[Woody Taylor]

We're breaking in this forum thread, by god.

I have a buddy who's about a year away from getting a dog for his family. He's had retrievers as a kid, wants a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. I think it's probably too much dog for him--he is not a hunter nor a dog guy--but I figured a good breeder could select him an appropriate pup for his needs.

Anyone here know of any quality CBR breeders, or at least some Retreiver type breeders who can point him in some directions?

 

[Woody Taylor]

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

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.

 

[Woody Taylor]

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

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.

 

[Woody Taylor]

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:

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.