Chris isn't exaggerating. My Lab couldn't perform to that standard in his prime. I've seen Chesapeakes do it because they were started that way and they're toughest in rough going. In Newfoundland in the 50s, I visited a South Coast fishing village that was little more than a deep cleft in the rocks with homes and fish stages around the edges. For my amusement, a fisherman threw a Carnation Milk can for his Heinz-variety dog to fetch. The can was filled with water and sank a couple fathoms to the bottom. The dog leaped from the wharf, swam out about 15 feet and dove down almost out of sight to retrieve it.
Apparently it was nothing special; the dogs were just trained to do it. It's also not as bad for the dogs as it looks. I learned from diving in heavy slop around Atlantic cliffs that there's a lot of up and down but it seems the surge slows down at the rock face.
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