370 
FOREST AND STREAM 
July, 1920 
NOTES ON THE CHESAPEAKE BAY DOG 
THE ORIGIN OF THIS BREED, WHOSE RACIAL TREE CONSIDERABLY ANTIDATES 
THE PERIOD OF DOG SHOWS AND STUD BOOKS, IS LOST IN TRADITION 
By RODNEY RANDOM 
T HE increase in the number of water 
fowl on all of our marshes and 
waterways that has come about by 
reason of the operation of the Migratory 
Bird Law, holds fair promise of royal 
sport in the years that are to come and 
is leading to a revival of interest in that 
most intelligent and courageous of re- 
trievers, the Chesapeake Bay Dog. He 
is the wild-fowler’s companion par ex- 
cellence and the only sporting breed 
that has a clear claim to the distinction 
of being absolutely American, for this 
picturesque family originated on the 
shores of the historic Chesapeake Bay 
and has clearly recorded a racial tree 
that considerably antidates the period 
of dog shows and stud books and is lost 
in the tales and traditions of that ro- 
mantic coast. 
In writing of this breed thirty-eight 
years ago, a one-time editor of Forest 
and Stream had this to say regarding it: 
“Several families in Maryland have had 
in their possession for many generations 
what each claims to be the genuine 
Chesapeake Bay dog and at the late 
bench show in Baltimore a compromise 
was made and a classification agreed 
upon by which each of the types here- 
after are to be recognized : first, the otter 
dog with very short hair; second, the 
curly-haired dog, reddish brown in color, 
and third the straight-haired dog of the 
same color. The dogs at two years old 
should weigh not 
less than 80 lbs. 
They must have 
strength to breast 
the heaviest seas 
and bring in the 
goose, they must 
have strength to 
break through 
broken ice and if 
they should meet a 
piece too large to 
scramble over, they 
must dive under 
it.” 
There are a 
number of stories 
in regard to the 
origin of this breed 
and among them 
are two recorded 
in Forest and 
Stream nearly half 
a century ago. One 
A Chesapeake Bay dog 
is that a vessel from Newfoundland 
ran aground near an estate called Wal- 
nut Grove, on the shores of the Chesa- 
peake. On board the ship were two 
Newfoundland dogs which were given 
by the Captain to Mr. Law, the owner 
of the estate, in return for the kindness 
and hospitality shown him and his crew. 
It is claimed that a cross between these 
two Newfoundlands and the common 
yellow and tan hound of that part of the 
country, was the origin of the Chesapeake 
Bay Dog. 
Another story is that about the year 
1807, the good ship “Canton” of Balti- 
more fell in at sea with an English brig 
bound from Newfoundland to England, 
that had met disaster and was in a sink- 
ing condition. The crew were taken 
aboard the “Canton”, also a pair of pup- 
pies that eventually became the property 
of the Captain of the “Canton” and by 
him were taken back to Baltimore. The 
dog puppy, a dingy red in color, was 
named Sailor, and the bitch, black in 
color, was called Canton. Both of these 
dogs eventually attained great reputa- 
tions as duck retrievers and Sailor and 
Canton are said to be the foundation of 
the breed. This all may be so for there 
is no doubt that as a retriever of dead 
and wounded ducks, no dog equals the 
Chesapeake. His brave heart, unlimited 
powers of endurance and dense coat fit 
him eminently for braving the roughest 
weather. Nothing daunts him and a 
good specimen of the breed will swim for 
miles in a rough sea covered with broken 
ice, after a wounded bird. It is one of 
the few breeds that has always been kept 
pure and although at one time it was 
confined largely to the duck marshes on 
the Maryland coast, to-day there are 
good specimens in various parts of the 
country. 
The following narrative of the experi- 
ences of Mr. F. E. Richmond, a Canadian 
sportsman, will interest every man who 
loves a dog: 
A FEW years ago I took a puppy, 
nine months of age, out a few days 
after the season opened to initiate 
her. The day was warm and sultry and 
birds were flying 
lazily. I picked out 
the easy shots for 
the puppy’s benefit 
and knocked down 
about a dozen 
which she retrieved 
perfectly. She had 
no previous train- 
ing, never having 
been more than a 
few hundred yards 
from her kennel 
yard. An old can- 
vas - back drake 
came along, and 
either through 
carelessness or bad 
judgment on my 
part I winged or 
wing - tipped him. 
He went away 
across the lake 
with the puppy in 
Nothing daunts him; he will go for miles after a wounded bird 
I 
