Chugach Chesapeakes

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Thank you for visiting the Chugach Chesapeakes’ website. We are located in the foothills of the spectacular Chugach Mountains in Alaska. This is the home of the well built, passionate hunting Chessie who possesses an excellent coat and temperament.

I have been an avid waterfowl hunter for many decades. In 1996 it was finally time for me to get a dog. I selected a Chesapeake Bay Retriever (CBR) due to their reputation as being superb waterfowl retrievers. Her name was Katmai, more properly known as CH Katmai Chugach Splendor MH QA2, and we bonded immediately. Her passion for hunting, natural instinct, tractability, and wonderful temperament made her an ideal companion. This combination led me to become a lifelong fan of the breed. Words cannot describe how much Katmai meant to me. Her eulogy is posted on this site.

My Chessies are cherished, hunted, and competed in the field and in the show ring. On this site you will find mention of field trials and hunt tests. Other than hunting the dogs, this is my primary focus. However, I do believe a Chessie should have proper coat and structure, and while conformation does not have the priority that the field activities do, the dogs are competed for conformation.

I breed for birdiness, they need to be nuts about birds, possess good temperament, and have good structure and coat. I expect all my dogs to have master hunter titles (MH), and have the field trial title of (QA2). Most will also have the conformation title (CH) as well. Please see the pedigree tab for a definition of titles. You will also find, coincidentally enough, their pedigrees there, which are impeccable.

I try to produce as healthy as a pup as possible, and therefore, do the following health clearances: hips, elbows, eye, DM, PRA, EIC, CDDY, and CDPA. Please see the health clearances tab for a complete breakdown on what the health clearances are and what they mean. When doing a breeding, I also pay a lot of attention to the coefficient of inbreeding (COI). Given the health problems in the breed, this is very important and a very underutilized tool in planning breedings. Please see the COI tab for a complete discussion on it.

They live in my house as members of the family. They are affectionate and passionately loyal. One of the distinguishing characteristics of CBRs is that they are very bonded with their owners and are aloof towards strangers. Chessies tend to have a protective instinct, not an aggressive one.

In the last 20 years, I have acquired a strong interest in upland bird hunting, primarily pheasants. Chessies, in addition to their well earned reputation as superb waterfowl hunters, are also extremely adept at hunting pheasants. The key to their success are their outstanding noses. My experience has shown that the Chessie is an excellent pheasant hunter. Please see the hunting tab.

—Mike Vogel