Can't stand it anymore...Chesapeake Bay Retrievers

Why doesn't he adopt from the shelter? There are usually TONS of retrievers there. Does it HAVE to be a chessie?

Yeah, we get in Chessies at our shelter fairly frequently and seriously, like half the dogs there are usually labs and lab mixes. And yes, Chessies are a lot of dog for people who aren't dog people...there is two gals in our Schutzhund club who train their retrievers. One is a yellow lab bitch who is completely nuts and has crazy high drive. She's like a Malinois in yellow lab clothing. For the bark and hold, she has a deeper bark than all but like one of the male GSDs. Another trains her Chessie, but she says they don't have quite the same wanting to please work ethic as most of the labs. A bit more independent, but both dogs enjoy the sport a lot.

Kristen Cabe said:

Why doesn't he adopt from the shelter? There are usually TONS of retrievers there. Does it HAVE to be a chessie?

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Childhood dog, good memories, etc. And this guy is more hardheaded than a CBR. My guess is he'll want a pure bred for bragging rights. So I'm hoping to match him up with a breeder like I had who can spot a pup that is willing to please but not too much dog in terms of dominance, etc...although much lower drives than my dog.

I'd steer him towards a laid-back female in a litter (if there is such a thing with CBRs) with a breeder who doesn't want her dogs in a shelter. Give him some Volhard aptitude criteria if the breeder's not forthcoming with that kind of behavioral typing.

Maren Bell said:

she says they don't have quite the same wanting to please work ethic as most of the labs.

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Yes, CBRs just don't strike me as great dogs for casual walk-when-I-get-to-it owners. For this and a ton of other reasons.

I like Chessies, I have trained a few. they can be very focused dogs and hard workers. I agree it would probably be too much dog for someone that doesn't hunt or work them. They can tend to have an attitude.

DFrost

Being that there are so many in shelters, I would stick to a breeder. Why pick up someone elses trash?

Jeff Oehlsen said:

Being that there are so many in shelters, I would stick to a breeder. Why pick up someone elses trash?

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I know you were just trying to stir things up with this comment, but just because a dog's in a shelter doesn't mean it's trash. It might be a perfect sport dog, but happened to be too much dog for the previous owners to handle, and so they dumped it in a shelter.

Woody, have you thought about breed rescue? They deal with primarily or ONLY purebred dogs, and often have the papers on many of the dogs they have in their care. Just a thought. :wink:

Kristen Cabe said:

Woody, have you thought about breed rescue? They deal with primarily or ONLY purebred dogs, and often have the papers on many of the dogs they have in their care. Just a thought. :wink:

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Good thought.

And CBRs seem like awesome dogs to me. I never owned one, my family never did any kind of hunting that would lend itself to working one, etc. They seem like some kind of neat mix of traits. But way too much for someone that didn't know dogs well, myself included (plus Annie is already a monster water dog, why bother? ;-)). Just doesn't seem worth the effort to me. Again, just trying to help this guy make an informed decision.

Quote:It might be a perfect sport dog, but happened to be too much dog for the previous owners to handle, and so they dumped it in a shelter.

Not really likely. The advise I gave came from Woody's description of the guy. Done a lot of rescue over the years, but not something I recommend doing. Weird, sure, but there really is a lot of annoying dogs out there in shelters. Why deal, when you can get a pup and not deal. Chessie's are a bit much for new owners to begin with.

Jeff Oehlsen said:

The advise I gave came from Woody's description of the guy.

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I see your point.

I currently have 3 Chessies as drug dogs. Two males and a female. All are from a local shelter. They were in the shelter because the original owners were "out dogged". They were just too much for them. A firm hand, solid guidance and all three are excellant drug dogs. Often times, the reason these dogs are in shelters is because they exhibit the behaviors we look for, particularly in Labs, Goldens and more specifically, Chessies.

DFrost

David Frost said:

I currently have 3 Chessies as drug dogs. Two males and a female. All are from a local shelter. They were in the shelter because the original owners were "out dogged". They were just too much for them. A firm hand, solid guidance and all three are excellant drug dogs. Often times, the reason these dogs are in shelters is because they exhibit the behaviors we look for, particularly in Labs, Goldens and more specifically, Chessies.

DFrost

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Excellent point, David! I remember you saying that many of the LE dogs you've trained were resuces (or was that someone else?). IME dogs end up in shelters b/c of high drives, high energy, and mouthiness. I steer people who are interested in owning a shepherd toward shelter/rescue all of the time!

In your friend's case, Woody, resuce is a perfect solution b/c the dog will be full grown and there will be little question as to temperment/drives. The rescue will also make sure to match him up with a dog that fits his needs, so there is less likely to be a problem later down the road. Buying a puppy is a crapshoot...we all know that :wink: . And puppies need far more attention, training, and handling than adults. I generally recommend adult dogs to most people for that very reason.

This is an organization I ran across recently while trying to place a high-drive GSD rescue. http://www.gapdogs.org/

4 of the dogs I have in my current class are GAP dogs. I drove to the Dallas/Ft Worth area, evaluated and brought them back. They are some excellant people that work there.

DFrost

Woody, you might want to pass this along for both the article and the rescue site:

http://www.cbrrescue.org/articles/dontbuy.htm

http://www.cbrrescue.org/rescue_dogs.asp

They look like they do a fairly detailed personality profile on a lot of the dogs, so that is a pretty good sign.

Regardless of what anyone says, I'll still probably go the Malinois or Dutch shepherd rescue route for the next sport dog, if I was so inclined to get another any time soon. You know, those insane 6-12 month old pups that are so nuts with energy that their owners can't stand them anymore? One man's trash is another's treasure. 8)

I have no idea how or IF there is any truth to it but I've heard that Chessies don't change there loyalties as easily as other breeds when older.
Very cool dogs though!
Comments?

I just met a Chessie this weekend (in training for disaster search and rescue) who was a really impressive dog. I was tempted to steal the dog from its handler, and I'm not usually easily impressed. Certainly I wouldn't describe him as easy to train, but that was part of the appeal. He was definitely a very drivey dog without all the hyperactivity you see in some other high drive dogs.

If anybody has anything new to add to this thread regarding the Chessie temperament, please do. I'd love to learn more about this breed as a working/detection dog.

I have a friend that has one, got him when he was 11 months, he was a rescue and this dog is insane, In a good way. We duck hunt with him all the time. When you watch a trained chessie actually do what it was bred for, it truly is an awsome site to watch. We've hunted waterfoul on the chesapeake bay/ ocean, and that dog can take a pounding by waves, and just doesn't stop till he finds his duck. I think their stamina and willingness to work is legendary and that is why so many are in shelters. People think they are like labs but their not. I would go with a rescue on this one

Konnie, one of David's post here comments on the Chessie having an attitude. When I was a kid they were referred to as the Dobermans of the duck dog world. Course that was when Dobermans were "real" dogs. Sorry Dobe folks!
With the right handler I think they would make awesome working/detection dogs.
There is/was at least one of them with a legit SchIII.