Natural History

Posted in Newfoundland | Tagged Newfoundland dogs | 14 Comments

14 Responses

1. on July 31, 2012 at 3:24 pm Gina@loves dogs

   I love the dog in the water doing all the pulling. What a good dog.

   
   
2. on July 31, 2012 at 6:17 pm Kathy K

   Very large retrievers that drool.

   
   
   • on July 31, 2012 at 8:46 pm massugu

     One doesn’t know what it is to be truly loved until (s)he has been drooled on by a very large dog. LOL

     
     
     • on July 31, 2012 at 10:21 pm Kathy K

       I like the way the drool flies when they suddenly turn their heads. LOL. But, hey, we may all be drooling someday.

       
       
       • on August 1, 2012 at 5:31 am Peter Dawson

         Loose one or two of your front teeth, Kathy and massugu, then you’ll drool a bit. Don’t ask me how I know! But no, we’d never have a dog which did that in buckets.

         
         
         • on August 1, 2012 at 5:32 am Peter Dawson

           Lose not loose – I’ll have to go back to school.

           
           
3. on August 1, 2012 at 2:06 pm Jen Robinson

   I’ve only know a couple Newfies. I have Labbies . . . apparently, a sister breed. In comparison to Labs, I find Newfies (1) big [d’uh], (2) hairy [also d’uh] and (3) a bit slow . . . not sure it’s stupid . . . could be just slow. Like Labbies, they are good-natured, generally friendly. One of them made a big impression in my boarding kennel when his owner said something like: “Don’t worry about putting him out with aggressive dogs. He’s steady, and barely notices when he’s attacked.” The dog was entirely true to advertizement. We let him exercise with an iffy blue heeler, who had a go, got a mouth full of black hair and absolutely no reaction, and gave up. Impressive display of steady temperament. Also the smelliest dog I’ve ever been around. His owner didn’t believe in grooming and that massive coat can get mighty stinky.

   Somehow, I find it hard to see the Newf as a rough coat water dog x mastiff produced by dog dealers for the English/continental market. They seem more like big drooly saints (pun intended). . . .who like to swim.

   
   
   • on August 1, 2012 at 3:00 pm retrieverman

     If you keep in mind that a lot of imports that became retrievers and the gig Newfoundlands looked a lot like black golden retrievers, it’s not so hard to believe.

     It’s not very hard to make a Labrador retriever look like this. I’ve known several huge Labradors that were very close to being smooth-coated Newfoundlands of this type.

     
     
     • on August 1, 2012 at 10:33 pm Jen Robinson

       Where I have problems is with temperament, not looks. Mastiffs, historically were war dogs and guardians of big estates, with a little big game hunting and bear baiting thrown in. Apparently, they were crossed with bloodhounds to get the fila Brasiiero (that may be a breed origin myth I picked up somewhere). I’ve never seen anything indicating that they were selected for soft mouths or soft anything. The mastiff’s I’ve known have been calm, but capable of destructive dog aggression (we had one take the ear off of a passing Labrador in the boarding kennel . . . both dogs were on leash and working with a certified trainer).

       Maybe the genetics for size are such that you can outcross / backcross and keep the size and loose the temperament. It’s hard to believe that Newfoundland dog dealers took the few generations required for outcross / backcross to work. Maybe that came later, in Great Britain. Dunno.

       
       
       • on August 1, 2012 at 10:38 pm retrieverman

         Keep in mind that the early accounts of these dogs were of how aggressive they were.

         They used to fight Newfoundland dogs.

         Not all mastiffs were dogs of war. The ones in England were toned down signficantly compared to those on the European continent.

         
         
   • on August 1, 2012 at 3:02 pm retrieverman

     The sister breeds for the Labrador retriever are the other breeds of British retriever, the curly, the flat-coat, and the golden.

     The Labrador was created in its current form largely on a single estate in Scotland. They were heavily interbred with each other. Golden retrievers have yellow Lab ancestors, and many Labs have flat-coat/wavy-coat ancestors. I have another post in the works soon about a very retrievery Newfoundland.

     Several people have trained this sort of Newfoundland to retrieve shot game in recent years. From what I’ve read, Tthey are very inefficient movers, but they are just as smart as their little retriever cousins. A lot don’t have the retrieving behavior, but you can make the same about a lot of golden and Labrador retrievers and poodles.

     
     
4. on August 1, 2012 at 3:22 pm Newfoundland coast guard | Pet Health Articles Around the Web

   […] The Retriever, Dog, & Wildlife Blog Posted in Pet Care Articles | Tagged coast, guard, Newfoundland | Leave a comment […]

   
   
5. on November 16, 2013 at 11:05 pm bem

   old post i know, but an anecdote for you: i just lost my landseer newf, and he was definitely like an oversized golden retriever–but with brains (as compared to the show/family goldens i’ve encountered). he’d flush and point on pheasants, very birdy, softy mouth, would retrieve all day, and soo fast and smart. we took him on 20 mile horse rides in the mountains, and he used to jump our 4-foot hedge instead of going around it to fetch his toys. anyway, based on living with him, what you say about newfoundlands and labradors makes sense. it’s too bad that no one breeds for his very functional and athletic type.

   
   
   • on November 17, 2013 at 7:12 am retrieverman

     Sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. He sounds like he was a great one.

     I don’t know if you’ve read about Seaman, the Newfoundland dog that went with Lewis and Clark on their journey to the Oregon Country, but he was very much more retriever-like, too.

     Also Lord Byron’s Landseer Newf looked nothing like what everyone expects!

     

     
     

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