Whiskey Creek Chesapeakes

10/21/2025

We’ve been on the road since two weekends ago, so this post is a little late coming…

Big Bertha FINALLY earned a HARD Charger award at DARK K9’s last event of the season!

HARD Charger is earned by qualifying and scoring (no one knows the formula, so who knows exactly what she did to earn it!) in Hydro Dash, Air Retrieve, and Distance.

I believe Ruby (which is what she earned) is the lowest division, but we don’t care as poor B really struggles with Hydro Dash and it’s only gotten worse since they have changed the bumpers. So while she IS a speedy swimmer, ripping the dang bumper off the hanger has proven to be our nemesis!

Bert ended the year with a new PB in distance with a jump of 25’6”!

She also is following in her sire, Forest Stump who held the honor of being the #1 Chessie for MANY years, pawsteps by ending the year as the #1 Chesapeake in Air Retrieve with an average of 19’6”!

Not too shabby for a pup that will turn two in just about a month!

Thanks to Forest’s person, Jessie, for allowing me and the girls to invade your house! And thanks to Dark K9 for being the most welcoming and simply FUN NADD dock out there! You guys are THE BEST!!!

10/20/2025

“I would NEVER feed my dogs a raw meat diet! It’s too difficult and I travel too much!”

This doesn’t seem too difficult! This is Evin’s dinner for a trip I’m about to take.

There are SO MANY options available now of all types of raw diets for dogs. This happens to be freeze dried. I weighed it out, added the dehydrated fruit and veggie mix I feed and put her supplements on the top. All I have to do is add a little water and “Dinner is served!”

Easy peasy!

Yes! All of my personal dogs are raw fed.
Yes! All of my litters I breed are raw fed.
No! It’s not ‘difficult.’
No! It’s not that expensive!

If your dog is having skin issues, gut issues, ear issues, consider switching to raw. It’s amazing how dogs thrive when being fed what mother nature intended them to eat.

10/19/2025

BIG congrats to Lilli and her year old pup ‘Betty’ (Bodie x Quill) for busting out a new PB in distance jumping with Dock Dogs! This youngster jumped her way into a FIRST PLACE in the Elite Distance finals at the Delmarva Dock Dogs event yesterday with an impressive jump of 24’7”!!!

This is only her fourth event!
AND her jump was the THIRD BIGGEST jump of the whole event!!!
😯
No denying that Whiskey Creek dogs LOVE the sport of Dock Jumping and seem to ‘take flight’ with the greatest of ease!!!

That’s AMAZING Lilli and Brown Betty! Can’t wait to see what you do next year!!!

10/13/2025

Bertha saying…
“That jump was HOW BIG? Hold my beer and watch what I’m gonna do next year! Mom says I’m a baby dog since I’m not even 2 years old and I’m only gonna get better with age!”

Yep! A new PB for Bert in distance jumping!
25’6”

Here’s to next year and more fun and exciting times on the red carpeted dock at DARK K9!

10/12/2025

Bertha was in the right place at the right time and was the 5000th jump off the dock at DARK K9 Dog Sports in Harrodsburg, KY!!

THANK YOU DK9 for another great summer of dock jumping!

The Whiskey Creek gang loves you guys!!!

Congratulations BERTHA for completing the 5000th official NADD Splash at DARK K9 !!!!

10/02/2025

DID YOU KNOW???

If you are buying a puppy you can easily verify orthopedic clearances on the sire and dam of a litter by simply going to a website and typing in the REGISTERED NAMES (or registration numbers) of the dogs?

www.OFA.org

Do you know what health clearances all Chessies that are used for breeding should have?
They should have AT MINIMUM:

Hips
Elbows
Eye certification (good for a year)

They should also have GENETIC clearances of:

PRA
DM
EIC

Were you aware that there are several other ‘issues’ in the breed that can be tested to reduce the incidence of pups potentially having these issues? These tests include:

Cardiac
Thyroid

Did you know that Chessies can be ‘dwarfs’ and it only takes ONE COPY of the gene (autosomal dominant verses autosomal recessive which mean takes two copies of gene to
be affected) to potentially have issues? Did you know you can add this genetic test on to the same testing that they did for PRA, DM, and EIC? These additional tests are:

CDDY/IVDD
CDPA

There are several companies that do genetic testing on dogs and many offer a discount when you buy several tests at once.

Do you feel it is ‘justifiable’ for breeders to sell you a puppy without these tests being done? Let’s say your puppy ended up having Degenerative Myelopathy when they were 8 years old and had to be humanely euthanized when you could no longer pick them up to bring them outside to relieve themselves. Is it excusable that the breeder asked you for ANY money when they couldn’t be bothered to spend $50 on a test that would have prevented the pups from having DM?

Choose your breeder carefully!

NO ‘breeder’ in the age of ‘Googling’ things should ever breed a litter of pups without doing due diligence on what needs to be done to responsibly breed a litter.

And in return, no BUYERS should be purchasing puppies from breeders who don’t do the minimum clearances on their dogs. You are just as responsible for DOING YOUR RESEARCH before finding a breeder who you feel has done everything they possibly can to sell you a healthy well rounded puppy.

INSIST on seeing copies of all health clearances on both the sire and dam! Any RESPONSIBLE breeder VOLUNTEERS this information to buyers because we are PROUD of producing the best puppies we can!

The OFA website and databases provide the tools needed to promote the health and welfare of companion animals through a reduction in the incidence of genetic disease.

09/29/2025

I don’t EVER ‘brag’ on my ‘throwing skills’ with dock jumping because I have NO throwing skills in dock jumping!!!
🤣
Like if you want to see bumpers and balls being thrown OUT of the pool…I’m your girl!!!
😎

But since I’ve got Bert I’ve really decided I needed to step up my game.

So I started REALLY watching people who throw good and talked to a lot of people and I think I’m getting better!

So this is a brag on *MY* new PB in throwing in dock jumping…

I threw the bumper so well that Bert jumped 24’3”!!!
Now, that is NOT Bert’s personal PB, but it is *my* personal PB for throwing for big jumping Bertha! Bert is only gonna jump as good as the throw is, so I think this is brag worthy!!!

Yay me!!!

We have one more event this year and then we have a break until May. I hope to work on my throwing skills during the winter so I can come out in the spring and see Bert jumping new PB’s because I can throw better for her!!!

09/12/2025

If this doesn’t put a smile on your face…

This is all seven of my Tubby x Frigate puppies. They have been a joy to raise. The owners of these pups are very lucky to have such fun and SMART puppies coming into their homes!

08/29/2025

No doubt ‘Fisher’ (Bodie x Quill) is an integral part of his family.

08/25/2025

I don’t think I want to know what they have gotten into at 10:00 at night!!!
Ugh!!!

08/08/2025

So proud of each and every Whiskey Creek Chessie who is running agility who made it ‘on the list’ for the 2025 AKC Agility Invitational. While none of us were high enough in the standings to be able to participate, it is always nice to see Whiskey Creek dogs doing well in so many sports.

Congrats to Ann and Katniss for having more points than ever before!

Congrats to Keith and Rainey for appearing in both regular height and preferred.

And proud of my own girl Prim who I think only ran two or three weekends the whole year and is now ‘retired’ from AKC agility due to a mysterious limp that only presents itself when Prim runs agility.

07/19/2025

Responsible dog ownership is NOT necessarily spaying and neutering your pet, but being a responsible owner and not allowing your dog to breed without careful planning.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16U8V8vqyz/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Preventing unwanted litters is a goal we all share—but it's time to rethink the surgical approach. Hysterectomies and vasectomies, which preserve hormonal balance, can safely be performed as early as 8 weeks of age, making dogs sterile without disrupting their natural hormones.

In this study, researchers looked at whether the age at which dogs were spayed or neutered, meaning how long they were exposed to their natural s*x hormones, affected how healthy they were in old age. They studied a group of long-lived pet dogs to learn what helps dogs live longer, healthier lives. Dogs with the fewest age-related health problems were considered the most “robust.”

The results showed that both male and female dogs who kept their hormones longer (i.e., were spayed or neutered later) were 3 to 10 times more likely to be healthy in old age compared to those altered earlier. Once hormone exposure and age were taken into account, there was no difference in old-age health between males and females.

This study highlights how important s*x hormones may be for staying healthy later in life and shows that early-life decisions—like when to spay or neuter—can have long-term effects on health.