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Chesapeake Bay Retriever Breed Standard
General Appearance
Equally proficient on land and in the water,
the Chesapeake Bay Retriever was developed along the Chesapeake Bay
to hunt waterfowl under the most adverse weather and water
conditions, often having to break ice during the course of many
strenuous multiple retrieves. Frequently the Chesapeake must face
wind, tide and long cold swims in its work. The breed's
characteristics are specifically suited to enable the Chesapeake to
function with ease, efficiency and endurance. In head, the
Chesapeake's skull is broad and round with a medium stop. The jaws
should be of sufficient length and strength to carry large game
birds with an easy, tender hold. The double coat consists of a
short, harsh, wavy outer coat and a dense, fine, wooly undercoat
containing an abundance of natural oil and is ideally suited for the
icy rugged conditions of weather the Chesapeake often works in. In
body, the Chesapeake is a strong, well-balanced, powerfully built
animal of moderate size and medium length in body and leg, deep and
wide in chest, the shoulders built with full liberty of movement,
and with no tendency to weakness in any feature, particularly the
rear. The power though, should not be at the expense of agility or
stamina. Size and substance should not be excessive as this is a
working retriever of an active nature.
Distinctive features include eyes that are very
clear, of yellowish or amber hue, hindquarters as high or a trifle
higher than the shoulders, and a double coat which tends to wave on
shoulders, neck, back and loins only.
The Chesapeake is valued for its bright and happy
disposition, intelligence, quiet good sense, and affectionate
protective nature. Extreme shyness or extreme aggressive tendencies
are not desirable in the breed either as a gun dog or companion.
Disqualifications:
Specimens that are lacking in
breed characteristics should be disqualified.
Size, Proportion,
Substance
Height--Males
should measure 23 to 26 inches; females should measure 21 to 24
inches. Oversized
or undersized
animals are
to be severely penalized.
Proportion--Height
from the top of the shoulder blades to the ground should be slightly
less than the body length from the breastbone to the point of
buttocks. Depth of body should extend at least to the elbow.
Shoulder to elbow and elbow to ground should be equal.
Weight--Males
should weigh 65 to 80 pounds; females should weigh 55 to 70 pounds.
Head
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever should have an
intelligent expression. Eyes
are to be medium large, very clear, of yellowish or amber color and
wide apart. Ears
are to be small, set well up on the head, hanging loosely, and of
medium leather. Skull
is broad and round with a medium stop.
Nose is
medium short. Muzzle
is approximately the same length as the skull, tapered, pointed but
not sharp. Lips
are thin, not pendulous. Bite--Scissors
is preferred, but a level bite is acceptable.
Disqualifications:
Either undershot or overshot bites are to be disqualified.
Neck, Topline, Body
Neck
should be of medium length with a strong muscular appearance,
tapering to the shoulders. Topline
should show the hindquarters to be as high as or a trifle higher
than the shoulders. Back
should be short, well coupled and powerful.
Chest should
be strong, deep and wide. Rib cage barrel round and deep.
Body is
of medium length, neither cobby nor roached, but rather approaching
hollowness from underneath as the flanks should be well tucked up.
Tail
of medium length; medium heavy at the base. The tail should be
straight or slightly curved and should not curl over back or side
kink.
Forequarters
There should be no tendency to weakness in the
forequarters. Shoulders
should be sloping with full liberty of action, plenty of power and
without any restrictions of movement.
Legs should
be medium in length and straight, showing good bone and muscle.
Pasterns slightly bent and of medium length. The front legs should
appear straight when viewed from front or rear. Dewclaws on the
forelegs may be removed. Well webbed hare feet should be of good
size with toes well-rounded and close.
Hindquarters
Good hindquarters are essential. They should
show fully as much power as the forequarters. There should be no
tendency to weakness in the hindquarters. Hindquarters should be
especially powerful to supply the driving power for swimming. Legs
should be medium length and straight, showing good bone and muscle.
Stifles should be well angulated. The distance from hock to ground
should be of medium length. The hind legs should look straight when
viewed from the front or rear. Dewclaws, if any, must be removed
from the hind legs.
Disqualifications:
Dewclaws on the hind legs are a disqualification.
Coat
Coat should be thick and short, nowhere over
1½ inches long, with a dense fine wooly undercoat. Hair on the face
and legs should be very short and straight with a tendency to wave
on the shoulders, neck, back and loins only. Moderate feathering on
rear of hindquarters and tail is permissible. The texture of the
Chesapeake's coat is very important, as the Chesapeake is used for
hunting under all sorts of adverse weather conditions, often working
in ice and snow. The oil in the harsh outer coat and wooly undercoat
is of extreme value in preventing the cold water from reaching the
Chesapeake's skin and aids in quick drying. A Chesapeake's coat
should resist the water in the same way that a duck's feathers do.
When the Chesapeake leaves the water and shakes, the coat should not
hold water at all, being merely moist.
Disqualifications:
A coat that is curly or has a tendency to curl all over the body
must be disqualified. Feathering on the tail or legs over 1¾ inches
long must be disqualified.
Color
The color of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever must
be as nearly that of its working surroundings as possible. Any color
of brown, sedge or deadgrass is acceptable, self-colored Chesapeakes
being preferred. One color is not to be preferred over another. A
white spot on the breast, belly, toes, or back of the feet
(immediately above the large pad) is permissible, but the smaller
the spot the better, solid colored preferred. The color of the coat
and its texture must be given every consideration when judging on
the bench or in the ring. Honorable scars are not to be penalized.
Disqualifications:
Black colored; white on any part of the body except breast, belly,
toes, or back of feet must be disqualified
Gait
The gait should be smooth, free and
effortless, giving the impression of great power and strength. When
viewed from the side, there should be good reach with no
restrictions of movement in the front and plenty of drive in the
rear, with good flexion of the stifle and hock joints. Coming at
you, there should be no sign of elbows being out. When the
Chesapeake is moving away from you, there should be no sign of
cowhockness from the rear. As speed increases, the feet tend to
converge toward a center line of gravity.
Temperament
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever should show a
bright and happy disposition with an intelligent expression.
Courage, willingness to work, alertness, nose, intelligence, love of
water, general quality and, most of all, disposition should be given
primary consideration in the selection and breeding of the
Chesapeake Bay Retriever.
Disqualifications:
1. Specimens
lacking in breed characteristics.
2. Teeth
overshot or undershot.
3. Dewclaws
on the hind legs.
4. Coat curly
or with a tendency to curl all over the body.
5. Feathering
on the tail or legs over 1¾ inches long.
6. Black
colored.
7. White on
any part of the body except breast, belly, toes, or back of feet.
The question of coat and general type of balance
takes precedence over any scoring table which could be drawn up. The
Chesapeake should be well proportioned, an animal with a good coat
and well balanced in other points being preferable to one excelling
in some but weak in others.
Positive Scale of Points
| Head, including lips, ears and eyes |
16 |
| Neck |
4 |
| Shoulders and body |
12 |
| Hindquarters and stifles |
12 |
| Elbows, legs and feet |
12 |
| Color |
4 |
| Stern and tail |
10 |
| Coat and texture |
18 |
| General conformation |
12 |
| Total |
100 |
| Approximate Measurements |
Inches |
| Length head, nose to occiput |
9½ to 10
|
| Girth at ears |
20 to 21
|
| Muzzle below eyes |
10 to 10½
|
| Length of ears |
4½ to 5
|
| Width between eyes |
2½ to 2¾
|
| Girth neck close to shoulder |
20 to 22
|
| Girth at flank |
24 to 25
|
| Length from occiput to tail base |
34 to 35
|
| Girth forearms at shoulders |
10 to 10½
|
| Girth upper thigh |
19 to 20
|
| From root to root of ear, over skull |
5 to 6
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| Occiput to top shoulder blades |
9 to 9½
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| From elbow to elbow over the shoulders |
25 to 26
|
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SAILOR AND CANTON
The Story,
The Ironmen and the Statues
by Dyane Baldwin
former
ACC Historian
The Story
The beginnings of the Chesapeake breed
is generally attributed to the following account by George Law,
first published in 1852:
Baltimore, Maryland
January 7th, 1845My DEAR SIR, In the fall of 1807 I was on board
of the ship Canton, belonging to my uncle, the
late-Hugh Thompson, of Baltimore, when we fell in, at sea, near
the termination of a very heavy equinoctial gale, with an
English brig in a sinking condition, and took off the crew. The
brig was loaded with codfish, and was bound to Pole, in England,
from Newfoundland. I boarded her, in command of a boat from the
Canton, which was sent to take off the English crew,
the brig's own boats having been all swept away, and her crew in
a state of intoxication. I found onboard of her two Newfoundland
pups, male and female, which I saved, and subsequently, on our
landing the English crew at Norfolk, our own destination being
Baltimore, I purchased these two pups of the English captain for
a guinea apiece. Being bound again to sea, I gave the dog pup,
which was called Sailor, to Mr. John Mercer, of West River; and
the slut pup, which was called Canton, to Doctor James Stewart,
of Sparrow's Point. The history which the English captain gave
me of these pups was, that the owner of his brig was extensively
engaged in the Newfoundland trade, and had directed his
correspondent to select and send him a pair of pups of the most
approved Newfoundland breed, but of different families, and that
the pair I purchased of him were selected under this order, The
dog was of a dingy red colour; and the slut black. They were not
large; their hair was short, but very thick-coated; they had dew
claws. Both attained great reputation as water-dogs. They were
most sagacious in every thing; particularly so in all duties
connected with duck-shooting. Governor Lloyd exchanged a Merino
ram for the dog, at the time of the Merino fever, when such rams
were selling for many hundred dollars, and took him over to his
estate on the eastern shore of Maryland, where his progeny were
well known for many years after; and may still be known there,
and on the western shore, as the Sailor breed. The slut remained
at Sparrow's Point till her death, and her progeny were and are
still well known, through Patapsco Neck, on the Gunpowder, and
up the bay, amongst the duck-shooters, as unsurpassed for their
purposes. I have heard both Doctor Stewart and Mr. Mercer relate
most extraordinary instances of the sagacity and performance of
both dog and slut, and would refer you to their friends for such
particulars as I am unable, at this distance of time, to
recollect with sufficient accuracy to repeat. Yours, in
haste,GEORGE LAW
On inquiry since the date of the above, of Mr.
Mercer and of Dr. J. Stewart, it is ascertained of the former, who
owned Sailor, that
. . . he was of fine size and
figure-lofty in his carriage, and built for strength and
activity; remarkably muscular and broad across the hips and
breast; head large, but not out of proportion; muzzle rather
longer than is common with that race of dogs; his colour a dingy
red, with some white on the face and breast; his coat short and
smooth, but uncommonly thick, and more like a coarse fur than
hair; tail full, with long hair, and always carried very high.
His eyes were very peculiar: they were so light as to have
almost an unnatural appearance, something resembling what is
termed a wail eye, in a horse; and it is remarkable, that in a
visit which I made to the Eastern Shore, nearly twenty years
after he was sent there, in a sloop which had been sent
expressly for him, to West River, by Governor Lloyd, I saw many
of his descendants who were marked with this peculiarity.
While there is no recorded
mating of the two dogs, tales of their hunting prowess and that of
their progeny abound in early sporting books. In 1877 when strains
from both the Eastern & Western shores of Maryland met at the
Poultry & Fanciers Association Show in Baltimore, their similarities
were sufficient to be recognized as one breed—the Chesapeake Bay
Ducking Dog. Pedigrees have been traced showing that the strains
from Sailor & Canton mingled in the breedings at the Carroll Island
Kennels. Dr. Charles Tilghman whose dogs descended from Sailor
supplied many dogs to various ducking clubs along the Chesapeake Bay
including Carroll Island. "Duck", who appeared in the Carroll Island
records, traced back to Turk, a descendent of Canton. It is very
likely that offspring of "Duck" were mated to those tracing to
Tilghman's breeding. The Carroll Island kennel was connected with
that of Dwight Mallory, the son-in-law of Edward Bartlett. Barlett
kept his own kennel of Chesapeakes at "Twin Oaks" on his Back River
ducking shore. In the next section, Barlett's connection to the
"Ironmen" and the Chesapeake will be clearly seen.
The IronmenIn 1832, George Hayward emigrated
to Baltimore and entered the cast iron stove business. In 1844,
David Bartlett moved his stove business to Baltimore from Boston and
in 1849 went into a partnership with George & his brother Jonas. The
Hayward, Barlett & Co. was formed. They manufactured stoves,
architectural iron works, plumbing items, built locomotives and
heating apparatus. Both Haywards & Bartlett were inveterate
sportsmen who for two generations owned three ducking shores
(clubs)upon Chesapeake Bay. One was the Taylor's Island Ducking &
Fishing Co. on the mouth of Mosquito Creek, whose marshes provided
outstanding shooting of mallards, black duck and other river ducks.
Another was at Twin Oaks where Dwight Mallory kept his kennel of
Chesapeake Bay dogs. The third was Otter Point located at the head
of the Gunpowder Neck, where much shooting of the favored canvasback
was done. In the 1850s it became fashionable to decorate one's lawn
with cast iron statues of animals. Small wonder that with their
interest in duck shooting and the family connection to the breed,
that the Haywards & Barlett chose to portray Sailor & Canton as
emblems for their business. The first statue was placed at the Light
Street office and later moved to join its mate at the ironworks
Scott & Pratt St. location. In 1899, new offices were built and the
"dogs" were thrown in the scrap heap. In the early 1900s the
company's fortunes came up short and the partners felt their luck
had changed when the mascots were removed. The statues were rescued
from the scrap pile and re-installed at the entrance of the offices
and prosperity returned.The StatuesOther
iron statues similar to Hayward, Barlett & Co's "Sailor" and
"Canton" can be found at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (1
statue); the Westfield Memorial Hospital in Westfield, NY (a pair);
and at one time, one could be seen near the Eagle Antique Shop in
Eagle, PA. The Westfield pair is painted completely black and was
also rescued from a scrap heap in April 1955. The following
regarding the Westfield pair was excerpted from Barbara Berry's
article in the May/June 1978 ACC Bulletin.
The late Hubert Thompson, then Editor of
the Westfield Republican, organized the fund needed to purchase
back the dogs from a Mr. Oley Benson of 471 Delaware Aye,
Buffalo who had in turn purchased them from a Mr. Callahan. The
dogs had originally been given as a contribution to the scrap
drive during the World War II effort.The Spencer home, which
became the Westfield Hospital, was built by Dr. John Spencer, a
noted agriculturist, in1853. It is thought the dogs, of a hollow
cast iron, were apart of the original embellishments of the
Spencer estate as the home and the dogs, positioned now in front
of the building, are pictured in an 1881 atlas.The hospital
opened as a 17 bed facility on August 29,1942. In the article
of1955 when the dogs were returned to Westfield, it states,
'They will be painted black and relocated on the lawn of the
Westfield Memorial Hospital. If the time comes when they are no
longer wanted there they will be placed on the Westfield Academy
and Central School lawn.' About every person who grew up in
Westfield can relate a tale told them about the iron dogs. "They
bark every time the fire whistle blows" was a favorite story
told the youngsters. Since they were inanimate objects and never
did hear the fire whistle blow, this was not an untruth.Many a
youngster has sat astride the mastiffs and as can be observed,
the iron statuary was fashioned to give the dogs a friendly
facial expression.
In 1985 Jane Pappler located
the Eagle, PA statue. It belonged at that time to a Mr. Harvey
Funderwhite, now deceased. Jane's account from the May/June 1991 ACC
Bulletin follows:
As I was driving north on Rt 100 in
Downington, PA, I was enjoying the different antique shops and
beautiful fall colors. By this one older house I noticed several
statues under a big tree. One a deer and I thought the other a
big dog of sorts. Could this possibly be one of the long lost
Chesapeake statues? I knocked on the door of the house but no
one was home. I knew I'd be back this way again twice a year for
shows and promised myself I'd bring my camera and also
investigate this with the owners. The next spring I forgot my
camera but got to talk to Mr. Harvey Funderwhite. He was a very
interesting gentleman of about 70 years. He had admired the dog
ever since he was a boy, telling me it always stood outside of
the local general store when he was growing up. About 15 years
ago he had the money and bought his dream dog, paying
$1200–$1500 for it. Harvey also said he knew of another one only
about 7–8 miles away in someone's yard. Look for him in Eagle,
PA, on the left, going north on RT 100, near Eagle antiques,
standing proud, just like his brothers.
The Chesapeake Maritime
Museum is located in St. Michael's, Maryland.Besides the statue,
it features exhibits of various watercraft used on the bay,
displays of hunting equipment, a lighthouse and decoys. Dogs are
allowed on the grounds but not in the buildings. Many a
Chesapeake has posed and been filmed beside its iron "ancestor".
If you get the chance stop in and enjoy the exhibits and be
certain to look for and see the statue.
http://www.amchessieclub.org/articles/Sailor.html
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