Mike & Pete
It’s been quite an odyssey I’ve been on since I acquired my first purebred Chessie. I previously had a Chessie/Lab cross. It started when Pete was a wee little guy at 8 weeks old in May of ’94. We’ve been training, hunting and running tests ever since.
HRCH CH Irish’s Hard Chargin St. Pete SH earned his SH in the summer of ’99 and his HRCH in April of ’01. He was 14 months old when he ran his first test. Although it did take some time to finish Pete, it wasn’t a full time effort. Pete’s and my first love has always been hunting.
Pete retrieved his first Canada Goose when he was just 6 months old in September ’94. I knew then he was going to be very special. That goose was banded and had a white neck collar! Pete still wears that band on his collar to this day.
He has gone on to retrieve thousands -I mean literally thousands of game birds. The two of us have hunted Michigan tip-to-tail, all over Ontario, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota (where he retrieved 4 swans) and Saskatchewan. Pete has hunted in all 5 great lakes (6 if you include St. Clair) and went sea duck hunting at 11 years old off the coast of Maine in late December. At the end of our three day hunt, the guide told me “I’ve been guiding for 15 years and that is the best damn Chesapeake I’ve ever seen”. One day in Nebraska he retrieved over 60 snow geese. I had to handle him across a pond full of white carcasses to cripples that were escaping – twice! Then he picked up all the rest afterwards!
He not only excels in the water, while hunting I’ve taken over him, Pheasants, Ruffed Grouse, Woodcock, Hungarian Partridge, Sharptail Grouse, Doves, and countless wild Pigeons. We hunt pigeons just like geese, in stubble fields with decoys and everything. We do this to warm up for the real season.
Like I stated earlier it took 7 years to totally “finish” Pete. I only ran spring and early summer tests within 2-3 hours from home. I also took a year or so off from testing during that span. We had some setbacks and failures in the process but that’s part and parcel with this game.
Pete received his HRCH and SH without using an electronic training collar. That spring we needed 3 passes so I entered 5 tests. He passed all 5! A friend told me, “Pete not only passed all 5 tests clean, he did it with style!” I didn’t go on to the Master. The weekend he finished his SH, I moved him up to the MH since he was already entered. On the land series, he 2 whistled a 300-yard blind. Nailed it. We thought we were in. To my surprise we failed. The judges told me that I “didn’t handle him enough”. They used him for the test dog on the water series. Although Pete didn’t need it, I handled him like crazy. The judges told me if I had done that on the land he would have passed. I thought it was a Master Hunter test not a Master Handler test. I was younger then and it put a bad taste in my mouth so I never entered another Master test. I regret now not taking him on to his Master title. He could have earned it with ease.
Pete’s amazing combination of traits has made him an incredible gundog. These include but aren’t limited to intelligence, desire, intensity and strength. You would have to include his mild mannered, laid back temperament as well. We were running a senior test when Pete was attacked! The attacking dog was D.Q’d, and Pete went on to pass scoring in the 90% range.
There aren’t too many tricks he hasn’t seen and handled. We don’t get every bird but that’s hunting. He pretty much knows when to give up. If he comes back easily when called it’s probably lost. If he refuses, he’ll find it!
I hope everyone enjoyed reading about a great dog, as mush as I have running him. Pete is now 12 years old and helping me show his daughter, Irish’s Tsunami Re-Pete, the ropes.
I would really like to thank you Gary & Dorene for a wonderful dog. You have a tremendous breeding program going on, and just like Pete, you keep getting better.
Mike St. Pierre
It’s been quite an odyssey I’ve been on since I acquired my first purebred Chessie. I previously had a Chessie/Lab cross. It started when Pete was a wee little guy at 8 weeks old in May of ’94. We’ve been training, hunting and running tests ever since.
HRCH CH Irish’s Hard Chargin St. Pete SH earned his SH in the summer of ’99 and his HRCH in April of ’01. He was 14 months old when he ran his first test. Although it did take some time to finish Pete, it wasn’t a full time effort. Pete’s and my first love has always been hunting.
Pete retrieved his first Canada Goose when he was just 6 months old in September ’94. I knew then he was going to be very special. That goose was banded and had a white neck collar! Pete still wears that band on his collar to this day.
He has gone on to retrieve thousands -I mean literally thousands of game birds. The two of us have hunted Michigan tip-to-tail, all over Ontario, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota (where he retrieved 4 swans) and Saskatchewan. Pete has hunted in all 5 great lakes (6 if you include St. Clair) and went sea duck hunting at 11 years old off the coast of Maine in late December. At the end of our three day hunt, the guide told me “I’ve been guiding for 15 years and that is the best damn Chesapeake I’ve ever seen”. One day in Nebraska he retrieved over 60 snow geese. I had to handle him across a pond full of white carcasses to cripples that were escaping – twice! Then he picked up all the rest afterwards!
He not only excels in the water, while hunting I’ve taken over him, Pheasants, Ruffed Grouse, Woodcock, Hungarian Partridge, Sharptail Grouse, Doves, and countless wild Pigeons. We hunt pigeons just like geese, in stubble fields with decoys and everything. We do this to warm up for the real season.
Like I stated earlier it took 7 years to totally “finish” Pete. I only ran spring and early summer tests within 2-3 hours from home. I also took a year or so off from testing during that span. We had some setbacks and failures in the process but that’s part and parcel with this game.
Pete received his HRCH and SH without using an electronic training collar. That spring we needed 3 passes so I entered 5 tests. He passed all 5! A friend told me, “Pete not only passed all 5 tests clean, he did it with style!” I didn’t go on to the Master. The weekend he finished his SH, I moved him up to the MH since he was already entered. On the land series, he 2 whistled a 300-yard blind. Nailed it. We thought we were in. To my surprise we failed. The judges told me that I “didn’t handle him enough”. They used him for the test dog on the water series. Although Pete didn’t need it, I handled him like crazy. The judges told me if I had done that on the land he would have passed. I thought it was a Master Hunter test not a Master Handler test. I was younger then and it put a bad taste in my mouth so I never entered another Master test. I regret now not taking him on to his Master title. He could have earned it with ease.
Pete’s amazing combination of traits has made him an incredible gundog. These include but aren’t limited to intelligence, desire, intensity and strength. You would have to include his mild mannered, laid back temperament as well. We were running a senior test when Pete was attacked! The attacking dog was D.Q’d, and Pete went on to pass scoring in the 90% range.
There aren’t too many tricks he hasn’t seen and handled. We don’t get every bird but that’s hunting. He pretty much knows when to give up. If he comes back easily when called it’s probably lost. If he refuses, he’ll find it!
I hope everyone enjoyed reading about a great dog, as mush as I have running him. Pete is now 12 years old and helping me show his daughter, Irish’s Tsunami Re-Pete, the ropes.
I would really like to thank you Gary & Dorene for a wonderful dog. You have a tremendous breeding program going on, and just like Pete, you keep getting better.
Mike St. Pierre