12/26/2023
Mr. Towner was an early breeder of Chesapeakes likely starting after the end of the Civil War. In 1888, he shared his thoughts on the breed in Forest & Stream (pre-cursor to Field & Stream). Of note is his reference to the seldom mentioned connection to dogs from the Nordic countries-he mentions Iceland and he calls these Nordic dogs Red Wi******ers. His view is the progeny of Sailor and Canton were bred with the dogs that were the Red Wi******ers from the Nordic climes. Interesting, yes ?
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY RETRIEVER-CAYUGA “JAY TOWNER”
(Forest & Stream-1888)
A few days ago I noticed a paragraph in your journal making for further light on the history and working ability of the Chesapeake Bay dog. Since that time I examined your columns in vain for some extended articles on the subject. My interest centered mainly in the origins of the breed, for with the working abilities of the dogs I years ago familiarized myself. For quite a number of years I read everything I could find and questioned every breeder I met relative to the origin of this dog, with somewhat unsatisfactory results.
There is a legend of a famous dog that came from the northern seas and mated with an otter, resulting in progeny having the form of a dog and the coat and water action of the Lutra Vulgaris; possibly the peculiar under body coat of the Chesapeake and his movement in swimming and diving gave some color to the myth. But the query is, will the dog and otter mate? From the best data obtainable, and quite plausible it would seem that the origin of the present specimen may be traceable to the following sources: about 70 yrs. ago there was bred about the head of Chesapeake Bay a large reddish brown dog noted for his powers as duck retriever in water and among floating ice: and at the beginning of the present century the breed was believed to have been at quite an earlier date brought from Iceland by man named Harmon. Such is the tradition of many families on the upper bay.
Down the east coast of the estuary there exists a tradition, passing into authentic history, to the effect that about the year 1805 a gentleman named Law was aboard a vessel called the Canton, which encountered an English brig bound from Newfoundland to England, and in sinking condition. There were on the foundered brig two puppies, male and female, of either of the Newfoundland or Labrador varieties. The dog was a dingy brown color and the bitch black. The dog puppy they named Sailor, and he subsequently came in the possession of Gov Lloyd, while the bitch was named Canton and became the property of Dr. Stewart, of Sparrow’s Point. Their progeny became known and noted on both shores as the Sailor breed. It would seem then that at the time of the advent of the latter variety there had existed on the upper bay for years the breed mentioned above and adverted to as of Irish descent, so the true origin seems to remain in some obscurity. May not the inter-breeding of the progeny of Sailor and Canton with the older dog, which I believe was known to some as the red Wi******er dog, account for the diversity of type found in the present bay retriever?
In the May number of the Century Magazine of 1885 there is a short article on the breed under discussion, with an engraving of a specimen of the retriever. This writer contends that there were in reality two varieties, the long-coated and the smooth-coated. Many fanciers claim that there should be only two types. However, the writer in the Century says he should have broad head, sharp nose, small bright eyes, and small high set ears, with a tightly curled sedge colored coat, mild in disposition and very intelligent. I think he is fairly correct except as to coat, that is a mooted question. A great many owners and some few breeders concede three distinct types, which, while diverse in appearance possess in common indomitable duck retrieving powers as well as instinct and ability to withstand ice cold water.
While the origin of the dog will pass undoubtedly further in obscurity as the years roll on, it becomes less a matter of interest than the preservation of the few specimens of grand working dogs we now possess. It would seem that they stood at the apogee of fame and purity over 25 yrs. ago, that the stock has been permitted to deteriorate in several localities, that there are now sufficient “good enough” dogs and I may say superb ones, to enable breeders to breed to a fair standard. So usually careful and accurate a writer as the author of the “Sportsman’s Gazetteer” describing the dog therein, says “His color is either black with a white breast and gray nose or tawny yellow”. “Generally he is fierce and the best of watchdogs etc.” It is probably true that both black and black and white will occasionally show in some litters, but I presume no wildfowler would care to have a black dog around his blind, and white is not tolerated usually except in snowfalls. Then as to temperament, I have generally found them kind and tractable, although there are instances where in advanced age they become surly. They are, indeed, good watchdogs and will faithfully guard their master’s property under perilous conditions, defending against man and beast. They usually mind their own business and stay at home, and will not eagerly seek a row with another dog, but when once is a scrimmage they manage to take care of themselves. No doubt their temper is largely influenced by the mode of life meted out to them; still I would trust their generosity sooner than I would a pointer under like conditions. At page 424 of the above mentioned “Gazetteer” are quoted the standards formulated by the Maryland Fanciers Association, dividing the dog into three classes as follows: “First, the setter dog; second, the curly-haired dog; third the straight haired dog. The color of the first class is a tawny sedge, with short hair. The color of the second class is a red brown. The color of the red class is red brown. The bi***es must show the color and approximate to the general points of the class to which they belong. In three classes a white spot on the breast is not unusual.
Several years ago, and I think it was during the winter of 1877, and while a bench show was in progress at Baltimore, several gentlemen, admirers of the Chesapeake dog, held a convention at one of the hotels in the above mentioned city for discussing the origin and classifying as well as forming a standard for this dog. I am inclined to believe the quotation in the “Gazetteer” is from the minutes of this meeting, as they are so similar. There were three Chesapeakes on exhibition there at the time, and they were large powerful animals, weighing respectively: Rob, 6 yrs. old, 90 lbs.; Monday, 5 yrs. old, 89 lbs. and Turk 18 mos. old, just over 79 lbs. The committee, I am informed, approximated the weight and measurement of the three dogs and adopted a standard accordingly, requiring two year old dogs of each class to weigh not less than 80 lbs. and bi***es 65 lbs. of same age. This was a pretty fair start, yet some people are curious enough to wonder how you can fit the standard to the three types if you desire to breed to perfection in each. We have today several fine dogs that may be considered proper to breed from, falling short of the foregoing scale. Therefore as several years have elapsed since that maiden effort and as the Mississippi Valley is devoting considerable attention to the rearing of this grand duck dog, cannot the breeders get together and tinker up the old scale and form a new standard adapted to the different strains? A few years ago I believe the American Kennel Club appointed a committee to examine into the merits and demerits of the Bay dog and report a proper standard. Such a standard was formed in part, but I do not recollect that it was adopted.
It has been my pleasure to work with the short and the rough-coated dogs and I confess that in point of ability each partisan stands on good defensible ground. There may be some choice when the shooting is done in a section abounding in burrs as the short-haired animal will not get so badly stuck up as his long or curly haired compeers. I have also heard a stickler for the fine reasoning assert that shorted-coated animal moves through the water with less resistance. However, we know the lesson taught by the pointer and setter. The former gets along better among the burrs, but the setter goes through thorns and briers with less injury.
In point of color, sedge or dead grass is preferred for several reasons obvious to the reader who shoots ducks, but the solid sedge is rare and accordingly prized. That the Chesapeake has a nose is patent to one who has seen him work. Let a duck hide on the opposite side of a clump or ridge of grass shutting out a view, and then you will note how that unerring nose pilots your dog to the game.
The Chesapeake, while still in a period of early puppyhood, takes naturally, or shall we say instinctively to retrieving ducks, but some training must be given him to cause perfect retrieving to your hand. Then again, this breed seems to require instruction in retrieving other feathered game such as plover, snipe and rail. It is not a bad plan to give him good yard instruction, teaching your pup to “down” or “charge” to “ho”, to hide, hold up and to sneak or crawl through cover and of course to bring and carry for you. He will learn even quicker than your silky haired setter, and when you have taught him everything you can think of and he becomes an accomplished dog. I believe the more a dog is taught the wider becomes his reasoning and perceptive faculties, then you will pat that faded looking coat and swear he is a darling. And when you watch him, lying hidden in the wild rice or beside you in the blind, the tip of his brown nose just visible as he keeps a sharp lookout for ducks, sometimes directing your attention to a stray incomer you have not seen, you will say he is the best companion you ever had; but when you see him at command dash through icy cold water, clambering over and diving under driftwood and cakes of ice after a winged duck. When after a chase of a mile he gets her and breasting billows and current back places her in your hand so tenderly that not a feather is torn, gives himself a shake, but not close enough to wet you, ready for another plunge then may you know him for the hero he is. Again, let off both barrels into a flock of flyers and tell him to “fetch em in”. Mark his sagacity. He passes the dead ones, those sorely wounded, and goes straight for some cripple that is trying desperately to get away and she has got to leave the water to escape him. If she dives, down he goes after her. So on, one by one, he brings them in, the dead ones nearest at hand last. Oftentimes in haste and excitement of retrieving a half dozen or more ducks, he may neglect to place the dead ones in your hand but bringing them to shore leave them and plunge in again. This may be reasoning or an inherited quality, but if he is a thoroughbred, properly handled, he will bring the wounded to you, and after the batch has been secured he will fetch up the pile deposited on the shore.
The Chesapeake with his sturdy compact body, bones and muscular legs and a coat which may sometimes look like a well-worn old buffalo robe, not be pleasing to Hogarth and may not be exactly Titanesque in coloring. All the same in my eyes is he is pleasing. His intelligence, fidelity, courage, adaptability to his work make him “handsome is as handsome does”. His outline at all points is good and he is a dog to command attention anywhere. Many claim the Cocker to be an all-around dog. Well, he will put up grouse and woodcock, run a rabbit track and retrieve small birds and is a grand, sparkling little fellow. Yet what he will do on a small scale, the Chesapeake will do on a larger one with training. But this is not generally to his credit and he had better remain what he is naturally, the grandest duck dog extant.
A fair specimen of a Chesapeake may be of either type, solid sedge or faded brown with thick in body coat of fur impervious to water, standing about 23.5” at shoulder, possibly the rough coated would stand a little taller, and weighing not to exceed 75 or 80 lbs. A large dog, while perhaps stronger though clumsier, tires sooner and is somewhat in the way in a blind or in a sneakbox.
I never knew of a cross with this dog and the spaniel or a cross with a setter but what the peculiarities of the coat were diminished. However my experience in breeding goes but for little beyond specific cases of observation. Some fowlers cross the water spaniel with a setter, or the latter with the Newfoundland, and think they will get a good retriever as well as a dog for use in upland shooting. While there may be a few instances of a resulting good dog, the practice is reprehensible, as it destroys a distinct breed, two in fact, with very doubtful results. Fellow duck hunters, stick to the Chesapeake, don’t dilute his blood, but use him well and he will make you swear by him and not at him.
While he is a dog full of what we term “sand”, yet his training when a puppy should be mild and devoid of harshness. There will be pups of inferior quality in some litters as you will find in the most cherished strains of pointers and setters. It does not always follow that the sire and dam will transmit their rare qualities to every puppy, particularly in a large litter. Magnificent specimens have been bred at Maxwell’s Point and the ducking shores near Perryman’s on the Chesapeake and can still be found there, as well as at other ducking shores on the bay. Also some fine dogs are being raised in Iowa and Wisconsin. Pages can be written filled with anecdotes of this retriever. He is incomparable as a duck dog, and the sight of an old shooting coat, gun or boat will drive him into ecstasy and excitement enough to please the most exacting. When once you know him, you will discard the handsome thorough strongly perfumed water spaniel or the brave though unreliable Newfoundland when the wind and sleet stiffen your beard and the icy water chills the blood in ordinary man and dog hood. He will prove a source of pleasure to your children, a domestic and cleanly dog around the house, a terror to chicken thieves, a protector of your wife, and an autocrat among dogs and a friend who will never desert you.
Pictured below is a Red Wi******er and the dog from the Century Magazine illustration-note the level topline 1885 and the well coupled loin.
