shaped a breed developed for polar exploration.

The Chinook designation occurred through seventh-grade students' research, advocacy, and civic participation, demonstrating New Hampshire values of town meeting democracy and citizen involvement in governance. The students from Lurgio Middle School researched the breed's history, drafted legislation, testified at hearings, and watched their bill pass both chambers. This student-driven process honored New Hampshire's tradition of direct citizen engagement in government, showing young people that informed participation can shape state identity and policy. The designation thus symbolizes not just historical heritage but active citizenship across generations.