another 'dog story' requested by Cynthia

Whoooeee! this is a funny story about Jimmie and another hunting dog name JOE.
Once we visited Duane and Hazel in Oregon. Duane worked for his brother there temporarily building a house. Sandra was just a baby. We drove down in a wintery day in the Bel Air chevrolet. We stayed overnight cooped up in their little trailer house. We were hardy and could live through anything it seems.
Duanes brother had a good looking hunting dog which just had a litter of puppies. I selected one that had the best markings of a 'setter'. White with brownish splotches in the coat. For some reason I name it JOE.
It was th most unruly and untrained dog I ever had. It wouldn't mind any command it seems. It loved to ride in the jeep an go with me in the fields when I changed sprinklers. If it set a bird, that is a pheasant, Joe would flush it and try to catch it. That dog would follow a chick pheasant through the alfalfa as fast as the bird could fly. When the bird landed the dog would be there and kill it to eat it on the spot. I could not break that dog and I still didn't want to destroy it or give it to the pound. Hunting with that dog resulted in all the birds being flushed out of range of the shotgun.The day would be lost period. Once I was so angered I shot at the dog--but the dog was out of range. I felt foolish but a little better. All this and I kept that dog because I became attached to it. He had his good qualities too. It would ride on the hood of the jeep. Once when I was going out to change sprinkler I rounded a corner a bit too fast and the dog couldn't hang on to the windshield which was folded down on the hood. The dog slid off the jeep and the rear wheel injured him somewhat. He got back on the jeep as if nothing happened.
It was a usual thing for a few brothers in law to come down to hunt jack rabbits out in the sage bruch. This was before any of the the other lands around us was developed. We had a good supply of Jack rabbits although now they are completely eliminated.
I took Jimmie and Duane and John Sak out to hunt. We had .22 rifles only. The dog rode in between me ( I was driving) and Duane in the other front seat. You wont believe this:--in this scenario we were on Indian land near Toppenish out in the sage brush trying to scare up a rabbit. I saw one rabbit jump into a sage bush. I stopped the jeep and got out. I sneaked up to the bush and jumped on the rabbit. Who needs a gun?. I caught it alive. Yes, That's true.
After we felt it was time to return home, we came upon a scene which was a car off the road into the water . The car was part yet on the road. So I offered the Indian male to pull the car out of the water. He had a girl friend and in their amorous moment lost control of the car. I pulled and pulled with no results. John Sak ordered the Indian girl to "Get on the Jeep for weight"--and by golly that did the trick. John didn't realize he was maligning a fat Indian girl--it was her weight that did it.
That was one day hunting with the dog on the jeep.
Another day, we went closer to home where there was un developed sage brush land and some jack rabbits. We weren't doing so well. The dog was very very anxious and was always trying to jump off the jeep. I knew that is he jumped off we'd lose him for sure .He'd chase a rabbit or a bird into timbuktoo.
WE were cruising along in low gear when I heard a scream from Jimmie and a curse and more obscenities. I stopped the jeep and the dog jumped off to finish unloading a gravy like mess. Joe was begging all this time to get off to relieve himself. He was in standing position between Duane and me and lifted his tail and the gravy covered Jimmie's arm and pant leg. and all over the seats. WE all(but Jimmie) nearly died from laughter. I had to lean on the jeep for support and my belly was hurting from laughter. As I laughed I'd reach down for a handful of sand to try to sop up the mess sprinkling the dry sand all over the painted spots. It took many handfulls . Luckily we were near an irrigation canal where Jimmie was able to wash.
I named that dog "JOE" and I don't know why. Later I got another brother in law whose name was Joe. My dog met with a disaster during the winter when we were snowed in. The only rig we had which would make it throught the snow was my 6x6 army truck.
I made it to the driveway with Joe running alongside doing his bad habit of chasing cars and just always being obnoxious. As I made a left to get on the main road way and not wanting to lose momentum, I felt a thud. Joe was running in the easiest place --the ruts of the front wheels--the rear boggies ran over him./
He died instantly. There was no way I could save him. His body was crushed. He met his waterloo.
When I want to tell stories about Jimmie, I always mention the name of the dog "JOE, and the time we hunted jack rabbits.