Farnell Farm
Washington

I grew up hunting ducks and grouse with a Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Goldie. Goldie was named after my great uncle's Chessie whom he hunted ducks and geese with on the Missouri River back when you could shoot all the ducks you could use. He had told me how his dog could work all day in the cold water retrieving anything he shot. Sometimes, if a duck or goose, would land on a chunk of ice and go floating down the river Goldie would go after it anyway determined to make the retrieve. Occasionally, my unlce told how he would have to leave his coat and head home in the dark alone. Goldie was somewhere down river trying to figure out how to get the bird. She could think on her own and didn't need anyone giving her hand signals to complete a retrieve. Usually, the next day, my uncle would return to find Goldie resting on his coat with the bird she retrieved without any help or assistance of a hunter. After hearing this and similar stories in about 1980 I decided a Chesapeake would be my dog of choice for hunting partner and friend.