Described
as the ultimate wildfowling dog, the Chesapeake Bay
retriever is said to have been bred from a pair of
puppies that were washed up on the shoreline of the
State of Maryland after a shipwreck in 1807.
After years of cross breeding in the United States a
strong swimming dog with a dense, oily coat that is
capable of withstanding the icy Atlantic conditions
was produced.
The coat
of the Chesapeake varies from a ginger-brown colour
to that resembling faded straw. The features
of its coat are that of the Labrador’s straightness
and the flat-coated retriever’s waviness.
This results in a rougher coat with a dense ‘woolly’
undercoat. The appearance is of a wavy coat
over the shoulders, neck, back and loins, whilst the
rear and tail are feathered.
The breed has four outstanding characteristics.
They love water, have a superbly waterproof coat,
have great stamina and an excellent memory for
retrieving shot ducks. On the negative side of
things, they are a one-man dog and do not like to be
in the company of other dogs.
