Are you trying to find out how to train a Chesapeake Bay Retriever? You’ve come to the right place!
The breed was developed in the United States Chesapeake Bay area during the 1800′s. They are very alert dogs with an eager-to-please attitude.
Nicknamed the “Chessie”, they are regarded as more serious and more powerful among other retrievers. Their appearance is similar to Labrador retrievers. They are large with a powerful and muscular build. Primarily, they are good hunting companions and nice family pets for fitting owners.
Chessies are superb hunting dogs very capable of retrieving fowls in icy waters. These retrievers are oozing with machismo that it is viewed as the man’s man of retrievers.
Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are not the type of dogs for just anyone. They are very strong-willed and independent. A Chessie owner must establish its dominance over the dog. If not, the dog will develop dominance problems if it senses the owners are passive, meek, or timid and they will be very difficult to handle. Handlers need to be confident and must assert a natural authority over Chessies.
They are very discriminating to strangers and not as happy-go-lucky like other retrievers. Chessies are very territorial and can be very aggressive when they feel that their territory is threatened. This innate characteristic makes them good guard dogs.
Chessies are trainable although they are quite slow to learn. They do just fine with basic obedience training but are very poor trick dogs.
They need regular physical and mental stimulation. Exercises are a must for this breed. Chessies need to vent their energy through play and working out. Otherwise, they will become rambunctious and bored. It is good for their well-being if they are able to use their muscles frequently.
They are also very good swimmers and love the water very much. It is a great training for them to retrieve objects from the water. They are fun to play with and their energy seems inexhaustible. An ideal dog for a large family with a lot of kids, they are rugged and will do just about anything to have fun.
Surprisingly, even with their strong temperament, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are usually slow to mature. And unfortunately, they are prone to health problems. They are likely to suffer from skin, and joint diseases.
There are numerous accounts that they are not as serious and intimidating as they are believed to be but Chessies may have varying temperaments and it largely depends on their hereditary traits.
3 Responses to “How to Train a Chesapeake Bay Retriever”
I am the third person to own my wonderful Chesapeake (bubba). he is not aggressive to anyone who lives on my land,(i live my parents. my brother and sisters have moved away)he lives on the chain and i take him off whenever i can, we have a huge pond and i train him to be a duck dog. he is obedient and very well behaved when hes not hyper. he sleeps inside at night and doesn’t rip or potty on anything. he just has a problem with strangers and when the family comes over( i have young nieces and nephews and they are rowdy. he doesn’t like them at all!) my brother came over the other day(he was a previous owner) and my dog would have attacked him if i didn’t have his collar. i always beat him when he does this bc i read somewhere that if you try to comfort him, it encourages him. and no matter what i do he doesn’t change!!!!this is the only problem i have with him and i’m afraid for people to come over and it is very embarrassing!!! i feel so bad when he growls at people. please help me!!!
Someone who is chaining and beating their dog needs a heck of a lot more help then you’ll get in a blog post. You need to hire a professional and fast.
I feel a need to post something regarding Chesapeake Bay Retrievers here. 8 months ago I adopted an almost 2 year old male “Chessie” from a local County Shelter. I knew nothing about his first 2 years of life as he was found on a farm and the people who owned the farm immediately brought him to the shelter. He was in excellent health and the Vets guessed his age to be “almost” 2 years. The shelter neutered him before I adopted him- VERY IMPORTANT!! ALL MALE DOGS must be neutered!! ALL ANIMALS male or female SHOULD BE FIXED!! But with male Chessies it will help immensely with aggression, fighting, roaming and most IMPORTANTLY PET OVERPOPULATION!! My male Chessie is DOMINANT not submissive at all -EXCEPT to my firm (never angry) voice & commands. He is very protective of both my home, yard and ME. He is fiercely loyal, quietly affectionate and I had to earn his TRUST in me by being a strong, consistent, FAIR and boundary loving Master in HIS eyes. He can show aggression towards unfamiliar male dogs who are also dominant and if they are unneutered it can mean a “possible” fight for who is top dog in the pack (at the local dogpark I go to- so I do not enter the dogpark if I see other unneutered male dogs there PERIOD). I am not chancing a dog bite nor expensive Vet Bill I am also avoiding the “opportunity” for him to get the idea that he can fight any dog PERIOD! (I do not have a fenced in yard so he needs to retrieve at the dogpark) SO, what I am trying to get at here is the the following advice to the poster above. #! - UNCHAIN your dog immediately. Dogs should never be chained up PERIOD!! It would be far better he lived inside your home and you exercised him somehow then chain him up and make him more aggressive outside (because of this) and also make him feel less a part of the pack inside of the house. Chaining a dominant dog (or any dog!) is cruel and just makes them more fearful. aggressive and just plain UNHAPPY!. #2 NEVER HIT A DOG PERIOD!!! Chessie’s will not RESPECT an owner that abuses them in any way as they are very intelligent, made to work for you in a respectful owner/dog relationship. They will “shut down” and not listen to you and go about “doing their own thing”….Which you will not like…dig, bark, growl, run away, possibly bite & FIGHT anything that makes them feel frightened or fearful, etc…#3- You are supposed to be the calm, confident, assertive (not AGGRESSIVE via “hitting”) PACK LEADER. Once your Chessie TRUSTS YOU through a DAILY consistent routine of exercise, feeding, training, PRAISE, and affection for a good job in listening and responding correctly/consistently to your commands-then and only then will you have a dog that RESPECTS and TRUSTS YOU as his PACK LEADER. Pack leaders are confident in their body language, firm but FAIR, assertive and NOT mean & NEVER ABUSIVE. Chessie’s are a “working” breed…They desire/want and NEED a job to do to feel fulfilled….You must exercise them daily with 30-45 mins of retrieving (they live to RETRIEVE!!- or even swimming….they love to SWIM and retrieve sticks). Chessies want to be with their leader or even better yet PACK. They are said to be LOYAL to a fault and you must not take this for granted with them! You need to give them a consistent routine with consistent “rules” they understand to follow (not confusing them by changing the rules) and you will have a dog that respects you as his pack leader. He will feel SAFE and HAPPY and will guard, worship and love you until his dying day. You owe it to him to treat him fairly yet firmly so he knows who is boss and isn’t confused and thinks he needs to be the boss b/c it is stressful to him b/c your are not being the leader so he has to. (ABSOLUTELY NO ABUSE EVER!- IT ONLY DESTROYS the canine/human relationship!). You must be consistent. If you cannot be assertive but fair with this breed that tends to be headstrong & dominant then you should not have one in your family. They can be cautious around unfamiliar people and do not just immediately like everyone or EVERY dog. They have a high PREY DRIVE (RETRIEVERS!!) and need to be exercised to properly channel this excess energy. Then you will have a calm. relaxed and happy dog! Chessie’s are serious yet discerningly smart dogs and not “the happy go lucky I love everyone” labrador retrievers or golden retrievers at all. They are unrelated to them and are the toughest and most macho like of the retriever breeds. Yet to come to work with one and understand them for who they are and what they are not is to LOVE ONE FOREVER. They are so loyal to you it is a bond you will not want to break…by failing to understand their needs and being disloyal to who they are. I LOVE MY MALE CHESSIE…because I earned his trust and respect of ME!!- very important concept here, btw. Read everything you can about the Chesapeake Bay Retriever from reputable sources only and get professional help if you cannot LEAD THEM PROPERLY!!!. (p.s. They prefer to be trained and worked by their Master but if out of your skill level seek a highly skilled professional dog trainer immediately for proper guidance). Chessie’s are an awesome breed when well trained!!