Are these dogs suitable for waterfowl retrieving? Traits? Are they loyal? Smart? Obidient? Friendly? Easy to train/care for?

Are these dogs suitable for waterfowl retrieving??? In a word YES! They are undeniably the toughest, best waterfowl dog out there. There drive, intelligence and loyalty are second to none. They can be a bit of a " one man dog" and be a bit overprotective...their only drawback. This, as with any other bad trait, can be changed through proper rearing and training. I make these comments from an un-biased point of view...I own a yellow lab female but also considered a Chessie, but went with the lab purely out of looks.

Yellowlabman,

Excellent description. I couldn' t have said it any better.

I don' t have, or necessarily want a chessie, but I like to tell this story to illustrate what they are capable of. Several years ago we were hunting a 20 acre private hole that was frozen over, except for where a little creek cut into it. The first duck that gets knocked down hits on the ice and slides like a hockey puck another 20 yards onto the ice. I am thinking....how are we gonna get that duck..... My buddy smiles and sends Deke, his hard charging chessie. This dog literally pounded his way through the ice and got that duck and a few more. Unbelieveable.

And they are just as capable in the uplands, too.

Can' t hardly beat a Chesapeake Bay Retriever for fetching waterfowl.

I have a friend that has 2 Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.. He is from Delware and an AVID duck hunter.. He swears by them.. Well now he lives down here in Alabama and they are great dove dogs also.. They are very loyal.... Very protective.. and a little bit bigger than a lab.. Great dogs that love to retrieve and do a great job at it..

I have a big yellow lab, he weighs from 125 to 130 at the vets on his scale he is getting some age on him and I also have a little Chessie. The Chessie only weighs 85 to 90 depending on the season. You boys are right there is no dog even a lab that can take the punishment of breaking ice hour after hour. Mine is very mild mannered and I think could be ruined by too much pressure. He will certainly do it all but just to see him going to retrieve when it is snowing and ice is forming out from shore is indeed a thrill. Then when he delivers the bird and he stands there with tongue lolling out I could almost give a kiss. I said almost.

Love Chessies as a waterfowl dog. The three I' ve worked with and over had a nasty temperment to other dogs in the field. Chessies are incredibly powerful swimmers and are fairly easy to train for both upland and waterfowl.
But, I will take a Lab everyday of the week over any other breed.

Mathewconquest

my hunting buddy has a chessie and this dog is very aggessive to other dogs and don' t hunt when other dogs are around, don' t listen and when he does hunt its for himself. I think it is the way he was trained or the way he trained my buddy anyway give me a lab any day of the week..