Evening star., 1942-07-20
Eastern Shore Dogs
Going Into Army
Writer Tells Why Retrievers
Belong With the Forces
Of Sober Democracy
BU Mdru-Cdrter Roberts.

the Army First impetus of the plan
came from the Del Bay Field Trial Club
which. in June, undertook to acquire and
help train two dozen Chesapeake Bay
retrievers for service in the Delaware
| forts. The idea caught on and soon
| other organizations were interested and
a number of private breeders and train
! ers were collaborating. News now is that
| the desired quota of dogs has been
| reached and that the training is we'll
under way in Dover, The dogs were con-
| tributed by the owners.
In the present grave emergency the
reasons which led to the choice of the
| Chesapeake Bay, rather than some other
| breed have not been revealed. They are
perhaps military secret. With precise
| information lacking, the public merely
can note that the chesapeake, like the
! ST Bernard, the shepherd and the police
| dog, is on his way to become a hero
There is no reason to think that he will
not bear his laurels we'll
So far, however the time admittedly
is short-the outstanding example of
heroism has been on the human side of
! the ledger. BY my Eastern Shore weekly
| paper, am informed that Bobby Green,
aged g. of Rehoboth Beach, Del, has
given his prize winning Chesapeake,
Pat, to swell the Nations forces. Pat
had hauled Bobby to school in a cart
these past two years and the sticks
which he had retrieved from Bobby's
throwing would make a sizable wood lot
1t was dog -and-boy team. It's smash
ing is one more thing to chalk up on
| the score against Europes crazy house
! painter
Presumably, Pat bore the parting we'll.
| The Chesapeake is a rational rather
| than an emotional creature. Serious
ness is the great trait of the breed
seriousness, solidity and strength. One
never sees Chesapeake going off into
an ecstasy of barking. Even when young
they are little given to frisking and
dancing. To one familiar with their
temperament, it is plain that they con-
slider such conduct frivolous and, hence
| improper. Even in the quaint essen
TALLY important relationship of dog to
master they are inclined to discourage
demonstrativeness. Fawning and exces-
sive tail wagging are for lesser dogs. If
the Chesapeake were to become man
he would find the human code most
suited to him in the philosophy of the
Stoics. So. whatever Fat may have felt
at leaving his home and friends to enter
the army of democracy, he certainly was
lmpelled by his self-respect to conduct
himself with sobriety on the occasion.
Just where the breed came from is one
of those questions which the Eastern
Shore keeps permanently open-like the
question OF the superiority of Chinco-
league oysters over Lynnhavens. An
enthusiastic lady once told me that the
original parentage consisted of a water
spaniel and a seal. Which was father
and which mother she did not say.
considered her theory in the nature of an
exaggeration, and still view it in that
light.
Another account has it that mastiff
belonging on British warship in 1872
took shore leave and found romance
with an American lady dog on some
unrecorded water front Like true
gentleman, he never revealed the lady's
name. 1 would feel more competent to
pass on this version if could hear an
authoritative conclusion to the story.
Did the mastiff return to his ship? It
Is unthlnkable that our incorruptible
retrlevers should be descended from a
deserter, dog who let inclination per-
manently triumph over duty
Be these things as they may, there is
reason to believe that the seafaring
strain is strong in the Chesapeake Not
only Is he peculiar to the Tidewater
country; not only Is he a tireless and
fearless swimmer. He has also, most
noticeably, the unmistakable gait of the
sailor. He rolls as he walks. And. hav-
ing four feet to roll upon, he rolls twice
as voluminously as a mere man. Some
where in the past his characteristic
webbed paws certainly gripped deck.
1t cannot be said of him, though, that
he is a creature of grace and beauty. He
Is tall, but his great width offsets his
height. His webbed feet incline to
fap, and his coat, so perfectly de-
signed to protect him from the chills
of retrieving in icy water, looks to the
human eye and feels to the human hand
like nothing so much as a coconut fiber
doormat. His most formidable feature
Is his eye.
1nnocently blue in puppyhood, it soon
turns to an uncompromising yellow And
its mature expression is even more
formidable than it's color. If you ever
have happened to meet a Chesapeakes
gaze in the course of making silly re-
mark, you will know what I mean The
unwayering nationality, the impartial
analysis, the utter self -containment of
the look will affect you like dash of
cold water. For your subsequent shame,
moreover, the Chesapeake will have no
sympathy
/ myself have been spoiled these past
four years by red setter, a creature of
Infinite loving indulgence toward human
vagery. Recently, I had to cope with a
stately Chesapeake matron for no more
than half an hour and I emerged from
the experience with Well-developed
symptoms OF neurosis. She simply sat
and looked at me. But the wheels of her
mind turned the while almost audiby.
Step by merciess step, she was thinking
me through l recall that l tried tim
idly, to pat her massive head She did
not object. But my hand burned with
embarrassment for a full minute after
ward.
These dogs should make good soldiers.