Do all retrievers have the same basic traits?

The only common trait, in my mind, among the retriever breeds is that they were all developed to retrieve. After this their paths deviate greatly. They all originated in different contries and even continents . They all have a  different selection of foundation breeds in their backgrounds.Do many people have a stereotypical idea of how a retiever, regardless of breed, should behave?

I think it's fair to say that before I had a Chesapeake I had very little experience with gundogs of any sort. I grew up with terriers and greyhounds, both are breeds left very much to their own devices. Working them merely involves bringing them to a location where rabbits, hares or any quarry are to be found and letting them get on with the job.

My first dog as an adult was a Golden Retriever who's still pottering around at 13. Bailey was one of those dogs who simply accepted and did anything you asked him to do. He  never suffered any adolescent 'angst'. I think the most rebellious thing he's ever done is dig up a rosebush :) he applied himself to agility, obedience and made a fairly useful gundog even winning a few prizes in working tests.

Chester, our first Chesapeake now just over 10 years old, was to be our first real introduction into gundog competitions. Looking back now I think we both truly believed we were bringing home a wavy coated chocolate labrador, with a temperament similar to the Chocolate Labs that Des had grown up with. We expected the usual puppy problems that go along with teething. The digging of the garden etc..but he seemed much more independent at an earlier age than Bailey (our Goldie) ever was. He was quite happy to wander off and go hunting by himself. It was normal on walks for Chester to be plodding along by my side then to suddenly take off after an errant scent, through a ditch and be gone for ten minutes or more. No amount of whistling, calling or cajoling would make any difference. He would return, tongue hanging and be perfectly biddable again...until the next time that was!! There were other differences also ..he showed little interest in dummies..would race out to them, sniff then walk off. I was completely exasperated and confused. This was not what a retriever was supposed to do. In my mind a retriever should want to retrieve anything. He was birdy..spent his whole time following up on scents of all sorts but ask him to retrieve something I wanted (other than a bird) and that was a whole different ball game.

I took him to Gundog training that first Summer. Alas it did nothing to alter Chester's attitude to dummies. One of the first evenings we were there, the 'dummy thrower' felt Chester wasn't returning to me fast enough and threw the bag of dummies at him!! This only had the effect of Chester dropping the dummy and, for a long time afterwards, when at a working test, once he got in view of the dummy thrower he refused to go for the retrieve.

Of course it wasn't just Working tests that Chester differed (from what we thought a retriever should be like)..He was more protective of his own patch and altogether much more male than Bailey ever was. He very quickly, once adolescence hit home, asserted himself as top dog. Something Bailey was quite happy to relinquish. He was stand-offish with strangers..not everyone's friend like you expect a retriever to be but once he got to know you he was marshmallow in your hand..
In those few short years Chester rewrote the rule book for us with regards to how a retriever should behave.

He absolutley lived for hunting. I have seen him tip-toe over brambles to pick up a dummy at a working test but crawl on his belly under thick brambles until his eyelids and nose are ripped to shreds in pursuit of a pheasant. I have watched in exasperation as he pussyfoots around the edge of a pond before he retrieves a dummy at a working test but had my heart in my mouth when he plunged into a raging river and was swept out of sight after a wounded duck (he made it back ..with the duck)
I guess somewhere along the way our minds were opened to the fact that all retrievers are different. As it turned out I quite liked the challenges Chester presented me with. There was no greater leveller of humility than competing with him at working tests! He got his game together during hunting season and that to me, was much more important. And once the first flush of testosterone settled in his system he is actually a very laid back chesapeake.
We were helped greatly by our regular trips to the UK to attend Chessie events run by the UK Chesapeake Bay Retriever Club.
It was these trips and meeting fellow Chesapeake owners that taught us more than anything that our Chesapeake was trainable it was simply a matter of applying a more open minded approach. Of course in my frustration a lot of the time I forgot the one core ingredient in Chesapeake training PRAISE!! This is a breed that trains better with affirmation as opposed to negation. Chester went on to win the Spring Open CBRC Working Test in 2006.

I like to think of the retriever group very much like a classroom. The labrador is the one at the top of the class, sitting in front of the teacher, that accepts without question everthing the teacher says. The flatcoat is the one throwing the paperclips across the classroom behind the teacher's back but clever enough to apply himself when called upon. The chesapeake is the one that questions everything the teacher says. When they have argued every point and understand it thoroughly then they will accept and respect the teacher's word.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012