On October 10, 2026 at the National Show Specialty banquet in Colorado Springs, CO, the American Chesapeake Club conferred its highest honor upon Angie Cox of Millington, Tennessee.
Angela Cox has been a member of the American Chesapeake Club since the late 1970’s or early 1980’s. Those club records have been lost. I first met her at a dog show in Melbourne, Florida in the early 1980’s with her Chesapeake bitch.
Angie has served the members of The ACC and our breed in many capacities. She has served on several standing committees, some more than one time. These include the Show Committee, the Health Committee, and the Judge and Breeders Education Committee. She has been a breed mentor for over 20 years and does not hesitate to travel without compensation to give Judges’ Seminars for prospective judges in our breed. I know this as I served the club as Treasurer for four years and she would never seek reimbursement for her expenses. Angie has attended well-known seminars and conferences about canines and brought that information back to share with anyone asking. Angie has also served on our Board of Directors.
Angie continues to increase her depth of knowledge about dogs in general and Chesapeakes specifically. She shares her knowledge through committee work, ringside chats, parking lot get togethers at show sites, volunteering at Chesapeake Fun Days in Tennessee, helping new owners with answering questions about our breed and dog sports in general. While recuperating from major surgery for many weeks, she wrote a manual for putting on a National Show Specialty and submitted it to the Show Committee. Angie has chaired multiple Supported Entries with great success.
Angie, along with her husband, Brian, have bred quality Chesapeake Bay Retrievers for over 40 years. They have bred a multitude of Champions and dogs titled in multiple dog sports including field work. Angie has titled her Chesapeakes in most of the AKC dog sport events. She goes above and beyond to help new owners understand have success with their puppies.
Angie has driven from coast to coast and from north to south and has attended all of the National Show Specialties since becoming a club member. Since retiring from her employer of 30 years, Angie began the journey to become an AKC judge for our breed. Breeder judges are hard to come by and we needed more.
Always, with a smile on her face, she is willing to share her knowledge and experience with anyone asking. I have never heard her say a negative word at any dog event about competitors or the dogs of others. She chooses to be positive in the dog world she is passionate about. She does not participate in any of the negativity we are now seeing on Face Book or show sites. She chooses to use her positive energy in improving our club and more importantly our breed.
Personally, I had not participated in dog sports for 25 years while I raised my family. When I was ready to re-enter the dog sport world, I contacted Angie and Brian about an upcoming litter I heard they were having. I wanted a show quality bitch. As it turned out, there was one bitch in the litter and Angie advocated for me to get her. She mentored me, sharing her knowledge and brought me up to speed on current dog sports and opportunities for involvement.
Angie Cox has spent her entire adult life involved in the Chesapeake breed and the American Chesapeake Club. Her accomplishments are truly too many to count. She has the gratitude from all she has helped, and chooses to be a quiet presence always looking for what is best for the Chesapeake Bay Retriever breed and those of us who love them.
Respectfully,
Gale Frana (Submitted April 2025)
Karen Anderson and husband Ron embarked on a drive in 1968 to see a litter of Chesapeake Bay Retriever pups in Davidsonville, Maryland.
Ron’s grandfather had owned a Chesapeake and a neighbor’s Chessie had followed Ron around on his paper route. But Karen had not seen a Chessie, apart from photos, until that day when a huge dog came bounding across the yard. Karen tried to get back in the car but Ron wouldn’t let her. They paid a deposit and soon came home with their first Chessie.
That short drive launched what became Chestnut Hills kennel on Karen and Ron’s small farm in Monrovia, Md. Chestnut Hills has earned a record-setting six Best of Breed awards at the American Chesapeake Club’s national specialties. These ACC BOB national specialty wins span a remarkable three decades in the 55-year history of Chestnut Hills.
There was three-time BOB winner CH Chestnut Hills Stone E’s Tug (1985, 1990 and 1991), two-time BOB winner CH Chestnut Hills Charisma (1995 and 1997) and BOB winner GCH Chestnut Hills Windjammer SH WD (2015). Add to this the three Best of Opposite national specialty wins. There was BOS winner CH Cub’s Lady Belle CD TD (1975), BOS winner CH Chestnut Hills Kele’s Kode (2005) and BOS winner CH Chestnut Hills Watermark (2009). Add to this the Chestnut Hills bred dogs and bitches that took Best of Winners and Winners, the many class wins, the sweepstakes wins and Tug’s Best of Breed award at the Chesapeake Bay Retriever Club of Canada’s specialty in 1991. Tug remains to this day the breed’s top AKC stud dog.
Karen says she aims to breed a good family dog “that can do what it is bred to do.” In short, a conformationally correct Chesapeake bred to the standard, that wants to please and is a good gundog.
Karen breeds puppies that like to work. She’s put nine tracking titles and numerous obedience titles on her dogs. Those include CH Chestnut Hills Lady Rose CD TD, an all-breed High in Trial winner. After Windjammer was awarded Best of Breed at the 2015 American Chesapeake Club National Specialty, Karen wasn’t content to rest on her laurels. She sent him to Kathy Luthy in Florida for advanced field training and he earned his senior hunter title.
As I sat at ringside during many a dog show in the Maryland area in the 1990s, I marveled at the consistency of Karen’s breeding program. Without looking in the show catalog, I could scan the show ring and pick out the Chestnut Hills dogs and bitches: a classic type with proper structure, ease of movement, great coats, good bone, and beautiful heads and necks. Karen explains her breeding philosophy this way: “I want the whole package.”
Karen helped introduce “the whole package” to an international audience through a long collaboration with Christine Mayhew in England and her Arnac Bay kennel. Mayhew imported 10 Chestnut Hills dogs and two pups sired by the Anderson’s dogs. This enduring friendship elevated the profile of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever internationally and in the United Kingdom where Chrissy’s dogs now are frequent winners at Crufts.
Karen joined the American Chesapeake Club in the late 1960s and has filled numerous positions throughout the years. Karen served on the ACC board in the 1980s. She has chaired or co-chaired two national specialties. She served as a regional director. Karen was the longtime obedience chairperson for the ACC Bulletin. She co-chaired Chessie “fun days” and held many training days at her home and nearby. Karen twice judged sweepstakes at the national specialty. She also judged a Chesapeake Bay Retriever club specialty in England in 1986.
Karen currently serves as an ACC breed mentor, and her Chestnut Hills dogs are still winning Best of Breed in the show ring in 2024.
Karen mentored many along the way, including myself. She gave me my first handling lesson at her home after I got a beautiful, deadgrass Tug pup. At the time, I didn’t know that my world was about to open up and where it would take me. I went from wanting a companion dog to showing, to breeding, to hunting, to AKC hunt tests and AKC hunt test judging. It’s Karen’s friendship and mentoring that encouraged this journey. I know there are many others who followed a similar path begun with the joy of owning a Chestnut Hills pup.
Most importantly, Karen has achieved this for more than 50 years in service to our beloved breed, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever. For this, we ask you to consider Karen Anderson for the 2024 American Chesapeake Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Respectfully Yours, Mary Pemberton
Cosponsors: Mary Pemberton and Dyane Baldwin