Can anyone lend some info. on Chessie breeeders in State?

[Hickory]

Howdy,
I love Chesepeake Bay Retreivers and recently lost my last to a strange ailment. I've been keeping an eye pealed for any possibilities for good pups or young dogs in state but nothing has popped out (or near fairbanks). Heard of a lady that breeds them near tok though. I'm not necessariliy looking for champion lines, just a dog that loves to hunt and will always hit the water hard. I've been thinking that if I can find a good pup by this fall then i'll have it ready by the following season. Please let me know if any of you know of any good ole boys or decent breeders with good dogs and maybe a phone number. If not then I'll be snagging downed birds with the ugly stick!!!!!! Thanks for your help, and sorry if I don't respond to anyone real fast, I don't get back to the computer often.

Travis O.

[MCAT]

Hickory,
Well I think I can help you out, only if you want a chessie that will hunt at 35 below, and long after those other dogs have already quit for the year.
No kidding aside, I grew up in SD hunting greaters with some pretty good chessies but we always heard about these chessies from AK from this wildwoods kennel, well to make a long story short, shortly after I moved up here I seen an ad in the news miner for chessies from wildwoods, alll I can say is what I heard growing up wasn't a myth.
Sue Brown is the breeder she is pretty old and not very healthy anymore so she doesn't do any trials or hunt tests but her line created a lot of AFC's, FC's MH and a DFC.
Here's her site, http://www.akwildwood.com/page/1c0fm/Home.html
Added a couple of pics of my male who for the most part does a decent job, for chessies they are very trainable, he's steady most of the time and follows my casts some of the time but his desire and aggresiveness is probably the best attribute he has.
If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

[Roscoe]

Peakes

Travis,

I didn't see what part of the state you are from, but there are several Chessies I know of in the Anchorage / Mat Su Valley area. My suggestion would be to contact some of the local clubs. Midnight Sun Gundog Association's web address is msgda.org. They have members that hunt with Chessies and also participate in the hunt tests. You may also do a search on the Retriever Training Forum (RTF) at retrievingtraining.net. I could almost guarantee a response if you joined the rtf and asked the same question. Good luck and research the litters before buying.

Kelly

[Hickory]

Thanks MCAT and Kelly

You guys definitely posted some constructive information. I'm going to look at some of the things you guys suggested for a while and learn some more before I jump in. Won't be able to think about a pup till fall anyway.
MCAT, your dog looks real nice! They always look good blasting through the water! I checked out the Wild wood site and will look into them more as the summer goes on. Two other chessies I've seen in town were actually dogs from there. One was a young dog skijouring and supposedly in hunt training and the other is a family dog, which surprised me after seeing price range on the site. The price is very resonable for good dogs though.
Just a few questions for you on your experience with these dogs. I believe your dog was a male, is he a very large dog or is he smaller in the 60-70lb range. Both dogs I've seen from there were males and were just bulls, big thick dogs. Not a bad thing at all, but I'll probably lean to the female side for a more compact dog. I guess thats my only question. The site said they breed for more mild mannered dogs so am I right to assume that they are still one man/family dogs but socialize fairly well with repeat exposure to friends?
I've had experience in Ohio with 2 males, one smaller and one huge (father and son). The father is a fireball and is a great dog, the son is good but is pretty mellow in all his actions. My last dog was a FREEBIE!! that I got when she was a year old. I worked with her real hard for about 5 months over the summer and hunted her for the last 2 years and she was another small dog that was also a fireball. Great dog, always hit the water hard, good nose, and was understanding of missed shots!! She will be greatly missed this season and I hope to find a dog worthy to fill her big shoes in the near future. Thats enough rambling for me, I just get excited thinking about chessies. Thank you guys so much for the info and i'll check it all out. I'll try to figure out how to post some pics of my last dog for you guys.

Travis

[Hickory]

Sorry forgot

I'm in Fairbanks.

[Burke]

Chessies

I have a male Chessie out of Northern Flights in Idaho (Butch Goodwin Breeder, great bloodlines). He is 8 1/2 years old, about 75 pounds, deadgrass color. He has been an awesome hunting dog and we have passed our Senior Hunt Test Title ( thats all I set out to do, I wanted a hunting dog more than a competitive dog) he did do test dog at the master level twice and did well so I know it is in him. I do not know breeders here in Alaska, but I know a few individuals in the Mat-Su with good Chessies. I also have a problem, My Chessie has been diagnosed with some form of blood vessel cancer (non heriditary) and I do not know how long he will live. If any of you know someone that would be willing to take him as stud before he dies, I would trade for a future pup. It may be a year or even two down the road before I am ready because I have two other bird dogs. Please let me know if anyone is interested. I hope to get one more hunting season with him, but nobody knows. Right now he shows no signs of illness. He runs hard and trains happily...it just doesnt seem like he is sick at all.

[AlaskaCub]

Chessies

Hickory, I know MCat and his dog well. Bomber is awesome. He is part human and part hunting dog. No concerns with their socializing. They are protective of the home, the truck, the boat, the birds,their rocks(Bomber) and whatever else but do love people. I am saying they because another buddy of mine in Fairbanks bought a male from wildwood and that dog was so hardy it was insane. He would rather be outside at -35 than in the warm house. Also a very thick male Bomber (MCAT's dog) is very tall a muscular, TUG (my other buddies dog) was not as tall as Bomber but built a little thicker. Both dogs have impressed me enough that if I were to get serious about getting a foul weather, cold water bird dog I would not hesitate for one second to go get a Wildwoods dog. Whatever you do dont go look at the pups she has right now or you are guaranteed to bring one home. Thats what happened with Tug when my buddy went to check them out. Just thought I'd throw in some unbiased opinions about the Tok chessies.