Natural History

From Charles Henry Lane’s All About Dogs – A Book For Doggy People (1900):

There are few of the non-sporting breeds which have received more notice in the newspapers than the Newfoundland dog, being so often associated with saving of life on the sea coasts, or on the banks of some of our rivers, and I think there are few, if any, dogs so really and naturally fond of the water, and being possessed of strength and courage, they are often able to render valuable aid. At one time I feared they were becoming almost extinct, and I think the many and very beautiful specimens we now see at our shows, are mainly due to my old friend, Mr. Edwin Nichols, of Kensington, who took up the breed very warmly some years ago, and became one of the most shining lights in the Newfoundland world. I remember, his ideas of the points to be sought after were as follows: – Head to be broad and massive, with a flat skull and somewhat square muzzle; ears small, in proportion to size of the animal, and lying close to the head; coat straight, dense and capable of resisting water; tail carried gaily, but not curled over the back. Colours: black, black and white, or bronze. Average weights, one hundred pounds for dogs and eighty-five pounds for bitches. General appearance that of a dignified, thoughtful, and thoroughly reliable guard, companion, or friend, with a great deal of character (pg. 154-155).

Now, dogs of 85 to 100 pounds are still quite large, but the biggest male Newfoundlands of today are sometimes twice as heavy as the average bitch of 100 years ago. The breed standard says the biggest males should be 150 pounds, which is 50% larger than the average male dog of the breed that lived during Lane’s time.

Here is a 1903 photo of a Newfoundland retrieving a gull in 1903 in New York State.

In terms of proportion, the gull would have to be nearly the size of a goose for the Newfoundland in the picture to be the same size as he Newfoundlands we know today.

George Armstrong Custer “captured” a dog from a Confederate regiment during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. He was photographed with the dog. Custer may have been many things, but he was definitely a dog lover.

Some sources list this dog as a farm shepherd or proto-English shepherd dog. However, it is quite large, and has the distinctive markings we associate with contemporary Landseer Newfoundlands. Newfoundland dogs were quite popular as pets and working dogs throughout North America and Europe. They were the Labrador retrievers of their day, so it would make sense that Confederate unit would have one as a mascot.

Sir Edwin Landseer, the man we associate with the Landseer coloration in Newfoundlands, painted this dog retrieving a woodcock. It is a Newfoundland dog,  but knowing that a European woodcock is about the size of a domestic pigeon, we can tell it is not a giant breed.

It is more likely that Seaman, the Newfoundland who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition in the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Coast, was more along the lines of these dogs than the giant dogs we associate with Newfoundlands of today. However, many statues of Seaman depict him as being exactly like the Newfoundland we know today.

The 150-pound Newfoundland dog probably never existed on the island. It is more likely an invention of Europeans –and perhaps Americans–breeding it to mastiffs and then selecting for greater size. The breed lost popularity by early decades of the twentieth century, and both world wars caused its population to drop dramatically on both sides of the Atlantic. It has been rebuilt on a remnant population that survived both the popularity bust and the wars– which were all very large dogs.

Although it is certainly true that the greater Newfoundland was larger than the retrievers and the St. John’s water dog, it was not twice their size. Today’s Labrador retrievers are supposed to weigh no more than 8o pounds, which is just a little over half the size of the biggest male Newfoundlands. However, I have written about a Landseer Newfoundland in North Dakota that weighs 180 pounds and stands 36  inches at the shoulder. That dog is over twice the size of an average bitch 100 years ago.

It is amazing how much dog breeds have changed in the past hundred years. Increased size is something that tends to happen with many large “family dogs.” We have seen it with collies and German shepherd dogs. And we are now seeing it with the Labrador retriever, some of which now closely resemble Newfoundlands in every respect but their coats.

The “My Lab is bigger than yours” syndrome isn’t new at all. I suppose people do not realize what a strain it is for a dog to be a giant. Nutrition has to be just right or the muscles and bones don’t develop properly, and the heart must be able to pump all of that blood through the circulatory system of a much larger animal. Larger dogs also have a harder time cooling themselves, simply because larger animals radiate less heat per unit of mass than smaller ones do.  This adaptation would be great if all Newfoundlands or giant Labs lived n the arctic, but it means that the animals suffer more in the hottest days of the summer in much of the United States. It also increases the risk of heatstroke.

The tendency of fanciers to breed larger dogs has consequences. Although the dogs look more impressive, there are real risks involved in breeding them larger and larger.  The Newfoundland was developed as a large working breed, but once it became established as a pet, it was selected for greater and greater size.