01/27/2026
Some are aware of our journey this year with our beloved Charlie, Charlie was our 9 year old female Chesapeake bay retriever. Sweetest most compassionate dog you could ever asked for or could ever want. Charlie had a life altering infection and I made the decision to put her down. Even though I have had to do this several times before with other dogs it doesn’t make the action any easier.
Prior to this for two years I have been on the search for my next breeder/ trainer, thinking i had four more years before that day would come. After talking with no less than 30 breeders and 7 or 8 trainers I had it narrowed down to two. Both of which are in Minnesota, but I favored one a little more than the other. Well after putting Charlie down I contacted both of them two get put on a list for the next available litter. My number one choice has gotten out of the breeding game and only doing training. So then I called and had a long conversation with the second one, after that phone call the search was on again. Not sure if I caught the owner on a bad day or what. He is highly regarded as a top notch breeder/trainer, I left the conversation with a sense of entitlement and definitely a personality conflict between us.
So the search begins again….
Once again talked with some great people. Micah Canapp had a very nice looking male that was a finished dog in Maryland, that I was leaning towards. Beautiful dead grass male that would have been ready to hunt this year.
Then I get a message from a guy (Greg Schmitt) here in Iowa asking if I have ever heard of Goldeneye Chesapeakes, in Forest City, Iowa. I said yes my Charlie was from there, but Chuck Bolinger (Goldeneye Chesapeakes) got out of breeding several years ago. Well to my surprise they are having a litter . So I messaged Chuck and got all the information, this little will be here in a week or so he said. Whoa…
This is a lot faster than what we expected as ever wanted. Looking at the mom of this litter, come to find out that this was Charlie’s litter mate. So the decision was easy for us to say yes. I had made the decision that I wanted a male this time. Mostly for the fact that they are a little heavier. I hunt over ice and wanted a little thicker dog. First male dog in 28 years, god help us.
So Otis it is, still haven’t figured out his registered name, probably around the lines of Otis the terrible. He is a handful at times, not really but just being a puppy. Full puppy he is……
So now I have to find a trainer. I asked Chuck for some recommendations and when I was talking with Greg he had mentioned a trainer out of Kansas. So I did some research and asked quite a few other people about this guy. Mentioned his name to Chuck and he said absolutely yes, he will be perfect.
After talking to TJ Greer (Prairefire Kennels/ Chesapeakes LLC) in Leavenworth Kansas. I knew this was my guy. TJ and Lori were in Iowa doing a hunt test so we had the opportunity to meet with them for a day and watch them run several dogs.
January 9th 2026- drop off day in Kansas, Allison is a mess, I am have some emotions. Not the sense of I am going to miss him but more scary of the unknown. A worried parent that their first born is heading off to school emotions, but they are 5.5 hours away.
He has been there for almost 3 weeks and is doing great. TJ sends me an update every few days on what they are working on. Plus that helps Allison coop with a new picture of him.
