Cheasapeake bay retriever

[nabpoint]

I had a bitch up until last year, when she died of a heart attach whilst out flighting. Also used her for beating and picking up. All in all a really good bitch who would hold it's own against most labs???

[bird]

Some strains of Clumber are the exceptions to this

So true

[Canburne]

Google Arnac Chesapeakes for some real information on 'working' chessies. I've met good and bad ones workwise - the good ones tend to be very good. They don't train like other retriever breeds, someone once wisely said 'they learn in chunks' which is a pretty good description. You have to be patient with them. They make excellent wildfowling dogs.

[CockerCanuck]

Perhaps I can help here. In my part of Canada there are quite a few used as waterfowl dogs, although a tiny fraction of the number of Labs. I have probably hunted over about a dozen over the years. My impression was first how much variation there is the breed, both in terms of confirmation and temperament. I have hunted with a couple that struck me as actually quite soft and sensitive dogs, more were more like the stereotype and tough and somewhat hard headed. All were better than the worst Labs I have seen, none as good as the best. They struck me as having a great deal of hunting instinct and tenacity on a retrieve but they did it their way. I think they would do well with the kind of hunter who just takes the dog out and let's it figure it out on their own. On the other hand if you like to really have control and direct the dog you would be much better with a Lab.

[crackerd]

FIFY, CockerCanuck

On the other hand if you like to really have control and cooperation for directing the dog you would be much better with a Lab.

Chessie MO, taken straight off the kennel of my Chessie training partner:



MG

[Cass]

I have very limited experience with chessies and have only hunted/trained with and been around a couple to take this with a grain of salt. I love the look of them but personalities seem to vary greatly. They can be decent retrievers but I've never seen one as good as a lab. They tend to be quite large. I have met some soft ones but most seem to be stubborn and headstrong. Again, this is only my observations. Individual mileage may vary.

[iamspuddy]

i have a Penrose chesapeake , 2yr old male . Just over 40kg, very strong ,very atheletic,loves water ,would jump of the roof into a tea cup, very steady.

excellent temperment ,
slow burners ,still puppyish ,probably be 3 when he has grown up enough.
he doesn't have the drive of my springer , or my friends labs. Until it suits him then he's flat out .i:e send him on some long retrieves and you are praying he is going to stop on the way back and not wipe you out . do it a few times and you get the look and he slows to trot "if you launch that again you're getting it".

Headstrong v stubborn, pain in the A** at times , they really do have a personality .He's boisterous not aggressive with other dogs.
extremely loyal, he's a one man dog .
very hardy , He's been covered in ice sat in a splash this winter and didn't bat an eyelid.
i thought long and hard before i bought him ,and spoke to loads of owners who actually have one and are not just trading anecdotes .For what i paid i could have probaly had my pick of the v best lab pups .

what attracted me was around 30,000 labs are registered each year and only 170 chessies .

its horses for courses
i wanted a dog for wildfowling , if i wanted a dog to win competitions i would have bought one of those fashionable skinny fast labs .

are they for everyone no

Any regrets no
will i buy another definitely

[crackerd]

i thought long and hard before i bought him ,and spoke to loads of owners who actually have one and are not just trading anecdotes .For what i paid i could have probaly had my pick of the v best lab pups .

Interesting - and I'm not just trading anecdotes in telling you that the price of a Chessie pup from the best working lines in North America will rarely top $1,000, whereas "the v best lab pups" could set you back 15-20 times that amount. Must be supply and demand...

MG

[Naj]

Wonder if they're worth 15-20 times more.

[crackerd]

Wonder if they're worth 15-20 times more.

Seller's market, Naj. For what one of my training partner paids for a toller 10 years ago, I could've bought the entire litter (of seven) that one of my FT Labs came from about that same time. Of course, she was a British Lab from a 'Merican kennel, so that might've influenced the price point, too. On the other hand, I know a trialer over here now deceased who shelled out 40 large ($40,000) in advance for an entire litter of Lab pups, and got two for the money, a male of no great distinction and female that was later "washed out." Same person had reportedly shelled out $250,000 20 years earlier for an 8-year-old bitch that was a three-time National Field Champion just for getting a litter from her.

MG