Both dogs gained a reputation as excellent water dogs, especially when it came to duck hunting, and their puppies inherited their abilities — and their unusual yellowish or amber-colored eyes. There was no recorded mating of the two dogs, but seventy years later, when strains from both the eastern and western shores of Maryland met at the Poultry & Fanciers Association show in Baltimore in 1877, their similarities were sufficient that they were recognized as one breed, “The Chesapeake Bay Ducking Dog.” Records show that the offspring of Canton and Sailor were intermingled at the Carroll Island Kennels and spread from there throughout the region.