CHAPTER XX 

 THE CHESAPEAKE BAY DOG 



NE of the few dogs developed in this country is the Chesa- 

 peake Bay dog, its name being taken, obviously, from 

 that great ducking resort on the Atlantic coast. The dog 

 was developed for retrieving ducks, and naturally we 

 have a dog well fitted for the work. 

 There are three stories regarding the origin of this dog, one of which 

 has to be put down as an impossibility, and from the other two the reader 

 can take his choice or dismiss them both and conclude that a gradual 

 process of selection of a dog fitted for the work developed the variety. 

 The impossible story is that a retrieving bitch, in order to be kept away 

 from the dogs, was tied up in a marsh near an otter den and subsequently 

 had puppies which were supposed to own an otter as their sire, and from 

 him came what is still called the otter coat. Another "tradition," as these 

 stories were called by the late James F. Pearson, of Baltimore, is that 

 given upon the authority of George W. Kierstead, who was also one of the 

 acknowledged experts of twenty years ago. Mr. Kierstead claimed that 

 the breed originated in the place of its name, and "from the best authorities 

 obtainable, we learn that about the year 1807 the ship Canton, of Baltimore, 

 Md., fell in at sea with an English brig, in a sinking condition, bound from 

 Newfoundland to England. The crew were taken aboard the Canton, 

 also two puppies, a dog and a bitch. The English crew were landed on 

 their native soil, and the two puppies purchased from the captain for a 

 guinea apiece and taken to Baltimore. The dog puppy, a dingy red in 

 colour, was called Sailor, and was given to Mr. John Mercer, of West 

 River. The bitch was black, was called Canton, and was given to Dr. 

 James Stewart, of Sparrow Point. These dogs were compactly built 

 not so large as the Newfoundland; hair not long, but thick and wavy. 

 They individually attained great reputation as duck retrievers, and it is 

 said of them that they would follow a crippled duck for miles through ice 

 and heavy sea, and if successful in a capture would always bring it back 



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