There are two databases maintained on the ChessieDB website: one for Dogs, and one for Contacts (breeders and owners). They both compliment each other -- when viewing a dog's information page, the breeder and owner contact information will be shown, and when viewing a contact's profile, the dogs owned and bred by that contact will listed bellow the contact information.

Before you can update your contact profile, you first have to find it. Use the Find -> Contact link on the left-side menu, enter your family name and press "Search Contacts". From the results page(s), you can choose to view each contact's profile, before using the appropriate update link. If you don't already have a contact profile, you'll have to Submit -> New Contact first. Existing contacts with similar names will be displayed for your review, in case you already have a contact profile. If none of the displayed contacts is you, or no matching contacts are shown, you may continue and submit a new contact profile.

After you update or submit a new contact, the information will be placed in a pending queue and will be imported into our database a few days later. The CONTACT STATS section in the left-side menu shows when the last contact was imported. The new or updated contact profile will be available on the website once those pending contacts have been imported.

Please note: When viewing a contact's profile page, the dogs owned and bred by that contact will listed bellow the contact information. You can affect this list by updating a dog's information (use the [Update Dog] link when viewing pedigrees, etc.). Each dog can be associated with up to three owners and breeders. The dog update page includes a lookup feature to find and associate contacts.

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I took a break from coding new features for the website during the holidays. The contact search and litter submission features were almost done, so I sat down this morning and finished-up the contact search. It's a fairly simple search for the moment, and I'll be adding more advanced search options in the future (to search by state or region, for judges, club members, etc.). The current search page allows you to select a specific kennel from a list, or search for contacts by first and last names. On the results page, you can click on the [View Profile] or [Update Contact] links.

If you have any problems with the contact search, please let me know.

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You can now follow the ChessieDB Weblog on Facebook -- an alternative to receiving a notification by e-mail.

As I work on the Litter Submission scripts, I've also had to improved some of the older code. The Search Results now include a thumbnail picture (when available) and the results should come up a little faster too -- especially when you move backwards and forwards through the result pages.

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I've just made some significant changes to the dog submission script. When you submit a new dog, instead of showing you the full submission form, you'll first be asked for the dog's name, sire, and dam. A check will then be performed to see if those dogs, or dogs with similar names, already exist in the database. If they do, some options will be available on the full submission form to make corrections. The same checks used to be made farther along the submission process, and didn't allow the same flexibility to make corrections. I've run several tests to make sure the submission form is working properly, but it's gotten a little too complicated to test all possible scenarios, so if you spot any problems, please let us know by e-mail and I'll address the issue ASAP.

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The contact database has grown enough to start coding new features based on the information it contains. There are three new items on the left-side menu: Kennel, Breeder, and Owner Directories. If you've specified a kennel name, a state or province, and a country in your contact profile, your kennel will appear in this directory (all three fields are required). If the directory gets too long, I may had a filter to show only kennels with dogs associated with their contact profile. So if you're the breeder of one or more dogs in our database, it would be best if you update those dog records and include yourself as the breeder.

The Breeder Directory is similar to the Kennel Directory, except that first and last names are displayed instead of the kennel name, and the contact profile must be associated with one or more dogs as a breeder. The Owner Directory is the same, except the contact profile must be associated as an owner. In all cases, the contact profile must include a state or province, and country.

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Modifying the Owners and Breeders associated with a dog's record is now a lot easier. I just finished a Contact Lookup feature to locate contacts (by First Name, Last Name, or Kennel Name) and add them to a dog's record. When you're on an [Update Dog] page, you'll find a section titled Associated Owners and Breeders where you can enter Owner and Breeder Contact IDs. The Contact Lookup link (a popup window) in this section can be used to search for contacts, view their profile, list dogs owned and/or bred, and add their Contact IDs to the dog's update form. The Contact Lookup includes instructions in case the contact you're looking for is not in our database. You can also go straight to the New Contact Submission page and search for, update, or add a contact.

As part of the 3rd and final phase of the Contact Database functionality, I still have to code a proper Contact Search page. This will include such features as searching for all breeders, breeders by state, stud down owners, judges, etc.

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Yesterday we surpassed 30,000 dogs in our database.

Today I changed the ChessieDB URL from http://www.chessiedb.org/ to http://chessiedb.org/. Hopefully this won't cause any noticeable issues, except for having to enter your name and e-mail address again when submitting your next dog (previous values are recalled from a cookie, which is based on the URL hostname).

You may not have noticed, but there's "Donate" button on the left side menu. ChessieDB is free to use by anyone, but we do appreciate a little financial help on occasion. :-) A big thanks to those of you who've donated in the past.

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On November 3rd I announced the 1st Phase of a Breeder/Owner Contact database. This consisted of a Contact Profile page that displayed their postal address, phone numbers, website, etc., along with a list of dogs owned and/or bred by that contact. As expected, the reaction to this new feature was very positive -- I already knew of several Breeders waiting patiently for this. :-) Of course the usefulness of these new pages was limited since the Contact Update (2nd Phase) and Contact Search (3rd Phase) functionality was not available yet. It took a lot of hard work, but I've finally finished the 2nd Phase: the Contact Updates. There are a couple of ways to update a contact; On the left-side menu you'll find a new "SUBMIT A New Contact" link, on the Dog Info pages you'll find an [Update Contact] link for associated Owners and Breeders, and finally on the Contact Profile page there's also an [Update Contact] link. I've tried to test everything as best I can, but there could still be one or two bugs left. If you have any problems, even if it's just a page layout issue, please let me know.

Aside from updating the contact profiles, you can also add / change the Owner and Breeder IDs when updating a dog. For now, there's no way to easily find those ID numbers -- that's part of the 3rd and final phase. If you try and submit a new contact using your First and Last Names, you might be able to locate your Contact ID from it's simple name check. The actual search pages will offer many more options, including some small pop-up search windows in strategic locations.

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After you update or submit a new dog, the relationship you selected between yourself and this dog (Owner, Owner of Descendant, Breeder, etc.) will be saved for later recall. When you update this dog's record again, the relationship you declared earlier will be selected automatically.

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I've been working on the Contact database features for the past few weeks, and as a consequence I've had modify quite a bit of old code. Although it may not look like it, the ChessieDB website uses upwards of 30,000 lines of code, in dozens of small and large perl scripts. Some of this code is common to many scripts, and one small change (good or bad) affects the whole website. On occasion a small bug that I didn't catch may make it's way to the website. I rely on you to report any features that are not working properly -- even if it's just a small page layout issue. Once all the Contact features are done, the website should be stable and reliable once again.

As part of the Contact database overhaul, you'll note that submission related e-mails are now in HTML. This should make it easier to review the information contained in the e-mail. The Contact update script (the second of three Contact related scripts) is coming along nicely and should be finished in the next week or two. I may have to code the search script before allowing Contact updates, since Contacts are based on ID numbers, and a search feature will be necessary to locate those numbers.

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The ChessieDB Dog Info, Pedigree, Reverse Pedigree, Breeding, and part of the new contact Profile page, can all be embed into another web page, on a completely different website. The idea is to allow web site owners (kennels, breeders, and dog owners) to use our database information, and reduce the time they spend maintaining the same information on their website. The pages we provide for embedding have been simplified, stripped of their ChessieDB branding (menus, etc.), and provide links to other pages also designed for an embedded window frame.

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A few days ago I finally had an idea on how to add breeder and owner contact information to the database. We could have used a drop-down list with all the breeder/owner names, but this is really not scalable. We could have also used a text box to let people enter contact names, then checked for existing contacts with those names, but this is error prone and complicated, especially for duplicate names. It finally occurred to me that I could use the contact's record ID. Once created, a contact's ID number never changes. This will allow someone to simply enter an ID number to link a contact to a dog. I'll have to provide a small pop-up search box to find those ID numbers, but this will be a lot more elegant and less error prone than using contact names. I still have to rely on the contact's first and last names to import updates to their profile (a small limitation of the Breeder's Assistant application we use), so this means that once a contact record has been created, the first and last names cannot be changed (except if you send an e-mail and we update the database record manually). All other information, like postal address, e-mail address, telephone numbers, etc. can all be modified. I've also found a way to allow duplicate names, which is essential for the number of contacts we expect to maintain (we already have close to 1,000 contacts in the database).

There are three big steps to implementing this, each taking several days to code: creating a profile page to view the contact's information, an update page to allow additions of new contacts and modifying existing contacts, and finally a search page to find contact IDs, breeders by location, etc. I've been working on the first phase (creating a profile page) for the past few days, and finally have something that looks pretty good. You can view Janet Wilson's, Jane Pappler's, or my own profile page for an example. You can also view Pete's Info Page to see how the owner and breeder links will be presented. I know everyone will want to create their own contact page now, and depending on how much time I have available, the update feature might be done in another week or two. After that I'll work on the search page, and then we can finally allow contact changes on the dog [Update] page. I expect everything will be finished by Xmas or so.

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I've spent the last few days writing some new scripts to download and compare the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) database entries. The OFA results will be updated monthly and saved under the OFA Resources Folder as CSV and ZIP files. Another script allows anyone to browse and compare the OFA results with our own database entries. The interface uses a sophisticated configuration file to define and manipulate CSV file content. In the future, this should allow us to verify and import a variety of CSV files from other organizations. The standard user interface highlights the differences between the CSV content and our database, while some admin features also allow us to manipulate and save those differences. I've already started to update our database (starting with 1974), but with over 15,000 entries in the OFA CSV files, it'll take some time to catchup. :-)

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^{Wildwood Chesapeake’s in Sprint race Nov. 27 1970.}

Is anyone running their Chessies on a dog sled this winter? Last year I posted a news item called Try Dog Sledding this Winter... to outline some of the benefits, equipment, and techniques involved. Training a Chessie as a lead dog is much easier than field or obedience work. There are only a few commands, and one of the benefits is getting a fast, strong, and more obedient dog come Spring time. Because Pete was obedience trained before we started the lead dog training, it was a little more difficult -- he really didn't want to be out front. :-) It took a few weeks of hard work, but once we got him on the sled / scooter, he quickly forgot about all those corrections and loved every minute of it. The more difficult and twisty the trails, the more he loves it.

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The Chesapeake Bay Relief & Rescue was contacted by the Dakota Animal Control Officer to rescue 10 Chessies living in squalor for several months (if not longer). You can read more about the rescue on their website. At the bottom of the page is a link to send a contribution by check or paypal -- feeding 10 Chessies adds up pretty quick.

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The website will be down for a few days around June 22nd to 26th 2009. We're moving, and the servers will be moved somewhere during that week -- depending on when the internet connection is available at the new place. Hopefully we'll only be offline for a day or two.

Meanwhile, we're shoulders deep in boxes stacked all over the place. :-) We're busy packing, so new submissions might take a while before being imported. Be patient - we'll get around to them when we can. :-)

Thanks,
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We just passed the 25,000 record mark, thanks in large part to your submissions -- on the website, by e-mail, and even by postal mail. If you have some Chessie related documents laying around that you don't know what to do with, send us an e-mail for our shipping address. And if you're a breeder, photocopy those breeding records and send them to us! The more source material we have, the more accurate our database records will be -- for the benefit of everyone.

As usual, if you have any comments or suggestions for the website, send us an e-mail. I know everyone's been waiting for the Breeder / Owner contact database, but you'll have to be patient on that one -- it's still a few months out.

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You may have noticed a number of changes in the left-side menu over the past few weeks...

• The 'ChessieDB News' section has been renamed ChessieDB Weblog. This change reflects the growing selection of subject matter covered, including the latest Articles category.

• A Weblog Articles link has also been added to the menu. This weblog category page lists all current articles, including an excerpt for each.

• The Reasearch Dogs page was added a little while ago to help locate dogs with missing parents. [Ed: Mention of another website has been removed by request from it's owner]

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by Dyane Baldwin, former ACC Historian.

The Story

The beginnings of the Chesapeake breed is generally attributed to the following account by George Law, first published in 1852:

Baltimore, Maryland
January 7th, 1845

My DEAR SIR,

In the fall of 1807 I was on board of the ship Canton, belonging to my uncle, the late-Hugh Thompson, of Baltimore, when we fell in, at sea, near the termination of a very heavy equinoctial gale, with an English brig in a sinking condition, and took off the crew. The brig was loaded with codfish, and was bound to Pole, in England, from Newfoundland. I boarded her, in command of a boat from the Canton, which was sent to take off the English crew, the brig's own boats having been all swept away, and her crew in a state of intoxication. I found onboard of her two Newfoundland pups, male and female, which I saved, and subsequently, on our landing the English crew at Norfolk, our own destination being Baltimore, I purchased these two pups of the English captain for a guinea apiece. Being bound again to sea, I gave the dog pup, which was called Sailor, to Mr. John Mercer, of West River; and the slut pup, which was called Canton, to Doctor James Stewart, of Sparrow's Point. The history which the English captain gave me of these pups was, that the owner of his brig was extensively engaged in the Newfoundland trade, and had directed his correspondent to select and send him a pair of pups of the most approved Newfoundland breed, but of different families, and that the pair I purchased of him were selected under this order, The dog was of a dingy red colour; and the slut black. They were not large; their hair was short, but very thick-coated; they had dew claws. Both attained great reputation as water-dogs. They were most sagacious in every thing; particularly so in all duties connected with duck-shooting. Governor Lloyd exchanged a Merino ram for the dog, at the time of the Merino fever, when such rams were selling for many hundred dollars, and took him over to his estate on the eastern shore of Maryland, where his progeny were well known for many years after; and may still be known there, and on the western shore, as the Sailor breed. The slut remained at Sparrow's Point till her death, and her progeny were and are still well known, through Patapsco Neck, on the Gunpowder, and up the bay, amongst the duck-shooters, as unsurpassed for their purposes. I have heard both Doctor Stewart and Mr. Mercer relate most extraordinary instances of the sagacity and performance of both dog and slut, and would refer you to their friends for such particulars as I am unable, at this distance of time, to recollect with sufficient accuracy to repeat.

Yours, in haste,

GEORGE LAW

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The Bay’s original dog and America’s first registered retriever was once revered for its bird hunting abilities. But today, many dog owners lean to domestic companions easy to care for and control.

by Kat Bennett

The big Chesapeake showed what a marvelous breed he was by leaping into the freezing water, swimming swiftly to the edge of the ice, then breaking a way for himself, right to the goose. Clutching the big bird proudly in his jaws, he plunged into the icy water, pushed aside the frozen chunks and returned to the blind, entering it with a mighty water-spraying leap. “That’s what I call a dog,” Jake said proudly. And the men agreed.

—James Michener: Chesapeake: The Watermen, 1972

Bay lore tells of a time when every one of the 26,000 families of the Eastern Shore owned at least one Chesapeake Bay retriever. Maryland governor Edward Lloyd thought so highly of the breed he sent a Baltimore clipper just to fetch one. In 1964, the Chesapeake retriever was legislatively proclaimed the official state dog of Maryland.

Yet today the Bay’s own dog is considered a rare breed. Fewer than 1,300 were registered in the entire United States in 2004.

Perhaps the Chesapeake retriever is too stubborn and independent for modern tastes. Perhaps the dog is too big or too smelly. Or perhaps these retrievers no longer have the skills they once had. The answer is more complex. The decline of the dynasty must be tracked through three entwined stories: one about the ducking dogs of the Chesapeake; another about the Bay itself; and a third about the people of the Bay and how they’ve changed.

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