Hey all - I'm thinking of getting a Chesapeake Bay Retriever for westside bird hunting and family (sometime soon). I'm just starting my research, but have this breed stuck in my mind as my first choice. I would like to take a look at someone's dog if they live nearby (Edmonds). What do you guys think of this breed?
The chessie i have right now is my first one. I got him when I was 11 and because of that I really didnt put as much time into training him as I should of. He is fully grown and weighs 77pounds.
I have had a lab and they are great dogs but i really dont think i will go back.
If you are a duck hunter that is shooting a lot of birds and or hunting in cold water chessies are the way to go.
They do say they are part mule and part wolf. stubborn and aggressive dogs. Aggressive as where he dives under water for ducks and will retrieve it no matter what. They are amazing swimmers. last lab i had wouldnt retrieve the bird on land if it was alive this chessie never lets me down.
They are actually very friendly dogs but they are not to friendly to someone they arent familiar with.
They just want to pretect their master and who ever is around. He does growl at game wardens but after they come up to him he acts like he has known them his whole life
I did hear someone on here say that chessies arent to friendly with other hunting dogs or any dog. thats very true. My chessie has never been friendly with other dogs.
have my little brothers friends come over all the time and the chessie is very friendly.
I would definitely go with a chessie if i where you.
I have a teacher that has a female chessie as a family pet and an upland bird dog and he likes it better then his labs.
You could come look at my dog if you would like, i live near puyallup.
The chessie i have came from http://brushwaters.com/
PM me if you have anymore questions.
I think you will be making a mistake if you dont get a chessie!
Spencer
A dog that growls at game wardens and is unfriendly to other dogs... I can't imagine that being manageable behavioral issues for most dog owners.
Most people don't hunt alone and being friendly with other hunting dogs is pretty essential. If it were my dog, I would have to retire my dog from field work if he had people/dog aggression issues, no way would I put up with it and neither would the people/dogs I hunt with.
I've met and hunted with friendly chessies. I don't know if chessies are more prone to aggression than other breeds, but poor socialization as puppies seems to affect them more in that way than other breeds.
Rfyall, post up a pic of that pup once you get him (or her). Did ya go black, yellow or chocolate? I can second what everyone else has said about training. I am on my first lab and while she is a good "meat" dog, I will definitely seek out professional help training my next dog. I mostly hunt upland, which is something she does well naturally and needed very little training on, but she is in no way ready to go in someone else's boat or blind. I will be working this off season with a pro trainer on a few of the things I was not able to teach well to my current pup, namely force fetching. It was a good lesson for me to learn that I don't know squat about training a dog and most of this coming summer's training will be me learning how to do it right. Spend the money on the training and you won't regret it. I wish I had earlier. Dogs are the very best part of hunting and the best conservation tool you can own. Now that I have one, I cannot imagine life without a dog. Enjoy the puppy time, it goes fast!
Vladimir, I love all dogs... partial to the black ones the most perhaps. Does that lil guy actually hunt and retrieve? He looks about the same size as a rooster. If so that is awesome! I'd love to walk out in the field and pull my dog out of my vest and away we go! I have seen some unorthodox hunting dogs before, but you win if thats for real! :thumb:
He does hunt. He is a smart dog, but you rapidly reach the area of diminishing returns when the dog is that small.
In tall grass or brush you quickly lose sight of him. Retrieving is a problem. IF you can call a drag a retrieve and you want that bird DEAD otherwise it is a stand-off. Also he has really fine hair which gathers every seed known to man. He is also 10lbs so he can easily become the prey from virtually anything out there. So you really want to keep close track of him.
Hunting a release sites in short grass is fine, but there are not too many of those situations.
Bichon's have been trained as circus dogs for years. They are the ones running around in a circle with the tigers. Over the years I wonder how many of them became LUNCH.
I had a little black lab that had lots of personality. I hunted her with a pointer for four years and then the pointer died two days before hunting season. So on opening day she is running in grass and locks up on point. Never did before....then continued to point the next few birds that held tight. I guess she thought that since the pointer was dead she was responsible now for doing it all.
Later in life, she came to the conclusion that the pointers had a better nose than her. So she watched them and when they started getting birdy she would run over and flush the bird.
Thats pretty cool Vladimir! I tip my cap to the smallest rooster buster I have ever seen. By the way, I have been following your blog for a while and really enjoy it. Thanks!
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