i am planning on getting a dog in the near future and i have been doing a little research online. so far i have narrowed my choice to two dogs, a lab or a chessie. i was wondering which dog would be better for pheasant, duck, and goose hunting in mid minnesota where the winters get pretty chilly.
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I have owned several labs but my friend has a chessie and it awsome. They have an extra layer of fat and are strong hunters. Each are great dogs, buts chessies should have a bit more endurance. Good luck.
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i would think about where your are hunting. I think for trainability you are going to have a tough time beating a Lab, but if you are where i live, you might want to think about a chessy.
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If I had to choose I would choose a Ches. I like the way they look at you. You earn their respect, the dog will run through hell and back for you. Labs are much easier to train. If you have limited training experience then the Lab is the choice. Most training books and tapes are based on Lab temperment. You have to adaptto the Ches temperment. The retriever dog games are Lab based also. The reason: 150,000 Labs registered a year, 3500 Chesapeke Bay Retrievers. You now have the final reason I would have a Ches, not everyone has one.
Doc George
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Be VERY VERY careful when it comes into looking at OFA Hipcertifications in the Chessies ancestors.
Chessies have a higher rate of Hip Dysplasia than any other breed.
.
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Doc E &
HR UH MHR WR SR Black Forest Casey &
HRCH HR UH Sauk River Friar Tucker (titled at 12.5 months)
Doc,
I have to respectfully disagree with you on the statement regarding hip dysplasia. I admit I'm biased as I raise Chesapeakes, but according to OFA statistics Chesapeakes do not have the highest rate of hip dysplasia. That"distinction"goes to Bulldogs at a whopping 73%.
Statistics can be very misleading also. OFA shows that they have evaluated 176,444 Labs and 12% were dysplastic. They've evaluated 10,465 Chessies and 21.4% were dysplastic. What would the percentages be if the numbers were swapped (if they'd evaluated 176,444 Chessies and only 10,465 Labs)? Who knows? It could prove you are absolutely correct, but it could also be just the opposite.
The other thing with hip x-rays is that only those that people feel will pass OFA are sent in. If a vet does an x-ray and it's obvious a dog has bad hips, people will not send them to OFA. Another factor to consider is how many people ever even have a dog's hips checked? The only people I know of who do it are breeders (reputable breeders, that is) or people who have a dog that is having problems running, jumping, etc. In reality a very small percentage of dogs within any breed are ever evaluated by OFA.
What is most important, regardless of what breed a person is looking at, is to look closely at the dogs in a pup's pedigree. You can go to the OFA website and look up every dog listed. I have pedigrees in front of my at this very moment of a Chesapeake sire and dam that I'm looking at to get a pup from and every dog in each pedigree going back 4 generations has OFA hip certifications.......that'sthe last 30 dogs in this pups pedigree that all have sound hips....every one. You will find this same thing with any reputable breeder, Chessie, Lab, or otherwise.
Deer Beer,
Either breed will do what you are wanting. The key is to find a reputable breeder. Labs are a dime a dozen........but good Labs are not. Everybody and their brother is breeding Labs these days. I can look in the newspaper any day of the week and find a litter of Labs (usually several) and the "Free" column always has people wanting to give away Labs. So, be very careful. Not very many well established, reputable Lab breeders advertise in local newspapers....a few do, but most donot. Many will have a waiting list for pups.
You are going to pay for a well bred Lab or Chessie. It costs a lot of money to breed dogs and to do it right. OFA and CERF certifications cost money, say nothing about vet bills, equipment, dog food, training equipment, etc. I can't put a dollar figure on a pup as it varies a lot, but generally speaking a well bred Chessie or Lab is going to cost you between $500 and $1,000. Some are even more.
The differences between the two? Labs have the reputation for being an easy dog to train. Pros love them for that reason. Chessies develop slower....they really don't mature until they are between 2 and 3 years of age.The Chessie coat allows it to withstand very cold temperatures, but Labs have a good coat too.....not as dense as a Chessies, but close. Many negative things have been written about the Chessie temperament and most are not true. I've read that it "take a 2X4 to train a Chessie". Nothing could be further from the truth....it takes patience and a gentle hand to train a Chessie. If you treat a Chessie roughly, he'll quit on you. You will notice that many, many Chessie breeders are women......I believe that is because women tend to be gentler and more patient than a lot of men.
It will be easier for you to find a well-bred Lab than a well-bred Chessie......there are more of them around. Just take your time and do your homework. Chances are you'll end up with a great pup regardless of which breed you decide on if you find the right breeder.
Doc,
I have to respectfully disagree with you on the statement regarding hip dysplasia. I admit I'm biased as I raise Chesapeakes, but according to OFA statistics Chesapeakes do not have the highest rate of hip dysplasia. That"distinction"goes to Bulldogs at a whopping 73%.
Ypu are correct -- I meant to say of "the retriever breeds" (not of all breeds).
.
__________________
Ignorance can sometimes be cured, but stupid is forever.
Doc E &
HR UH MHR WR SR Black Forest Casey &
HRCH HR UH Sauk River Friar Tucker (titled at 12.5 months)
Doc E
i have trained two labs so far. i am only 18 so im not the most experienced hunter but i trained the two dogs ive hunted with prior to the one im planning on getting. the reason i dont just go get a lab today is because i have a few friends with cheesies and they are just as good as any lab ive hunted with.
__________________
it flies it dies
its brown its down
save a tree, harvest a buck
hunting isnt a hobby, its a way of life
there is room for all God's creatures, right next to the potatoes and gravy
chessie or lab?
