When I was 16 years old I begged and begged my parents to let me have a dog. I didn’t want just any dog. I wanted a lemon-colored beagle pup named Jezebel that one of my classmates had. The family who owned the beagle puppy was looking to get rid of her. They were beagle breeders and swore this one would not make a good rabbit dog because she was too “people friendly.”
After an ongoing back and forth plea with my parents, they agreed to let me get the puppy. It didn’t take long to see she was people friendly indeed. Like any puppy she wanted to jump in your lap, chew up things and get into everything she wasn’t suppose to.
Despite her friendly nature, “Jezzy” quickly became part of the family.
Every morning she would greet my mom at the door, assist my dad around the farm doing chores, follow us kids up the driveway to see us off for school, accompany my mom to the mailbox and yes, eventually, she would hunt with my dad.
My dad grew up hunting rabbits and even as a child I can remember my dad having rabbit dogs. My dad swears that Jezzy was the best rabbit dog he ever had. She wouldn’t stop hunting until she got the rabbit. More times than not she would be off in the woods chasing rabbits on her own – she was always hunting even when dad wasn’t.
One of the most comforting sounds was hearing Jezzy howl as she tracked a rabbit. Sometimes she would start her chase early in the morning and run all day. It wasn’t until she was spotted carrying the dead rabbit across the yard that you’d know she succeeded.
As the years have passed Jezzy began to slow down just a little. Instead of running all the way to the back pastures and back to the house alongside the 4-wheeler, she would run to the back but then need to ride home on the 4-wheeler, nonetheless she still wanted to be out there.
Along with her old age, Jezzy couldn’t take the heat or cold as well as she could when she was a pup. It was a common occurrence over the last few winters for Jezzy to sleep in the furnace room on an old red coat. She knew the old red coat was her “free pass” to being inside. She would come in, run straight to the red coat and not move a muscle until it was time to go back out again. She was just glad to be in out of the cold and wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize that opportunity.
But it was the heat and the rabbits that got the best of Jezzy. Just last week, on a Tuesday morning, Jezzy took off on a hunt. She ran all day but this time she didn’t get the rabbit – the heat just became too much for the ol’ dog. At least she left this old world doing exactly what she loved.
Best Wishes,
