Head: Skull broad and round with medium stop, short muzzle, pointed but not sharp. Lips thin, ears small, set well up on head, hanging loosely and of medium leather. Eyes medium large, very clear, yellowish colour and wide apart.

Neck: Of medium legth with a strong muscular appearance, tapering to shoulders.

Shoulder, Chest and Body: Shoulders, sloping and should have full liberty of action with plenty of power without any restrictions of movement. Chest strong, deep and wide. Barrel round and deep. Body of medium length, neither cobby nor roached, but rather approaching hollowness, flanks well tucked up.

Back Quarters and Stifles: Back quarters should be as high or trifle higher than the shoulders. They should show fully as much power as the forequarters. There should be no tendency to weakness in either fore or hindquarters. Hindquarters should be especially powerful to supply the driving power for swimming. Back should be short, well coupled and powerful.

Legs, Elbows, Hocks and Feet: Legs should be medium length and straight, showing good bone and muscle, with well webbed hare fee of good size. The toes well rounded and close, pasterns slightly bent and both pasterns and hocks medium length - the straighter the legs the better. Dewclaws, if any, must be removed from the hind legs. Dewclaws on the forelegs may be removed. A dog with dewclaws on the hind legs must be disqualified.

Stern: Tail should be medium length, varying from: males, 12 inches to 15 inches, and females from 11 inches to 14 inches; medium heavy at base, moderate feathering on stern and tail permissible.

Coat and Texture: Coat should be thick and short, nowhere over one and a half inches long, with a dense fine woolly undercoat. Hair on face and legs should be very short and straight with tendency to wave on the shoulders, neck, back and loins only. Curly coat or coat with a tendency to curl not permissible.

Colour: Any colour varying from a dark brown to a faded tan or deadgrass colour. Deadgrass takes in any shade of deadgrass, varying from a tan to a dull straw colour. White spot on breast and toes permissible, smaller the spot the better, solid colour is preferred.

Weight: Males, 65 to 75 pounds; females 55 to 65 pounds. Height: males, 23 inches to 26 inches, females 21 inches to 24 inches.

Quality: The texture of the dog's coat is very important, as the dog is used for hunting under all sorts of adverse weather conditions, often working in ice and snow. The oil in the harsh outer coat and woolly undercoat is of extreme value in preventing the cold water from reaching the dog's skin and aids in quick drying. A Chespeake's coat should resist the water in the same way that a duck's feathers do. When he leaves the water and shakes himself, his coat should not hold the water at all, being merely moist. Colour and coat are extremely important, as the dog is used for duck hunting. The colour must be as nearly that of his surroundings as possible and with the fact that dogs are exposed to all kinds of adverse weather conditions, often working in ice and snow, the colour of coat and its texture must be given every consideration.

Courage, willingness to work, alertness, nose, intelligence, love of water, general quality, and most of all, disposition, should be given primary consideration in the selection and breeding of the Chesapeake Bay dog.