358 THE AMEEICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



stand-point, but from the stand-point wherein lies my expe- 

 rience the marshes, lakes, sloughs, and rivers west and 

 north of the Ohio River. I contend that a dog that does 

 good work in this locality can and will do good work on the 

 open waters of the bay, or in any other ducking- waters; and 

 I further contend that a dog, to do good and satisfactory 

 work in this locality, must have marked characteristics 

 such as are, so far as I know, not possessed by any other 

 dog than the Chesapeake. It was owing to this fact that I 

 became interested in the study and breeding of these dogs 

 fifteen years ago. 



During all the subsequent years, I have had the best of 

 opportunities to study their weak and their strong points, as 

 well as their history. In all these years of breeding,* I can 

 say I did not breed for profit alone. From the first, I was 

 convinced that I was not laboring in vain, but for a noble 

 purpose. My motto was: ' ' Breed for the advancement of the 

 Chesapeake Bay Duck Dog, and for the benefit of sports- 

 men." To this I attribute my success, and success surely 

 has been the result of my efforts. There is not to-day a 

 Chesapeake Bay Dog in the West, of anything more than 

 local note, that does not owe his or her origin to the Sun- 

 day-Nellie strain, of which I have the honor of being the 

 originator. As duck-retrievers, these dogs have no supe- 

 riors. It is a question yet unsettled by public trial as to 

 whether their equals have been produced. 



There is no breed of dogs whose history extends back so 

 far as that of the Chesapeakes of which so little is known 

 by the general public, and the origin of which is so closely 

 veiled in mystery. No such breed was known in the United 

 States until near the end of the eighteenth century. There 

 is no question as to the fact that the breed originated along 

 the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and that it derives 

 its name from this fact. 



From the best authorities obtainable, we learn that about 

 the year 1807, the ship Canton, of Baltimore, Md., fell in at 



*See frontispiece. ED. 



