[ R. M. Ballantyne / The Big Otter: A Tale of the Great Nor'west ]
The "big otter" of the title is a Canadian river, not a creature; the novel is a story of adventures in the Canadian wilds.
The novel's only mention of Newfoundlands is a metaphoric use from Chapter 19:
When at last we slept, our dreams partook of the same glittering ideas — coupled, of course, with much of the monstrous absurdity to which dreams are liable. I had just discovered a gem which was so large that I experienced the utmost difficulty in thrusting it into my coat-pocket, and was busy shovelling small diamonds of the purest water into a wheelbarrow, when a tremendous whack on my nose awoke me.
Starting up with an indignant gasp I found that it was a lump of snow, which had been detached by the heat of our fire from a branch overhead.
"What's wrong, Max?" growled my companion, who lay curled up in his buffalo robe, like a huge Newfoundland dog. "Bin dreamin'?"
"Yes," said I, with a loud yawn, "I was dreaming of shovelling up diamonds by the thousand when a lump of snow fell and hit my nose!"