Greetings Dr. Charles - Your story moved me as do many chessie stories. We had our first Eustatius (Stasha) in 1984 - named for an Island in the Carribean - We decided to breed her out and sent her from Texas to Idaho; she only had two pups, Marty and Cody. I got the pick of the litter (Cody) and we called Marty "special Ed" as he was born weird looking and sort of flat - Well, Marty at 125lbs was the pup that made it to prominance in my family. We have many many stories of Marty, one of which we tell often. He was staying at a friend's house who also had a chessie - Our friend was looking out the kitchen window at Marty one day and he saw a large wolf/dog mix dig under the fence and begin to run towards Marty. Marty was wagging his tail thinking he had another companion to horse around with. The wolf attacked Marty and my friend hurried to get outside to rescue Marty from the vicious attack; however, when he reached the back yard all he saw was Marty clamped on to the tail of the wolf/dog under the fence. Marty made it 13 yrs, at 11 he contracted heart worms and the shot did something to his spine that parlyzed his back legs. My brother was told by several DVMs to put him down, but Bro lovingly carried Marty's hind qtrs with a towel as a sling to do his business and such. One thing that Marty could still do was swim and swim he did. 2 to 3 miles a day - my Bro lives by the beach. Up and down, with the current - against the current, eventually with the continuous excersise Marty regained the use of his legs and even hunted one more year retrieving birds as if he was a pup again. Marty finally gave it up around 14 which is quite rare for large retrievers. Maybe next time I'll share the time Marty got caught in the current and was swept out to sea.

Your question about swimming - Chessies love to work/excersise daily. I understand it's not easy for you to accomplish this. Maybe someone on the board can assist.

I am adding a photo of a chessie that I found on the net after talking about hypothermia and the issues of hunting dogs in ice on a hunting chat board.

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CBROWNER, Marty sounded like a champ - still had the determination & drive despite leg paralysis. Blessings for you and your brother to aid him and allow him to enjoy life longer.
You are a person of my heart. (remember Monica whom died. well she had paralysis for the year after the accident until she died. I took an old 3-wheeled child stroller, removed the seat,added a wooden floor and made her a doggy wheelchair.) It's amazing how a dog's soul can affect a person's behavior and mental state. I tried to open the 2 pics but the message came up "not a valid UL". Do not know if I did something wrong (new to internet). I want to send a picture of Chelsea the Chesapeake (my nickname for her)but don't know how? HELP! Anyway, Marty sounded terrific. I'd love to hear other stories about him.Thanks for sharing.

Hey Doc, if I may - I'm from the south. . . you must have a location for your pic, in other words, you must be able to "ftp" your pic to a web site and when writing your post there is an icon - second from the right that requests your URL i.e., http://whatever.com/yourImange.jpg this post will then contain your photo. I tried to PM you and didn't have the time to learn the teamChessie interface. It's not user friendly in several areas. If you can figure out how to PM me I can help with a web location.

Mac

One fall day on the beach during low tide, Marty was allowed to romp in the ocean and run the beach as off-leash law allows during off-season times. Living directly on the ocean has its beauty and benefits; however, it has its issues as well. When the tide changes from ebb it gains a swift current rapidly - during our years on this beach, there have been many deaths related to tidal waters. Some folks panic and the natural reaction of panic is to swim against the tide toward shore vs. a parallel movement with the current that can preserve energy and will eventually push you towards land within an eddy current. Okay, enough of the foundation – this day, Marty along with my brother, extended their time on the beach enjoying their companionship and light talk with other locals. Everybody living on the island knew Marty, a chessie and gentle giant - folks were always anxious to greet and pet him with adoration. This day Marty decides to crash through the breakers and simply dog paddle around in the calmer water, as was his custom. He found the incoming current some 15 yards off the beach behind the breakers and began to swim with the current while my brother, engaged in conversation with another local -he had not focused on Marty for about 3 minutes. That’s all it took! He scanned the beach and didn’t see Marty - frantically he ran toward the shoreline in the attempt to find Marty. He finally discovers Marty to be some 50 yards off the beach moving very rapidly away as the current tends to do. Bro began to panic, swimming out would mean danger to his own life – he then sprints some 200 yards to one of the prominent hotels that rent Kayaks as only a former linebacker could do and headed immediately towards the offshore waters – calling then yelling for Marty – he is now completely engulfed with fear and rowing with adrenalin. How could this happen? Not to Marty. Not the dog that has survived so much. Bro makes it to the sandbars, which are now nothing more than small white capped breakers covering the sand. Once the tide gets to full speed on a 4-hour tide day it can be moving several miles per hour. Bro began to tear up thinking the worst, he’s not one to shed a tear very often; nevertheless, this was not the exit he wanted for Marty. He finally, after searching the area, turns around and begins to paddle back to shore as the danger for small personal watercraft is just as serious as it is for swimmers as for dogs too! Bro rowed for what seemed to be hours as he was going against the current as he had reached some 200 yards off the beach while searching for Marty. As he got closer to the shoreline he saw a big “brown” dog, he got closer, HUH? NO WAY – how can this be; and once the beach finally came into full focus it was Marty trying to hunch a little toy poodle, owned by an Ultra-Elite no doubt staying in the hotel where he had borrowed the Kayak. Tears and fears restored to understanding and resolve. Marty must have understood – swim with the tide and it’ll eventually take you close to land.. . .

Only Marty - only a chessie!

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CRBOwner, Thanks for Marty's Ocean Adventure story. I read it to my wife and she was asking "was Marty alright" even before I finished reading.You gotta love a chessie!
Chelsea had a water experience 6 months ago. When we lived in Allentown (her favorite river/
stream). In the local park was a 50" wide creek
that fed the Lehigh River. Chelsea loved to swim the currents (against). Normally, it was relatively slow - 3-5mph. This swim however was after 6 days of severe/heavy rains and the current was closer to 25mph. There was white foam everywhere on the water (rocks/waterfall nearby). Chelsea was barely visable with the swells. She seemed like she was paddling with all her might against the current but not moving
I saw her looking towards the opposite shoreline
and assumed she was frantically trying to reach it (about 15"away). However she still was not making progress in the water. My wife, on the top bank started screaming frantically Chelsea's
name.IMMEDIATElY, Chelsea swam directly towards my wife at full amazing speed against the current. I thought she was in trouble but quickly realized what was happening - Chelsea spotted a group of DUCKS sitting on the banks' edge and she was just trying to maintain a good position to observe them without passing them. (she would swim with them in calm water staying away 10-15'.I've learned to never underestimate a chessie!!! Thanks for the info about pics. I contacted an old friend whom directed me to a web site that I can use to store photos & videos and download them to this site, or better, have a link so you can go to the site to see all the photos I post. They even have special formats (HTML & IMG codes)for forum/chat
boards. Plus it's all free (I'll send you the info if you want to use it too). You can call me "doc". Actually, all my friends call me Charlie. Anyone who loves Chessies is my friend so you can call me charlie. (this applies to everyone on this site also). No formalities - all that is important is a man or woman and their chessie(s). Nothing else really matters.
Quick note - I'm switching computers from upstairs (where all my pictures are stored). I had a wireless link but it went awry and would not let me install the needed drivers so I'll switch and hardwire it to the modem downstairs (in case I miss a reply in the next few days or so). Thanks again for the Marty stories - appreciate them very much. Look forward to hear stories of other chessies & their owners too.