I truly believe that the Chesapeake Bay Retriever is the best of the
remaining dual purpose sporting breeds there is. By dual purpose I
mean that Chessies are a breed that should not only conform well to
the breed standard, but also perform in the field as they were
originally bred to do. My breedings will reflect my belief that the
Chessie should always be a 'dual purpose' breed.
I will look at the working ability, health, intelligence, conformation, and
tractability of the dog when making breeding decisions. Each of these
attributes (as well as others) are assessed on a continual basis over
the course of the dog's first 2 yrs as part of the Skyview Crew. At (or
before) this time I will make a final decision on whether to include that
dog in a breeding program or not.
When deciding upon the sire and dam of a breeding I will look at what
I feel is needed to produce a well balanced and high quality litter of
pups.
All of Skyview's Chessies will have thorough health examinations done
before breeding. The results of these tests will be made available on
the website and through other public databases, such as OFA and
CERF websites. The health tests I run on my dogs include, but are not
limited to, hip and elbow evaluations, eyes cerfed yearly, PRA, DM
EIC, and thyroid tests*.
remaining dual purpose sporting breeds there is. By dual purpose I
mean that Chessies are a breed that should not only conform well to
the breed standard, but also perform in the field as they were
originally bred to do. My breedings will reflect my belief that the
Chessie should always be a 'dual purpose' breed.
I will look at the working ability, health, intelligence, conformation, and
tractability of the dog when making breeding decisions. Each of these
attributes (as well as others) are assessed on a continual basis over
the course of the dog's first 2 yrs as part of the Skyview Crew. At (or
before) this time I will make a final decision on whether to include that
dog in a breeding program or not.
When deciding upon the sire and dam of a breeding I will look at what
I feel is needed to produce a well balanced and high quality litter of
pups.
All of Skyview's Chessies will have thorough health examinations done
before breeding. The results of these tests will be made available on
the website and through other public databases, such as OFA and
CERF websites. The health tests I run on my dogs include, but are not
limited to, hip and elbow evaluations, eyes cerfed yearly, PRA, DM
EIC, and thyroid tests*.
What A Chessie Should Be:
A chessie should love to
work. He should be a
natural hunting dog and a
natural retriever with high
prey drive.
A Chessie should have the
courage and stamina to
hunt in adverse conditions.
A Chessie should have a
love for water and be a
strong swimmer.
A Chessie should be a
pleasure to be around. He
should be friendly and
happy and outgoing.
A chessie should be
Intelligent and a thinking
dog.
A chessie should strongly
reflect the breed standard in
size, weight, coat, and
overall conformation.
A chessie should be healthy
and sound of body.
A chessie should love to
work. He should be a
natural hunting dog and a
natural retriever with high
prey drive.
A Chessie should have the
courage and stamina to
hunt in adverse conditions.
A Chessie should have a
love for water and be a
strong swimmer.
A Chessie should be a
pleasure to be around. He
should be friendly and
happy and outgoing.
A chessie should be
Intelligent and a thinking
dog.
A chessie should strongly
reflect the breed standard in
size, weight, coat, and
overall conformation.
A chessie should be healthy
and sound of body.
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Skyview's Breeding Philosophy
I believe health testing our dogs is very important; I also believe it is just one part of the
picture when it comes to deciding whether to breed a dog or not. The numerous 'health'
tests offered to today's breeders have great advantages for our dogs. But these tests can
also be detrimental to a breeder and to the breed, if used incorrectly and without
benefitting the breed. Realistically, no one will ever breed a perfect dog. Not by any long
shot, so we use the knowledge we have to make better breeding decisions.
From the positive approach, testing for the various health issues gives breeders an idea
as to the overall 'health' of their breeding stock. These tests help breeders to choose
more suitable mates in order to strengthen those parts of their dog's health background
that might be weak. An example would be breeding a dog with fair hips to one who has
Good or Excellent hips and has a strong genetic history of Good hips. Or breeding an EIC
affected dog to an EIC clear dog, so that none of the puppies will ever be affected. For
puppy buyers these tests can give them a sense of confidence knowing that the parents
of their new puppy have a 'clean bill of health'.
But on the other side of the coin, these tests could lead to some really exceptional dogs
never being bred because of one flaw on their 'health resume'. This type of approach
(breeding only if a dog passes all the health clearances) can lead to a narrowing of the
gene pool, which for Chessies, is already small enough. An example of this negative
approach might be not breeding a dog that has 'fair' hips or is mildly displastic in one hip
but never shows symptoms of hip displaysia even though that dog excells in all other
aspects. Or maybe removing a dog from a breeding program because he tests A/A for
DM, even though he is a CH/MH or Qualified All-Age. Or not breeding a dog that has
entropion eyelids, which are easily fixed by a simple surgical procedure. Rather than
removings such dogs from a breeding program - so long as they were excellent in every
other way - is just not sensible. Time has proven that when we attempt to wipe out one
trait through stringent breeding practices (eliminating all breeding dogs with problem 'X')
another issue comes in it's place, or other positive attributes are lost. All animals will have
diseases of one type or another, we just have to decide which ones we can live with and
which ones we can live without.
A good breeder studies the WHOLE dog, determines his or her strengths and weakness
(conformation, working ability, temperment, and health) and bases breeding decisions on
all of this information.
picture when it comes to deciding whether to breed a dog or not. The numerous 'health'
tests offered to today's breeders have great advantages for our dogs. But these tests can
also be detrimental to a breeder and to the breed, if used incorrectly and without
benefitting the breed. Realistically, no one will ever breed a perfect dog. Not by any long
shot, so we use the knowledge we have to make better breeding decisions.
From the positive approach, testing for the various health issues gives breeders an idea
as to the overall 'health' of their breeding stock. These tests help breeders to choose
more suitable mates in order to strengthen those parts of their dog's health background
that might be weak. An example would be breeding a dog with fair hips to one who has
Good or Excellent hips and has a strong genetic history of Good hips. Or breeding an EIC
affected dog to an EIC clear dog, so that none of the puppies will ever be affected. For
puppy buyers these tests can give them a sense of confidence knowing that the parents
of their new puppy have a 'clean bill of health'.
But on the other side of the coin, these tests could lead to some really exceptional dogs
never being bred because of one flaw on their 'health resume'. This type of approach
(breeding only if a dog passes all the health clearances) can lead to a narrowing of the
gene pool, which for Chessies, is already small enough. An example of this negative
approach might be not breeding a dog that has 'fair' hips or is mildly displastic in one hip
but never shows symptoms of hip displaysia even though that dog excells in all other
aspects. Or maybe removing a dog from a breeding program because he tests A/A for
DM, even though he is a CH/MH or Qualified All-Age. Or not breeding a dog that has
entropion eyelids, which are easily fixed by a simple surgical procedure. Rather than
removings such dogs from a breeding program - so long as they were excellent in every
other way - is just not sensible. Time has proven that when we attempt to wipe out one
trait through stringent breeding practices (eliminating all breeding dogs with problem 'X')
another issue comes in it's place, or other positive attributes are lost. All animals will have
diseases of one type or another, we just have to decide which ones we can live with and
which ones we can live without.
A good breeder studies the WHOLE dog, determines his or her strengths and weakness
(conformation, working ability, temperment, and health) and bases breeding decisions on
all of this information.
*A perspective on health tests for dogs
Listed below are links to various websites or pages on Skyview's website which will
tell more about the tests I do for my dogs and which can affect chessies as a breed.
tell more about the tests I do for my dogs and which can affect chessies as a breed.