Proven Chessie Studs?

[Matt Duncan]

T. Mac- I don't know where you got the idea that I want to breed my bitch to get a pup for myself but that is not the case. I will not be breeding to anything other than DM clear studs reguardless of how my bitches results come back. There are enough good clear studs around for me not to. The idea reguarding my bitches pedigee is too soft to bother breeding is absurd IMO. This is not the labrador world and our gene pool is pretty small. I do understand why I need a stud with a strong pedigree to make up for what my bitches pedigree is lacking to taylor to folks that shop pedigrees rather than puppies. I know neither my bitches sire or dam were titled in any way they also never ran any test or trials, both dogs (owned by the same guy) are legit gun dogs and are definatley capable of passing an HRC finished test. Looking at current breedings everything is focused on this stud or that, not very many litters out there offering a bitch that is more than a SH most being JH or not titled at all. Buying a pup is a crap shoot of what you are going to end up with reguardless of titles in a pedigree. In a breed that is not watered down to extent of other retriever breeds this is obviously not as big of a concern. For example- My bitch with her so called weak pedigree has breezed through training and breezed through every test she's seen. Koda is very eager to please, a good marker, a team player, has an amazing temperment, and I couldn't ask for more out of a gundog/hunt test dog. From what I have gathered from you, with Koda coming from her pedigree I have a miracle dog and should probably start playing the lottery. Correct me if I took you the wrong way. That being said I do appreciate some of your advice. My main concern is obviously healthy puppies. So thats where I'll start. BTW not looking to get rich off of a litter and if I was worried about losing money on dogs I wouldn't be playing the game.

[j towne]

Now the hard part, how much do you expect to get for your pups? Depending again on stud (assuming a Ch/MH or Ch/QAA dog) and a DM carrier clearances, and today's economy, and assuming all her other health clearances are normal, you are probably looking at the $6-800 range for a pup. Picking a stud with a lessor pedigree will further lower you price expectation per pup. This will result in you needing a litter of at least 6 to break even. This is very close to normal litter size for chessies. What do you do if you only produce a litter of 3? Or if she resorbs the litter at 5 weeks? Or you encounter any of a host of other calamities that might and do occur? (Ask me what I spent, both financially and emotionally, on an AI breeding to a DC that produced a litter of 1 delivered by c-section yielding a pup that I had to put down by age 2.)
T. Mac

Not sure where you are getting these prices from. Thor is DM at risk but has all other clearances and was just a MH and he sired 4 litters over the past year and all the pups sold for $1,000. He also has a couple titled offspring. Only 1 bitch he was bred to had a title and she has a senior title.
Now my Graicie was just a Senior hunter and she is DM at Risk. Thor is her sire and her dam doesnt have a title for 3 generations. She has 2 titled offspring from her first breeding. I got $1300 a pup when I bred her to a clear MH *** and $1300 a pup when I bred her to a carrier MH. Now Gracie has her MH and people are waiting for me to breed her again. They dont care who I breed her too or the DM status they want a pup. She will not be bred till fall 2013 the earliest. I kept a pup from my Gracie X Scout Breeding a At risk to carrier breeding and still havent DM tested her yet.

[Julie R.]

Matt, I commend you for doing your research and sounds like you are well aware of both the breed's health and genetic problems as well as the small gene pool. It sounds like you have a very nice female worth breeding--if I liked a bitch and how she worked and liked the sire she was bred to, I would not let her pedigree dissuade me as chances are with Chesapeakes, quite a few of them might've been very good working dogs even if on paper they have no titles or health clearances. Far too many Chesapeakes, especially the females, are too soft to train to the higher levels. And, OK, I'll say it....breeding a female because you want one of her pups is, in my opinion, the #1 reason to breed.

[moscowitz]

Right now there are plenty of good breedings out there, You need to look. Chester FC (carrier) to Minsi MH (clear) etc. Comet has been breed. You only have to look. The Shaws have a female Stevie QAA looking to breed her soon. Wonderful female.

[Sharon Potter]

DM status is one of those things you need to know....but basing breeding decisions on that alone is short-sighted. While it needs to be on the radar, it's easy enough to breed around. As for the pedigree on the bitch, one of the things I like about the breed is that you've got a pretty good shot at a good all-around dog with pretty much any lines with a solid history of health clearances on hips, CERF, PRA, elbows. The bitch having an HRCH is certainly a plus, and a mating to a DM clear stud should give you a nice litter of pups. And depending on what stud you use, the price point for the pups should start at around 1000. Around here, a $600 Chessie pup is a backyard breeder/newspaper puppy with no titles and maybe hips and eyes at best for health clearances.

[j towne]

Right now there are plenty of good breedings out there, You need to look. Chester FC (carrier) to Minsi MH (clear) etc. Comet has been breed. You only have to look. The Shaws have a female Stevie QAA looking to breed her soon. Wonderful female.

and the average person will not have a shot at these pups. chester and minsi litter was pretty much sold out to a select few the breeding took place. I am sure is Stevie is bred the same will go for that.
The minsi and chester breedeing produced 4 clear pupies and 4 carrier pups and 1 has to be redone. The people getting the pups dont want to know the dm status until after they have decided what pup they want.

How is that plenty of good breedings? You just named 2 that actually have pups and neither one was adverticed anywhere. Whenever there is a good chessie field breeding you have to be in the know to get a pup or they are all gone well before the litter is whelped.

[Jim Imbertson]

I think CurSan's Cutter is DM clear, but best to check with Sandy.

[Ken Bora]

.... Haven't seen many Gunner pups running but he is a nice dog.....

thats my pups Daddy!
I am happy.
DM clear

[ze6464]

If you are willing to drive to Florida. Carol Cassidy and the Luthy have very nice chessies. Do what you want to do with your dog she is your dog. I would focus on breeding to a sire that is titled in UKC since your dog is titled in Ukc.

[Paul "Happy" Gilmore]

No, T. I would not breed an at risk to a carrier. It is irresponsible breeding IMO. Sure, if people aren't educated they'll buy the pups because they don't know any better.

If I had a high level, very special dog..... Something above a MH x JH/SH breeding, I would think "if" I had years and years of experience breeding and running dogs like a few people who we all know, I would say breeding a dog which was a carrier x carrier or even carrier x at risk "MIGHT" be acceptable. I say this with a very strong feeling that the person doing the breeding would need to have years of experience with the dogs and years of field trial success to know that what he/she might be breeding was "that special" and needed to be bred to contribute to the gene pool.

There are way too many MH /SH dogs which are clear or only carriers to use as a stud than chance breeding any at-risk dogs x carrier dogs. I don't think that is responsible.