Today I heard from my old friend in Spain, Ramón Rojas. Like Isa and myself, he has Seppalas and Solovyev Russian import Siberian sleddogs -- in other words, SSSDs. And like us, he has a kennel full of old dogs and is wondering whether to bring things quietly to a close or to renew his kennel operation by frantically breeding, at the last minute, a new generation of pups to carry on.
I first met Ramón a little over ten years ago, when he drove up to my farmhouse in Spain and politely introduced himself, telling me his name and saying, "I believe I have the brother of your Russian dog." And that was exactly the case: Ramón had bought Shapochka iz Solovyev from Czech musher Ivan Síbrt, "Shapka" being a litter mate of our dog Shakal iz Solovyev. Ramón had excellent luck with Shapka, who became the main leader of his racing team. Ramón bought several Seppalas from us, and when we left Catalunya, I brought two additional Markovo Seppalas from the Carolyn Ritter kennel to Ramón just before going.
Ramón had previous sleddog experience -- with Samoyeds! Seppalas were a revelation to him. He trained his team in the mountains, ran in the mountain races of Spain and France, and in recent years has done winter dogsled excursion work with ANGAKA on the Plateau de Beille in Pyrenean France. He writes, "really these dogs have brought a lot to my life; they are excellent animals and with them I've passed the best years of my life, being able to do something really fulfilling."
Nobody knows about Ramón and his dogs. He is a very private person. He breeds very little, sells very few dogs. And now he has 17 dogs over ten years old, out of a total of 27. Not surprisingly, he feels a little depressed and discouraged. (You would, too, if seventeen of your closest friends were soon to die of old age.) I'm hoping my buddy Ramón, who is a kind, sensitive person and one of the best friends I've ever had, will somehow find the strength and determination to renew his kennel and to join us in strengthening the growing Seppala Siberian Sleddog breed. We need more people like Ramón. We need more dogs like his. I feel for my friend in his pain and confusion. He is experiencing the hardest part of owning sleddogs.
Posted by jjeffrey at October 10, 2003 11:15 PM