Should you get a dog? Shared by Bullie Pups R Us

AOL Journal ^ | 3/13/08 | Bullie Pups R Us

[AnAmericanMother]

Her face markings and the short coat on the chest completely fooled me! She sure is a pretty one.

A Chessie is a real man's dog, when you get a great one there's nothing to touch them, but they need a really good handler.

I know you miss her, but at least you've got her baby. I may breed my younger dog if she turns out to be as good as I suspect she is.

My older dog didn't see a duck until she was 3, but she has her CGC, her CD, her AX and AXJ (AKC) and her AD and AJ (USDAA). She got her SHR in short order but we have had some handling issues so we're still working on HR ("Who the heck is the retriever here, anyway?")

She absolutely nailed her JH - and by the way you haven't missed much, those AKC tests are awful. The first one we went to, the marks were so difficult they were more along the order of a Seasoned test in UKC . . . 32 dogs went to the line on Saturday and only 19 went on to the water in the afternoon. And then the water was awful too. Sunday was much the same. If you can imagine asking a Junior dog to do a channel swim and expecting him to stay in the water . . . TWO land-water-land retrieves with the birds falling in heavy brush . . . a mark that fell behind some trees into a ditch, so the dogs could only see it for the split second that it was falling between the bottom of the branches and the top of the grass . . . and then the worst of all, a live flier that was shot over a 10-15' tall mound of overgrown grading dirt, so that the bird might fall behind, beside, or on top of the mound. My dog got a 'gimme' on that one, her bird fell on the front face of the mound with the breast feathers up, it might as well have been a neon sign. But otherwise, she was completely unimpressed with the tricks and snags built into the tests, she just ran out (or swam out), picked up the birds, and brought them back. In a crisis I always fall back on agility commands -- got some laughter from the judges in one Started test when I yelled, "go RIGHT!" but of course she did go right and she was the only dog in that test who didn't bank run.

My young girl is extremely well bred and could probably pass a Started test right now, but I have a tendency to hold them back until I'm sure they can pass. Silly, but there you are.

[Clint N. Suhks]

This is my girl's Mom, Grandmom and Great Grandmom that appears in the book "The Complete Chesapeake Bay Retriever". They are 3 of only 9 female Duals in the breed back in the 90's, that may have changed since. The markings you are referring to is called a mask and is common for the color. There are 8 official colors in the breed but most people know them for the traditional dark brown with a white patch on the chest. My girl and her mom and grandmom are "Light Deadgrass" color, the lightest color in the breed.

That's quite an impressive bunch of titles you got there, you've been busy. I never tried any agility stuff, buddies in my training club might have given me the business for it. LOL And I never tried any obedience stuff either because I figured if you can do hunt tests you pretty much got that down. they should give those titles for free if you pass hunt tests LOL And I only got the CGC because I bred her.

There's a big difference between AKC and UKC hunt tests. HRCH is not as Hard as MH. HRCH land blinds are only 100 yards and only 3 multiple marked blind plus poison bird IIRC, it's been 10 years now. I've never been to one but I hear MH land blinds can be 200 yards with 4 marks, that would have beeen tough for my girl to do.

[RikaStrom]

HotD,

I’m on your list. ;-)

Doggy Ping, from the human owned by Little Miss Psycho Dog aka Thena.

RS

[AnAmericanMother]

That darned Junior test started off with a bang . . . 100 yards, uphill - steep as a flight of stairs - through a power cut and then a deep ditch right slap up to a tree line. A number of dogs funked the hill or the ditch right off. That's the other thing I hate about AKC - if your dog fails the very first test you're dismissed and go home, UKC lets you go on to the water.

A judge friend of mine (UKC) says the UKC folks want you to pass, while the AKC folks enjoy watching you fail.

That sure is a cute 'family portrait'. There are some "dead grass" Chessies in our club, but none of them have the facial markings. The very best Seasoned test I saw run when I marshalled for our club one time was run by a little dead grass Chessie bitch, a tiny one, maybe 40 pounds. She was rock steady on the line, marked like a laser, and no-whistled the blind. Plus she was sweet, friendly and good with other dogs. If I could find where I wrote her owner & handler's names down, I'd try to get one of her pups . . . .

Friend of mine's older black Lab (just my dog's age) got her HRCH, his wife put an AX on her and is now starting out in Novice A obedience. She's cleaning up . . . got a 197 1/2 her first trial. I wanted a pup from her, but she had allergy issues so they spayed her. I did the next best thing . . . my little black pup is the living image of her.

By the way, this year they upped the distance on the blind in Seasoned from 40 yards to 60. Rats! Just when I was getting up the courage to enter!

[LucyJo]

Bump for excellence, and because I love English Bulldogs!

[cowboyway]

That's Patoka Lake in southern Indiana,

I lived in southern Michigan for a few years. The goose hunting was great because of all the dairy farms around. I was close enough to Lake Erie to make a few trips there, also.

Shenandoah Vally in Virginia

Most people don't think about the Shenandoah Valley when they think about waterfowl.

I grew up in eastern NC. Hunted the Pamlico and Currituck sounds and up the rivers and creeks that feed them. Used to drop a lot of pintails and mallards at an impoundment near Hobucken, NC. Knew about some really hot oxbows where the woodies were thick as the hairs on a dogs back. But no matter where I went, it was always more fun when I had my dog. Bought my first Chessie back in 1982 after some lowlife stole my Lab. I've had Chessies ever since. (The Lab in my pic was my ex-wifes; I got custody because she opted to move into a townhouse in a city and I convinced her that Gus would be much happier with a few acres to roam around on without a leash.)

I've been on the road since '04. Haven't hunted much over the last 4 years but I tendered my resignation a couple of weeks ago with the intent of taking the rest of the year off and catching up on some hunting.

[PzLdr]

“The More People I Meet, The More I Like My Dog’: Sign I had in my office when I was a DA [right next to the electric chair poster captioned ‘Justice. Regular or Extra Crispy’]

I’ve lived with dogs most of my life. Can’t imagine living without ‘em.

[AnAmericanMother]

Note the shirt I'm wearing in post 13.

I don't have that poster, but I do have a T-shirt from a DA association softball team - Lady Justice with a machine gun and the caption "The State is Ready."

[ovrtaxt]

American Bulldog owner checkin in!

[AnAmericanMother]

You were at ground zero for waterfowl.

My grandfather was a big time duck hunter and used to hunt ENC and the Eastern Shore. That was, unfortunately, before my time.

I admire Chessies, but I love my Labs. They're both little girls, right at 43 pounds both of them. They won't tip your boat over or knock you sprawling in the blind.

[PzLdr]

One of my dogs is [a soon to be] three year old Chessie named Boomer. The other is a 21 mo. German Shepherd named Dieter [Dietz]. Like the shirt. REALLY like your dog!

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, she's a pistol. Her sire is FC/AFC The Man In Black, by Lean Mac out of Gator Point Sweet Potato Pie. Dam is a Candlewood bitch, by a Franklin (dual purpose) sire out of an Honest Abe/Abercrombie & Fitch dam. The litter was bred by Mary Howley. I had her DNA tested and she would throw all three colors. Need to wait til she's two to have her hips, elbows and eyes checked.

I kinda went up one grade of gasoline on the black pup. My older dog's dam is by FC/AFC Storm's Riptide Star, the only chocolate Lab to win the national field title, but her sire is a conformation champion who is an affable old boy, but couldn't find a bird in a phone booth if you poured gravy on it. Nobody was sure what to do with that litter or how they would turn out. At least one other good hunting dog in the litter, but he looks nothing like my dog - he's a big old block-headed moose. You do those wide outcrosses, you get some like the sire, some like the dam, and every possible combination in between. The type doesn't settle down for a generation or so.

[cowboyway]

Jake weighs about 120. A lot of dog with a lot of heart and the happiest Chessie I've ever had. He just doesn't have a bad day.

[AnAmericanMother]

Glad to see a happy Chessie. Sometimes they can be a bit on the serious side.

My Labs are not just happy . . . they're delirious!

[Uriah_lost]

Sounds like you have a deep and meaningful relationship there...good luck with that.

[Shadowstrike]

I have ‘show dogs’ (ones that just show up) too!

Thought I was the only person that happens to.

[kanawa]

Welcome to FR, bulliepupsrus

[LasVegasMac]

Way cool post and thread.....thanks.

Labs and Pits....had both, loved 'em all.

Had a Pit that should have been born a Lab....what a dog!

[SeaHawkFan]

Actually we have a very deep and meaningful relationship. Both of us are spiritually mature Christians and are waiting until marriage before having sex. We both also have a sense of humor. It is not a sin to not want a dog.

You have a problem with any of that?

[Darnright]

Perhaps, when my old guy goes to that big doghouse in the sky, I will get another, but they only made one of my big dog.