She can smell where we are going as good as a person can see. He nose does not lie. I turn into the harbor parking lot and she slowly and shakily makes her way to her feet. She still gets excited about the harbor and the boat after 14 years.
I gently lift her bony body out of the truck and we make a walk in the slushy snow blanketing the grass of the harbor lawn.
Jaz proudly walks ahead of me sniffing the grass as usual. She reads all the weeks pee-mail left by all the town dogs. I look at my watch... time to go.
I lead my great friend into the vet who performed a knee surgery on her at the age of less than a year and gave this great dog a life of hunting as she was born to do.
With gentle hands we lay this wonderful friend to rest.
I drive home with tears blinding my vision. I can only think of all the years my family and I have shared with this yellow dog.
Jasmine, or Jaz as we called her came to our family as little fuzzy lab puppy. We found an ad on Craigslist for a pure bread, but not a breeder fancy dog. "Both parents good hunters," the ad read.
It was around Christmas time and the snow blanketed Idaho as we brought the puppy home. The little yellow puppy loved playing in the snow, chasing anything we would toss for her.
I trained her as much as my limited knowledge allowed. She was a quick learner, and was retrieving birds in just a year, not knowing much, but giving it her all.
My Dad had his little puppy about the same time and Reba and Jaz became great friends and hunting buddies. Reba was a much stronger dog but Jaz was making up for power in smartness.
Jaz learned hand signals. My first dog to conquer that skill. Reba would blast out and find the obvious birds while I guided Jaz to the ones in the brush or across the water buried in the trees. They made an incredible team.
Many times I would be walking out of public land with a limit of duck to come upon a blind with other hunters and their dogs. I'd always ask how they were doing to find out they had a duck down across the water in the thick brush or trees.
"I'll send my dog," I would reply, then command Jaz, "Back!"
That little yellow dog would head across any expanse of water until I would stop her with her name, "Jaz," She would turn and look at me "Over!" I would shout and show her with my arm which way. She would keep on until I guided her to the down bird.
Several times after retrieving a cold bird for other hunters I would be offered money for her.
"Nope, not for sale," I would smile patting the yellow lab. I think she knew she was the star of the show.
Jaz and I hunted all over the place. We hunted the lakes around Sitka. We would fly to Idaho and hunt all my old haunts from years ago. The years tumbled by quickly.
All too soon the grey hairs began showing up in the yellow fur of her face. Reba developed hip problems and had to be put down. Now we were only hunting with Jaz.
Jaz started showing the same hip problems as Reba and my wife went on a tear to find natural supplements to help her out. In no time the hip problems disappeared.
Jaz hunted her final hunt for Snow Geese in Idaho. She could retrieve them out of the field but the birds in the river proved too much. Oh she tried. I sent her on a long retrieve and she gladly made it proudly bringing the goose back to me, but she paid dearly as the next morning she could not walk without extreme pain. I would never send her into the water again.
I talked my wife into getting a puppy to replace Jaz in the hunting area. Jaz became our house pet. She loved going for walks on the many trail systems around Sitka.
We tried to make her retirement as great as possible. We gave her bones to chew all the time, the walks in the woods, rides in the car, special stops by the coffee shops for the dog cookie treats. She loved all of it.
Her hearing failed and she became almost totally deaf. We are not sure but it seemed her eyes were growing dim as well. We would guide her by touching her back gently, and a loud hand clap could sometimes get her attention when away from us a bit.
You always know that pets lives are short lived, but it always seems too soon.
That terrible day had arrived and I knew it was time to say good by to my little good friend.
We still turn to find her in the house or on the trail, only to see emptiness. I grabbed up the dog bowls the other day, to find I had made a nice bowl of food for jaz.. I wept as I moved it into the puppy,s bowl.
They say you are only blessed with a few good dogs in your life, and I can honestly say Jaz was one of the best.
I never got out of bed at 3:45 a.m. in the summer that she didn't get up with me. Every time I showered I could open the door and see her laying at the door waiting for me.
I know time heals all wounds, but I also know there will always be part of me missing with her. That one special hole in the heart.
Good by my little friend.
May the gentle winds blow in your soft yellow fur. May your swimming lakes be calm and warm. May you always find your yummy chew bones full of sweet marrow, and your birds always within reach.
Jaz when we first got her loved snow
One of the hunts for Jaz smiles for the boyys
Jaz last retrieve
