October 04, 2005
sepallop
PERHAPS HE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH. (His photo above was taken last February.) Horse-faced little squirt of a black and white saddle-back sleddog. He has weighed no more than 42 pounds most of his life. Anytime you looked over the sixty or so dogs resident at Seppala Kennels, he's not the one you would be likely to pick out as being anything special.
But he happens to be the best male leader we've ever had, and certainly the fastest. The best sleddogs aren't always the impressive-looking ones. Endurance? He's a gritty little son-of-a-gun who hangs in there no matter what, no matter how long the trail. A certain amount of stubbornness goes with the grit; sometimes we used to call him "Bonehead."
Something else goes along with Llop -- L O V E . The little guy worships Jeffrey and Isa, and all he's ever wanted is to lean against our legs, or rest in our arms, or sleep near us, and be Our Dog. Notwithstanding he was a kennel dog for most of his life, becoming a housepet only in his declining years.
He was born in Spain on the 29th November 1991, shortly after I got back from visiting Carolyn Ritter's kennel in Wisconsin and buying River View's Hurley, Kidron of Spirit Wind, Norde of Sepp-Alta, and River View's Crobar. He was the son of Karcajou's Dreama of Windigo and Hercules of Sepp-Alta, our first Seppala litter "the second time around." He flew to the Yukon in summer of 1993 and learned his trade as a leader on our rough Yukon hinterland trails.
We knew how good he was, but somehow he was so unimpressive we didn't breed from him much. The one Seppala litter he sired, though, contained "Little Lizzy Lineout" Lizaveta of Seppala who bids fair to become the successor to superstar female leader Tonya of Seppala. Lizzy's sister Lara of Seppala after whelping her magnificent D-litter is now in leader training, and looks like another good 'un. The males from Llop's L-litter, Lev of Seppala and Lenin of Seppala, make a wonderful pair of wheelers, and who knows what either of them will sire when the time comes. I wish we had done another litter or two from Lloppie. We tried for one last February but the young female didn't conceive.
And now he's dying of cancer, at just short of age fourteen. Two weeks ago he started to cough and salivate, developed a swollen lymph node under the hinge of his jaw, and found it painful to open his mouth. Yesterday we discovered a nasty big tumour covering the very back of his throat.
Llop marched into the vet clinic and stood firm as a rock, grim and silent as a defeated Cheyenne war chief, while the vet pried his mouth open, shone a light in, and said, "Oh I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do for that." Llop walked out of the clinic with an air of "Well, that necessary bit of foolishness is done now."
He can still eat sloppy mush. He still gets around very well indeed. He sleeps a lot. And he can still lean on my chest and absorb any amount of love.
Damn. I guess in another week or two I'm going to have to say goodbye and help another lifetime friend get loose from a body that has become too painful to live in. Damn. Maybe I've been kennelling for a little too long.
Posted by jjeffrey at October 4, 2005 05:51 PMI know how you feel Jeff! I've had to watch too many of mine cross over the bridge too ... just stay strong & never forget that you have a vision to keep working toward!!!
Posted by: Tina Barber at October 6, 2005 08:51 AMThank you very much for this informative site. About a year ago we rescued a nine-month old and weren't sure of his breed. After asking rescuers we found out he is a Seppala.
Unfortunately, he was already neutered so I'm afraid he would be unsuitable for your needs. He looks a lot like Sepallop, except he's 62#. He's also very sweet, pig-headed, stubborn and desperately wants to run. We always say he's 62#s of love.
We didn't know what to do, but now that we've been to your site, we can take him out on training runs, which even though, he may never pull a sled, will at least make him happier and more contented doing what he was bred to do.
It is your knowledge and experience, your love of the breed and this website which now give hope of a happier life for this dog. We are saddened by the news of Seppalop's illness and know all too well the heartbreak of saying goodbye to a beloved friend. We send you our best wishes and hope that you will not abandon the project out of sadness for his loss.
Your friends in Georgia,
Cynthia, Cassie and Lobo(woof)
Posted by: Cynthia Houppert at October 5, 2005 05:18 PMNo matter how much it hurts to lose them because their time span is shorter than ours, if you turn your back on taking the risk of having more around to share life with you, you turn your back on life. I know the pain of loss but that is the price to pay for the riches of sharing life with them. And well worth the cost. Quite a bargain. Come on Jeffrey! Your writings show far too much love of life to say you've been kenneling too long! Llop's progeny are some of his gifts to you, along with his own shining light as a standard of quality to strive for.
His gifts to you are ones to be with you now and in the time to come. Let your grief wash away and let him be more clearly revealed to you. Tuck him in your heart, he may leave his body but do you really beleive his spirit will be gone forever?
Keep on keeping on! drink deep of life! the seppala project may just help the spirits of sled dogs yet to be born have bodies available worth moving into!
Julie