Dual Ch Sodak’s Gypsy Prince; Chesacroft Baron; Anthony Bliss, Jr.

         Anthony Bliss grew up in the wealthy environs of Oyster Bay, NY with all the advantages wealth can bring. Advantages which certainly helped the Chesapeake get established and hold its own in the “dawning” era of field trials. Bliss believed strongly in maintaining the working ability of the breed. With his resources, he was able to employ top trainers (like Charles Morgan) and buy outstanding dogs and bloodlines of the time. He was a tireless supporter of the new “sport” of retriever field trials and his interest and money gave the breed a firm foundation in the trials. While many of his dogs competed in the trials, the most significant ones to the breed were a father & son-Dual Ch Sodaks’s Gypsy Prince & Chesacroft Baron.

        Titles and fame are fleeting but producing talented offspring and in turn, a producing son/daughter insures that a dog continues forward in the gene pool. So while Skipper Bob and Dilwyne Montauk Pilot earned awards and accolades, it is Prince and his son Baron who exerted the most influence on the bloodlines of field trial Chesapeakes.