SPECIAL FIELD DOGS 71 



Gimbsheim, noted above, by Ch. Eabot ex Diana 

 von Gimbsheim. 



When it comes to an ont-and-out retriever our 

 own Chesapeake Bay dog is one of the best. This 

 fancy is already well established, and good pups 

 are to be had at reasonable prices. For the duck 

 hunter, pointing and bird-finding ability are not 

 the requisites for his furry hunting companion. 

 Rather, he wants a big strong dog, able to smm 

 in rough seaways in both salt and fresh water, 

 double-coated so as to be coldproof in duck 

 weather, and of perseverance and hardihood suf- 

 ficient to sustain a long chase after a crippled 

 duck. These the Chesapeake has to perfection. 

 He lies in the blind quietly, makes no sound while 

 the ducks are coming in, and when the guns are 

 through his part begins, which is to jump into the 

 icy water, swim out and catch any cripple and 

 afterward bring in the slain. Owing to the ease 

 with which ducks note the smallest black object, 

 the ideal coat for the Chesapeake is a sedge 

 brown. 



There is no need here to go into the various 

 stories concerning the ancestry of the Chesa- 

 peake ; suffice it that the breed has been well es- 

 tablished for some forty years, and was in its zen- 

 ith during the great days of the ducks on the 



