10 January 2008
So everybody must be wondering what happened, and how the Big Move went! Well, the answer is, it DIDN'T. A multitude of delays and difficulties -- starting with the catastrophic denial of the Murrays' right to cross the Canadian border into Quebec on the 12th of September -- pushed the date back further and further, until finally Jeffrey decided we couldn't manage it safely, that the Canadian winter would catch us too unprepared with stakeouts and other necessary facilities in Rossburn MB. So the final move of Seppala Kennels' dogs was aborted; postponed until the spring.
Jeffrey had set out from the Yukon in late September, arriving in Rossburn on the 27th in his Dodge pickup accompanied by Girlfriends TONYA OF SEPPALA and LIZAVETA OF SEPPALA. At that point Susan and Jack Murray were still enroute to the midwest via Ohio and Illinois with a busload of Chinooks. On the 3d of October, the first 53-foot semi-trailer loaded with stuff from the Yukon arrived in Rossburn -- and Jeffrey had to unload it alone. On the 12th Jack finally made it to Rossburn, having left Susan and the dogs in rented farm accommodations just south of the border. On the 18th he and I drove south in the truck and the bus, intending to brave the border south of Manitoba to bring back Susan and the dogs.
On the 19th of October, J. Jeffrey Bragg and Susan Elizabeth Murray were married at the county courthouse in the town of Towner, North Dakota. Susan and Jack had been sojourning in northern North Dakota, as close as they could get to their destination in Manitoba after being refused entry to Canada with their Chinooks at Woburn, Quebec. A couple days after the quiet civil ceremony, Susan and Jeffrey crossed the Canadian border on the 21st at the Peace Gardens and continued to the new home in Rossburn. (Whatever objections the Quebec border guards had weren't shared by those in Manitoba!)
Then on the 1st November, Susan and brother Jack brought the bus and 34 Chinooks across the same border point and drove them to Rossburn. All of the Big Red Dogs are now living in temporary accommodations in the barn here at the Rossburn farm, until such time as we can manage to construct a proper kennel building with attached runs.
The following day (2 November) CHENA OF SEPPALA whelped a fine litter of pups (3m 1f) in the Yukon, under the capable supervision of Isa Boucher. That was followed six days later in Rossburn by Chinook bitch TULLIBARDINE MUSTANG whelping her own litter of four pups (2m 2f) to TULLIBARDINE BABY. The previous day Jack had left Rossburn in the bus for the Yukon; Jeffrey stayed behind to oversee Mustang's whelping.
Jeffrey finally left for the Yukon himself at midday on the 10th November, arriving in the Yukon on the evening of the 13th, just twelve hours behind Jack. Well, Jeffrey's Dodge 4wd pickup makes much better time than the school bus! (TONYA and LIZZY remained in Rossburn to comfort and take care of Sus, or vice versa!) On the Yukon side, a frustrating series of misfires and foulups fromthe transport companies from whom we were hiring a second 53-foot semi-trailer for the transport of doghouses and other heavy articles finally resulted in our having to cancel the deal, and the move with it. After consultations over the best course of action, Jack offered to remain in the Yukon for the winter, and Jeffrey accordingly set out in the Dodge to return to his bride in Rossburn on a Sunday, the 25th November.
With Jeffrey in the truck were: CHENA OF SEPPALA and her 3-week-old litter, ULAN OF SEPPALA and UELEN OF SEPPALA (to be farmed out for the winter to Jacob Heigers' Isibindi Kennels for his novice team), CUCHI OF SEPPALA (heavily in whelp to PYOTR OF SEPPALA and sold to Jonathan Hayes), DELZENE OF SEPPALA (in whelp to COCU DE SA.RA.BE DE CAL SEGU and sold to Réjean St. Pierre) -- plus DARKA OF SEPPALA and TULLIBARDINE'S HOWLIN YUKON JANIS. Plus quite a bit of heavy personal freight!
Jeffrey started out in clear, fine weather -- and didn't even get to Watson Lake before running smack into the first big Canada-wide snowstorm of the year! I was driving in near-blizzard conditions three-quarters of the time throughout the entire 3100-km trip. It was miserable, and Jacob Heigers can attest that I was stressed out beyond endurance by the time he and I manage to make contact in Fort St. John, BC, to transfer the two U-litter boys. The weather was crappy there, and it stayed that way all the way across the prairies to Rossburn, where I was thankful for four-wheel drive and a heavy load in the truck, as the grid roads to the farm were unploughed, already heavy with a good six inches or so of fresh snow. The truck gave me trouble with its fuel system all the way and the trip was not at all a pleasant one. The weather was so bad it was a challenge just to drop and feed the dogs.
I drove pretty much continuously except for brief stops to nap, afraid that if I let the truck cool off too much I would not be able to re-start it, and anxious to get the dogs home where they could be given adequate care. We made it to Rossburn on the night of the 28th, making the entire trip in about 58 hours. One of the most stressful experiences of my life! In two days, Jonathan Hayes arrived to pick up Cuchi, bringing with him an awful cold/flu bug that laid me low in my overstressed condition. It progressed into bronchitis from which I haven't yet recovered six weeks later...
So for the winter, everything is "on hold." 31 Chinooks are housed in makeshift accommodations in the Rossburn farm barn, where they receive daily food, water, exercise, and attention from Susan. Jeffrey can't help with that, because my presence in the barn is too disruptive; Chinooks -- particularly when they are in uncertain, stressful situations -- don't give their trust lightly or quickly to unknown strangers. I've done just fine with Mustang (in the house to whelp a litter), Lander (in the house for a mating that never happened, and he just stayed) and Ramsay (in the house following neutering surgery). But I can't handle the 100+db noise level in the barn and my presence there would slow down and impede Susan's routine. So not much will happen to change that until spring.
Jack Murray and Isa Boucher were married in the dogyard at Seppala Kennels on the 15th December, in a small ceremony attended by a few close Yukoner friends. They plan to remain in Grizzly Valley until we can get reorganised to move the dogs in the spring. At the moment, Isa is suffering from a torn rotator cuff in her right shoulder, a repetitive stress injury from too much lifting of heavy kettles of dog food and stirring 20-liter buckets of feed. She and Jack have worked out a feeding routine that allows them to manage -- somehow!
Mustang's litter of four and Chena's quartet are all doing great, living mostly in the house, though the Seppala pups are out all day and may soon be put outside at night as well. Both groups have regular playtimes in the living room and kitchen, sleeping in BIG wire dog crates in the living room. Girlfriends Tonya, Lizaveta and (Chinook) Janis play Privileged Characters and sleep on the bed at night, on the couch during the day. Seppalas Darka and Chena, and Chinooks Mustang, Ramsay and Lander also live inside, in and out of their own crates as necessary to hold down the chaos!
So for the remainder of this winter, both in Grizzly Valley, YT, and in Rossburn, MB, the emphasis is on sheer survival -- getting through the next six or eight weeks of winter weather until serious work towards organising the move and setting up of better facilities on the farm can begin in the spring. What is it that they say? "Life is what happens while you were making other plans."
