I think I will consider a lab. I am sure I could do well with a Chessi but but starting a family I would like a family dog who wont stick to one member of the family. Guess a lab will have to do for now :)
Thanks!
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I think I will consider a lab. I am sure I could do well with a Chessi but but starting a family I would like a family dog who wont stick to one member of the family. Guess a lab will have to do for now :)
Thanks!
A wise decision Mattones.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattones
There are some good chessie's out there but the risk of aggression, with a young family makes the lab the right choice.
Now you need to make sure you pick the right litter..............
To be the devils advocate. The wrong lab (or any dog) in a growing family can be a real PITA. I know if that my latest Lab is not exercised or trained every day he is a huge ball of energy waiting to explode. my kids are grown and left the nest which leaves me ample time for Guage, but when I think back of a young growing family it would have been hard to cope with three toddlers and a pretty wired lab.
bottom line is that any good retriever needs a lot of attention. make sure you can free up time for them every day.
I would choose a lab over a chessy. There's a reason there are more labradors than chesapeake bay retrievers. Especially for a first dog a lab would be a better choice. I almost went with a chessy 10 years ago but glad a choose the lab. I should say, I know a couple people that own chesapeakes and absolutely love them for their loyality and dedication.
I guided a fellow from down south a quite a fiew years ago who had a very large male Chessy. This was a profetionaly trained dog that did everything but the dishes for him.. But this is were it ended , it would only listen to him, it was very hard headed and not realy a people dog like the labs.. If it was in the jeep, and you wanted to go get something from the jeep you had to ask him to go get it as the dog would come unglued if a stranger whent neer it .. On the flip side for water fowling im not sure ive seen a lab that compares.. It is stronger , lasts far longer in the cold water than my lab could any day , and my lab was also a certified hunter reteiver so it was very well trained , but could not handle the cold like the chessy .. If I were a single man that did alot of late fall ice breaking kinda duck hunting it is no question the dog I would have .. But as a familly man with two girls , I will stick to labs anny day , they are easier to train, familly friendly and all around just as good for majority of hunters...M2C
A RAy
I wouldn't trade my chessie in for nuttin'
I've been lurking around this forum for a while now and have never made a single post but this thread seems to me to be the place to start. I'll say right off that i have FAR less experience with training dogs than many people here. That being said my parents bought her, when my sister and I were just toddlers, from my great uncle who bread them at the time. She lived for 14 years and was one of the greatest family dogs you could ask for. She bonded MOST with my dad as he did the majority of her training but definitely listened to my mother as well and was absolutely incredible with my sister and I. She was very protective without being overly so.
Having had a lab and a mixed breed since (both of which I loved greatly) I always swore I would get another chessie. So when my wife and I got married last year and bought our first house I instantly started looking. My wife always had labs (non-hunting mind you) and took a bit of convincing as she had read all of the comments about aggressiveness and stubbornness but since we got our now 7 month old chessie pup she couldn't be more pleased. Our pup is completely bonded to both of us and picks up on her obedience training quicker than we had any right to expect (I am still hoping to train her for hunting but need to find a mentor as others have suggested).
I do fully agree with the point that chessies can be hard headed and stubborn but I believe that stems, in large part, from a misunderstanding of the breed, particularly the 2x4 training tool mentioned before. Chessies tend to be softer than most would think and have an impeccable memory for both good and bad habits and experiences. I would absolutely recommend doing research into the breed before buying (as the op is clearly doing). Another forum that has proved to be an invaluable source of info on the breed is www.teamchesapeake.com (I hope there are no rules against referencing other forums, if so I apologize)
Sorry for the long winded post I guess it kind of got away from me.
Welcome aboard. As a new member you realize you are expected to hold a BBQ for the rest of us veteren members. :joker:Quote:
Originally Posted by LongHunter
Seriously that is a great first post to say hello!
My first dog was a chessie hard headed but great dog.
2nd dog a golden slow but great dog. Present dog a lab the best
Sorry Mattones,
I know you PM'd me but work has been crazy and I haven't responded so I will post my answer here.
WOW! There are a lot Lab owners on this site! You opened a can of worms with this question as there are about 10,000 lab owners to 1 Chessie owner (just a guess but probably not that far off).
There are a lot of great hunting dogs out there, great labs, springers and chessies and alot of bad ones too. First off, no matter what dog you get you want to find the right breeder look at both parents and see their temperment if it is a repeat breeding get refrences - stay away from the backyard breeder.
I have had two Chessies from the Skeetercreek and the Deadgrass kennel bloodline that absolutely love people. My current chessie pup followed my buddies little one around all day long at the camp.
Where do I begin, Chessies are excellent family dogs, their love of children is actually documented and the breed itself has been noted to save many children from drowning. There are so many rediculus comments here that I'm not even going to quote them. If I was to compare my dog to the golden my sister owned or the 2 labs at the camp or the lab a friend of mine owned I would tell you to never to get either breed but I am wise enough to know they were not properly trained or socialized, infact one of those labs is the only dog I have ever been bitten by and my friends won't allow their little one anywhere near it and the second one wouldn't hurt a fly but is so "dumb" I'm surprised it can figure out how to eat and the other one needed a bark collar and cement boots. In those cases I'm sure its not the dogs fault, just the owners.
They are not like a lab or golden in so many ways, you can't use a "2x4" on them as they will remember that you did, infact from what I've seen you have to be much softer on a chessie because it remembers and doesn't forget -LongHunter is dead-on. It might take a bit longer to teach but you won't have to show it over and over again. If you correct it at the wrong time you can actually set your training back alot. They do require solid leadership, you can't let him get away with anything ie. Sit means sit, if he doesn't you make him or he will remember.
They seem to hunt in a different way than a lab does, to me the difference between the two are -If you want to tell a dog how to hunt get a lab, if you want to watch a dog figure it out on his own get a Chessie.
They are a very powerfull dog and tough in cold weather, my last one would go into water in winter over and over and over. He would never give up, my little nephew probably spent hours on the weekends thowing balls into the water for him and when he said heal that dog would sit on his left side, dop the ball into his hand, sit there for him until he said his name to fetch the ball again. My youngest nephew at the time was 10,lives in Tennessee, my dog listened to him and he never met him before that weekend.
They are a protective dog but not known to bite that is why they make a good gaurd dog but not a good dog for protection. That said, a bear came on our campsite in Algonquin and that dog made sure the bear didn't stick around. RIP-RUKUS!
I would recommend a Chessie to anyone, I got one as my first dog and he was a fantastic dog. I did do alot of research on the dog and I listened to recommendations that my breeder and his (my) trainer made to me. It helped me to stay in contact with my breeder and meet up once and a while to chat and help with training the dog.
Get whatever dog you want Lab, Chessie, Poodle - Just spend the time to train it properly especially in it's first year.
That said I will be in the Flamborough area tomorrow and would be glad to meet up with you to meet my Chessie. PM me and I'll give you my contact info.
You want some good advice contact Brent Samis, ask him the difference between the two breeds, He breeds both and trains. Contact Sandi Bond and ask the difference between training the two.
Asking us which one you should get is like asking a Ford guy if you should buy a Chevy, a Berretta guy if you should buy a Browning. FYI - I drive a Ford and it was the first and last Ford I will ever buy! And I hunt with a Browning!
Hope that helps.