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Chesapeake


Ttfjlc
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37 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

I have always liked big dogs and consequently have normally been drawn to the big one in the litter.  I like to see them out in the open and see what thier attitude is.  Look for the one wanting to see whats about and not the one sitting on it's backside whimpering.  It has worked for me over all the dogs I've owned.  Went all the way to the east coast to buy my first viszla and the lady turned them out of the stable onto the lawn. One of the big ones headed straight for the reeds and the pond and started sniffing and rooting around. He got his toe nails painted bright pink as a result. Turned out to be my second best dog ever.   I had the opposite when offered the runt of a litter of viszlas, he was small compared, but within two weeks I said he would be a killing machine, which he proved to be.   He was also a thief. When his owner(I trained him for a friend) and I would be pigeon flighting. He would slide across and nick one of my pigeons and take it back and place by my mate, looking all innocent like. Clever little dog.  Don't you just love 'em ?

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Enjoyed that Walker570, interesting point how you pick a dog, when the time is right I'll see what the pups are more interested in doing, as the last 2 we got one was in a small run and the other dog with its brothers and sisters were running amok in the breeders living room! :lol:

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Yep, time flies by and they don't live long enough. The viszla infront is the runt and after 14yrs, now hunting elsewhere, who knows. The one behind had a short life, six years and dropped dead whilst hunting with me.

quote from "The Power of a Dog" by Rudyard Kipling

Buy a pup and your money will buy

Love unflinching that cannot lie -

Perfect passion and worship fed

by a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.

Nevertheless it is hardly fair

To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

 

Look it up for the full poem. 

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1 hour ago, Ttfjlc said:

Nice story marsh man, reminds me of when I went to look at the litter where we got Ronnie from, a lovely guy near King's Lynn had a mixed litter of labs for sale, 5 dog pups for sale, 3 yellow 2 black, said to my eldest lad who was 3 at the time that we'll see which of the 5 appeals to us the most. He insisted we get a black dog so my choice dropped to 2, 1 was too busy trying to get back to the others but Ronnie went over to my lad,  sat down and licked my son's finger and that was it....I still blame my son to this day. :lol:

Small world TtfjIc , we had two litters to look at on the day when they were six weeks old , the first one was at Swaffham and the next one would had been at Kings Lynn , after we bought the first one we looked at, we decided not to look at the other litter in case we had regretted buying the one we did .

P S ..... I am sure your lad made the right decision with Ronnie.

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5 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Small world TtfjIc , we had two litters to look at on the day when they were six weeks old , the first one was at Swaffham and the next one would had been at Kings Lynn , after we bought the first one we looked at, we decided not to look at the other litter in case we had regretted buying the one we did .

P S ..... I am sure your lad made the right decision with Ronnie.

I named him after Ronnie O'Sullivan, my dad said I couldn't have picked a better name, 'Rocket Ronnie' :lol:. Although he was a so and so to train due to his immense drive I did ok but looking back I would of done things a lot different, he was/is a strong dog, whilst stood on a peg I winged a cock pheasant that sailed strongly for around 150 yards to the opposite side of a rape field and was a sure fire runner, as I turned to take the lead off Ronnie I quickly discovered my stick was half the size and Ronnie was a speck in the distance, he returned at some speed with the pheasant to which the guns said the retrieve was far more impressive than the shot, they hadn't noticed the lead still round his neck and I never did find the other end of my stick.:lol:

The best I've seen of him was when I shot 3 pinks under the moon, had a rough idea where they were so pointed him in the general direction and sat back and smiled as he winded them one by one and brought them back to hand in turn. :good:

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  • 1 month later...

A word of caution.  My chessie was aggressive. It was through extreme loyalty. He was fine with our family  (although we watched him carefully with the children ) but if any visitor came to our house he went balistic. Nearly 50 kg of dog in full attack mode. He got a bit of a reputation!  He worked well and was the smartest dog I have ever owned. He didn't start fights with other dogs, but if a dog was stupid enough to start on him then there was only one outcome.

His aggression left me with two options - either put him down or try neutering.  I got him neutered and he did calm down after 6 months or so. He still had to be kept well away from visitors but it was manageable. 

Then he developed a hard mouth which was the end of the wildfowling.  I took him beating - he had a tremendous nose.

In short, Woody was FIERCELY loyal. An absolute bull on the shore. Showed no fear in the retrieve regardless what was required of him. I was very fond of the old brute - he met his end with bone cancer at 13 years old. Developed a hard mouth after neutering. 

Would it put me off another one - definitely not. But the fact that I could buy two good lab pups for the price of one chessie means I probably won' have another.

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Thanks Al for a detailed reply, interesting to note about the price of 2 labs though, how much do people ask for a good chessie? I only ask as labs seem to have gone through the roof, just now I had a notification on Facebook about labs crossed with gwp puppies, £500 each! 

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I' m comparing prices locally (N.  Ireland)

Bought  my yellow lab pup last year for £300. Chessie are more than double. 

Dogs are cheaper here but some breeders and FT  guys are currently driving prices up beyond the reach of the ordinary shooting man. Non registered pure breds are becoming more popular as a result. 

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17 hours ago, Big Al said:

I' m comparing prices locally (N.  Ireland)

Bought  my yellow lab pup last year for £300. Chessie are more than double. 

Dogs are cheaper here but some breeders and FT  guys are currently driving prices up beyond the reach of the ordinary shooting man. Non registered pure breds are becoming more popular as a result. 

Funny you should say that, the least expensive dogs on the group I mentioned are all from Ireland.

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18 minutes ago, Ttfjlc said:

Funny you should say that, the least expensive dogs on the group I mentioned are all from Ireland.

I bought a 6 month old KC reg lab 18 years ago for £200 near Downpatrick. I tried to negotiate on price but the guy told me to take it or leave as he had a man coming over from Kent the next day and he would buy everything he had to take back and sell for double the money in England. 

I bought my dog. My mate rang him the next week about a pup and he had none. 

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4 hours ago, Big Al said:

I bought a 6 month old KC reg lab 18 years ago for £200 near Downpatrick. I tried to negotiate on price but the guy told me to take it or leave as he had a man coming over from Kent the next day and he would buy everything he had to take back and sell for double the money in England. 

I bought my dog. My mate rang him the next week about a pup and he had none. 

Might be an option to consider when the time is right to get another dog, certainly seen how well Ted works. :good:

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16 minutes ago, Ttfjlc said:

Might be an option to consider when the time is right to get another dog, certainly seen how well Ted works. :good:

Cheers mate! Hopefully you think the same about the next eejit I'm trying to get into shape at the minute!

Ted was bought as an 8 week old pup about 5 years ago. KC registered. He cost £250 less a £20 luck penny (so that's  £230)

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1 hour ago, Big Al said:

Cheers mate! Hopefully you think the same about the next eejit I'm trying to get into shape at the minute!

Ted was bought as an 8 week old pup about 5 years ago. KC registered. He cost £250 less a £20 luck penny (so that's  £230)

Now that is cheap by today's prices, is it simply supply over there outweighs demand? 

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Sad to say it is all changing.  Over the lat Couple of years prices have shot up. The big money dogs (English prices) are being bought by big money shooters or wannabe field trialled.  Ordinary shooting men are simply not registering pups and selling them cheaper. My latest yellow lab cones from proven KC reg parents but is unregistered himself.

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  • 3 months later...
On 02/02/2018 at 19:21, iamspuddy said:

me first then,

i was in the same position as you 4 yrs ago, i also surfed the web looking for info. Read all the usual stuff that  they are aggressive , alligators,  my mates mate had one and it was a complete whatever!!!!.  etc etc etc .

i decided to speak to actual owners before i made my mind up. Some who are on this site.

These are my views others may differ 

i didn't want a lab , for the £1000 i paid for the chessie pup i could have bought a top of the range lab at the time. i didn't because i wanted something different and i wanted big dog to handle the tides around here and not be bothered with the cold , my springer although an excellent retriever didn't like sitting for hours and getting frozen. All my friends had fowling labs at the time but as i saId  i just fancied something different . there were only 180 pups a year born compared to 1000's of labs so you have to pick the right breeder. The breeders i know now spend 1000's of pounds refreshing the blood line  with US and Scandinavian  dogs . So as with labs pick the right breeder and you have a better chance of a good dog.

They are not for everyone, they are big dogs and grow fast, so you have a big playful pup (6 months and 20+kg) with a baby brain.

I think they are slow burners , they best info i had was its not a lab . They are smart which also means if your not in charge he will be. 

Mine is now a 3yr old   solid 43kg  dog. This season it all clicked fowling wise ,last year he was 18months in september  and a bit mentally young . 

He lives in the house with us and the springer no problem . Fantastic with the grand kids ,  extremely loyal i can't move around the house without him following me .

i have not seen any aggression from him , apart from a growl when another dog came over  to look at his ducks .vocal yes  bang on the front door and there is a set of paws 6ft off the ground on the glass with a barking dog . 

he is good with other dogs .

he is in his element fowling absolutely loves it ,its been extremely bitter and looking at him you would think it was July. He will sit on the marsh like the terminator for hours scanning for birds . Mine gives me the look when i miss.

i would advise speak to owners and dig out a breeder you like the  look of and pay a visit and have a chat .

i have absolutely no regrets this is the breed for me   and in 2/3 yrs  i will definitely be buying another .

Refreshing this old thread :)

 

Where do you shoot mate?

I'm in Bristol and see your down in Portishead? 

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  • 1 month later...

I love Chesapeake's.  As a matter of fact I live in Chesapeake Virginia.  They are defiantly not labs . For wildfowling in tough conditions a Chessie comes into it's purpose .. Most important is to get a dog that comes from a hunting line. As in other sporting breeds they have been bred and sold for their looks more-so lately than performance in the field. Some health problems and eye problems have crept into some lines. Watch the sire and dam work. If possible.  Chessies here are known for their loyalty.often its with one person in the household. With proper training  not harsh but firm and consistent they are premier wildfowlers and can do a bang up job in the large pheasant hunting areas.. I've known many that fit into the family life like a Brittney a few that keep hand and arm collections. Best of luck

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