Judging Chesapeake Bay Retrievers By Nathaniel “Nat” Horn T he art of applying one’s knowledge, stan- dard interpretations and skills to judge is extremely challeng- ing. Look for what a
dog’s merits are before you start to get concerned about his faults. Th is philoso- phy can prevent you from eliminating a dog from competition because of one or two minor negative flaws as well as from rewarding a dog having nothing out- standingly wrong with him but is basical- ly a dog that in most aspects is mediocre. Type There is a section in the book Th e Dual Purpose Labrador , by Mary Roslin Wil- liams, about type. It is essential to distin- guish between breed type and kennel type. Th ere is one breed type in every breed. It is essential that the Chesapeake look like the Chesapeake. If he resembles another breed or looks more like a mongrel, he lacks true breed type. Within breed type there exists “kennel type”. Breeders excel in breeding dogs in di ff erent ways and become noted for their “style”. Coats, head type, expression and degree of substance are just a few of the features that can contribute to distinguish- able kennel type attributes. When you see a Chesapeake you may say to yourself that looks like one of Mr. X’s specimens.
In comparison to man, the Chesa- peake is equivalent to an Olympic swim- mer or a marathon runner, not to a heavy wrestler or a weight lifter. E ffi cient pow- er and agility with good muscle tone is sought for. Cloddy overdone dogs are not to be considered. Dogs & Bitches I expect a bitch to show femininity. Likewise, the male should be mascu- line and majestic. If a Chesapeake looks like the opposite sex, this is incorrect and should be faulted to the degree of the deviation. There is more of a ten- dency for judges to make the mistake of rewarding “doggy” bitches than to reward “bitchy” males. Judges really need to be cognizant of this. The Whole Dog One must consider the whole dog. Getting o ff track and over-emphasizing one aspect of the dog can lead to poor judging. While judging the Chesapeake, I like to refer to the phrase under symme- try and quality, “ Th e dog should be well proportioned”, then judge all the compo- nent parts, relate them to each other and
look at the dog as a whole. Th roughout the standard, many traits are referred to with a phrase like medium or moderate. I find it most important to keep in mind the verbiage in the standard that places emphasis on strong words: “Shoulders, sloping and should have full liberty of action with plenty of power without any restrictions of movement. ... Hindquarters should be especially powerful to supply the driving power for swimming. ... Good hindquarters are essential. Stifles should be well angulated. ... Flanks well tucked up.” Th e Chesapeake must have the ability to swim and retrieve for long periods of time. One can expect a good swimming Chesapeake to be a good moving Chesa- peake and vice versa.
Head, Neck & Related Components
Chesapeakes that retrieve objects from the ground or in the water requiring necks and heads well-proportioned with length which combined, permit the nose and mouth to reach the ground or grasp fowl easily in the water. Th e Chesapeake should
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