Last winter my chocolate lab Jebadiah passed away. He was a wonderful dog, and I will really
miss him. Jeb was my best friend and the
best hunting dog I ever had.
I would take Jeb out every season for wild turkey hunting in
South Dakota. Jeb had many characteristics that made him a great dog. He was intelligent, gentile and a great
family dog.
Intelligent
Jeb was smart. He
always liked to play and was constantly bringing us his toys. He was easy to train and was a great hunting
dog. We trained him to retrieve food from the pantry. He knew the word peanut butter.
Gentile
Jeb was always gentile when retrieving birds. He knew how to behave around my baby girl and
later on around my infant son. At Easter
time Jeb would retrieve eggs without even a single crack.
Family Dog
Both of my kids loved to play with Jeb. He was a very loving dog. On our many trips around the country we
always took him along. Even our extended
family loved Jeb. During family reunions
all the kids would play with him.
Hip Dysplasia
After many years of running around Jeb was diagnosed with
hip dysplasia. At first he had no
symptoms at all, but after a while he experienced pain. We didn’t know what was wrong with him, but
the vet took and x-ray and that is how we discovered that he had hip
dysplasia. Jeb’s movement slowed down
and eventually we had to buy him a pet ramp . Jeb was able to use the ramp to get in and
out of the car.
Eventually Jeb became lame and could not move. We had to put him down after a time, which
was difficult, but we knew he’d be in a better place. To this day I still use his old pet
ramp. I made it into a gardening
table. When I garden I think of Jeb
often and the many good days we had together.
