Saddie Has Left The Building
NOTE! If you enjoy this post, please feel free to twitter it with the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5lyhrb. Thanks, I appreciate it!
(Originally posted over on the Skunkworks blog, November 2007)
Fourteen and a half years ago Marilyn came to visit me and said I had to go down to the mall and look at a sweet little dog she’d seen in the pet store who supposedly “Sits up on the shelf like a little princeâ€. So, down to Loughheed Mall I went. Three hundred and fifty dollars later, he was mine. Now he’s gone, and the world seems a darker, less friendly place.
The funny thing was, that she intended him as a companion for me, while I bought him because I thought she wanted him. Good thing we never compared notes.
People always asked us what kind of a dog he was because his appearance was so striking. These pictures don’t really do him justice. In fact, he was a cross-breed between Norwegian Elkhound and Eskimo Spitz. The Elkhound should have made him the size of a german shepherd, but the Spitz kept him small. The most he ever weighed was 40 pounds.
When he came to us Saddie was litter-whipped. That means that he was very timid, always hiding and pissing on the floor if there was even a loud noise. Marilyn figured he needed a regal name to give him courage, so we chose Saladin, the name of the kurdish conqueror who fought King Richard during one of the crusades. Know what? It worked. Saddie never backed down from any dog, no matter how big and ferocious they were. He once stood off two Rottweilers that came boiling out onto the road when he walked by with Marilyn. He used to love to hunt coyotes. And he was death on rats. He used to hang out in the barn for hours by a rat run and kill them when they finally emerged. When the cats caught a rat or mouse they would often bring it to Saddie for the kill.
He was always good with cats, though, and helped raise several batches of kittens, letting them climb all over him while he lay patiently on the floor.
Another thing about Saddie that caused a lot of comment is that he seemed to be very well trained. We could walk him anywhere without a leash and we could drop him in front of a store for hours and be confident that he would be there when we returned. When we lived in the Devonshire Housing Co-op, they had several problem dogs, so they passed a rule that said all dogs had to be on-leash in the building. We used to walk Saddie all over town off-leash and then leash him up when we entered the building. Eventually, the rule was changed to be All dogs must be on-leash in the building, except for Saladin. That is gospel truth. The funny thing is that he wasn’t really well-trained. He just loved us very much and wanted to please. However, he also had the northern dogs’ independence and stubborness in spades and proved to be quite a handful from time to time.
Stories about him could go on and on, and probably will. All I can say at this point is that he will be sorely missed, by us and by a lot of other people as well.
I’d like to close this tribute to my little pal with this poem by Kipling. I came across it about 5 years ago and bookmarked it for this occasion.
“The Power of the Dogâ€
Rudyard Kipling
| THERE is sorrow enough in the natural way From men and women to fill our day; And when we are certain of sorrow in store, Why do we always arrange for more? Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.Buy a pup and your money will buy Love unflinching that cannot lie— Perfect passion and worship fed By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head. Nevertheless it is hardly fair To risk your heart for a dog to tear.When the fourteen years which Nature permits Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits, And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs To lethal chambers or loaded guns, Then you will find—it’s your own affair— But . . . you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear. When the body that lived at your single will, We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way, |
Posted by: swampy | 07-19-2008 | 06:07 PM
Posted in: Uncategorized
