American Canine Association

Breeds

Chesapeake Bay Retriever


History

Created back in the early 1800s, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever wasn't ever a planned breed that someone had in mind. In fact, it took several breeds, incudling Newfoundlands, English Otter Hounds, Curly Coated Retrievers and local land Retrievers being bred, before carefully selecting certain dogs to breed to even have the outcome of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever we have today! This breed is truly magnificent when it comes to hunting and retrieving. Known for having exuberant amount of stamina and energy to keep pushing through the day, this breed really outshines others while working with their human hunting partner. Hunting isn't the only talent this breed shines in; they are excellent watchdogs, field obedience, tracking, guarding and much more.

Appearance

The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is a large breed, with males and females measuring 22-26 inches in height and weighing 60-85 pounds in weight. Overall, this breed has a very lean and active body build, with muscle showing. Their triangular shaped head is rounded at the corners where their two large, triangular ears fall along side of their face. Their two almond shaped eyes are yellow to amber in color; a beautiful trait in this breed. Their tail is long and proportionate to their body size, thicker than other breeds, and thickest at the body and tapering down towards the end. Their tail should lay low and outwards when relaxed. This breed has a thick, rough coat of fur that has oils in it similar to a ducks feathers; this allows the breed to swim faster, as well as dry off quicker than other breeds, to continue to hunt with their partner. Their coat is straight to wavy. This coat is available in red, brown and different shades of tan.

Temperament

This breed requires a human who has dog experience under their belt. With the proper owner, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever can be a great learner, though known for needing patience as they need more time than other breeds to thoroughly learn new things. This breed is wonderful with other dogs and pets that it grows up with inside their home. This breed is generally good with other dogs he or she does not know, however other types of pets and felines may be an issue if he or she does not live with them. This breed can be a very good dog for the right owner who can teach their new pup rules and boundaries, as well as taking early obedience classes together, however without the right leadership, this breed can become very dominant. This breed is recommended for single home or farm living conditions and not for apartments. The Chesapeake Bay Retriever requires a daily pack walk along with as much other outdoor activities you are able to provide for him or her. A properly fenced in yard is highly recommended for this breed so they are able to roam freely and have playtime outdoors safely. This breed is known for being wonderful with all children and for their loving and happy personalities.

Grooming

This breed requires to be brushed daily with a firm bristle brush, and bathing when needed. This breed can omit a certain odor due to the oils in their coat. Do not bathe regularly as this will damage their coat and oils.

Special Notes

Please note that this breed requires an owner with dog experience. This breed requires a lot of daily physical and mental exercise. A properly fenced in yard is highly recommended to provide safe and fun outdoor playtime for your pup. Do not add a new dog to your household unless you are able to provide life long physical and financial care. Please fully educate yourself about the Chesapeake Bay Retriever prior to adding one to your home. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.

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