08/18/2025
A breed like no other!
On the Eastern shore of Maryland, a buck will buy you *maybe* one oyster on the half shell, but back in the day, it was a good day’s pay, so when watermen played a betting game with a silver dollar, it meant something.
As the story goes (local legend?) a silver dollar was thrown overboard, and one at a time, the men’s dogs would dive into the water to retrieve it. The man who threw in the dollar got the first chance with his dog, and if the dog was successful, he kept running his dog on the next person’s silver dollar until the dog failed.
Richard A. Wolters, who recounts this story in his book, Duck Dogs, admitted that he thought the story was a tall tale, or at best, a legend – until he, himself, saw it done in eight feet of water. The dogs that were part of this game? Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.
Chessies are historically celebrated for their exceptional skill at water retrieval, and "diving after cripples" (injured birds) is cited as a breed trait—some reports note that even without formal training, Chessies will dive into deep water for retrieval. These stories contribute to the Chesapeake Bay Retriever's reputation as the premier waterfowl dog and "water dog" of the region.
