The unbounded intelligence of the Newfoundland dog has rendered him perhaps the greatest favourite wherever a large dog can be allowed. But, apart from that mysterious sense which enables him to understand short sentences as well as words, he is, take him for all and all, unsurpassed or possibly unequalled as the companion of man, for his fine formation, his Herculean strength, and the grandeur of his carriage.
Of course it is common enough to call every large, shaggy dog a Newfoundland, as it is the rule to name every small dog with large ears a King Charles's Spaniel, but dog-shows, if they have done no more, have educated the eye of the general public, who can now discriminate pretty well between mongrels and the true-bred type.
The Newfoundland, the Labrador, and the St. John's dogs have this peculiarity — they not only possess sagacity, but they disseminate it through any number of crosses, or at least through a great number of them. On this account their breed has been used almost universally in improving Retrievers, and with great success. Some of the best shepherds I have ever met with have told me that their favourite breed of Sheep Dog was descended from Labrador and Colley; and I have been solicited by them, and never in vain, for the services of my most intelligent Retrievers, to put more sense into Sheep Dogs, already showing distinctly the Newfoundland mixture.
Intelligence is retained in the absence of all approach to the shape of the Newfoundland, and the instincts of the Retriever, the love for water, and the general gentleness and cordiality of the massive parent have discovered themselves more than once or twice in insignificant little mongrels which were the produce of Newfoundland and Terrier.
A writer in the Sporting Magazine, 1819, says of the Newfoundland breed, "Twenty or thirty years ago they were large, rough-coated, curly-haired, liver-and-white dogs." Thirty years ago the large black-and-white shaggy or thick-coated dog was especially in fashion, and the black dog was scarcely ever seen. In the early days of dog-shows, black-and-white dogs received the award of the judge more than once or twice; but the special favour in which black dogs are universally held has banished particoloured dogs from the prize lists as a rule.
The Newfoundland should be black, without any mixture of white whatever; but many good examples have a few white hairs in the middle of the chest. White toes may exist without impurity of blood; but a white tip to the tail should be looked upon as most suspicious.
He should be of large stature — that is one of his strongest characteristics — from 27 to 30 inches in height, though the latter size is exceedingly rare, nor do I think that I have ever seen a dog of that. stature. Mr. Robinson's "Carlo," the first prize dog at Birmingham, 1864, is said to measure this "out size," but probably more mistakes are made in the measurement of dogs than of any other animal, because the gauge is frequently, through inadvertence, put too far up the neck.
The head should be long, large, and moderately square at the nose, especially long from the eye downwards, and moderately flewed. It should be broad across the eyes; and these, though comparatively small, should be bright, piercing, and utterly free from that red haw, characteristic of the Bloodhound and the Thibet Dog. The nose must be large, with expanded nostrils, and the teeth white and regular, with level jaws. In these points many of the breed are wanting, especially in the colour of the teeth. The eye, also, is frequently of too pale a colour around the target or pupil, giving the dog the appearance of a "wall-eye.” The head and face must be smooth to the back of the poll and to the angle of the jaw, where the voluminous shaggy coat should begin suddenly, and almost hide the ears, which must be small, falling close, and almost smooth.
The neck is strong, enlarging towards the shoulders, and exceedingly muscular. The specimens shown some years ago were deficient in length of neck, and in this respect Mr. Cunliffe Lee's "Baltic" shows a great improvement, as he does also in his shoulders, which are deep, long, sloping, with the elbow well let down, and working freely, as they ought.
The chest should be deep and moderately wide; the legs powerful, and short in proportion to the length of body; the feet large, to act as paddles, and the sole firm and horny, in which respect there is an improvement of late. The back should be broad, the loin wide and muscular, the ribs round — a great point with a dog which is to float with ease — and the thighs wide, well clothed with muscle and sinew. There should be great length from hip to hock, and the stern should be well plumed and well carried, higher than a Setter's flag, but not so gaily as a Foxhound’s. The fore-legs should be feathered to the ankle; the hind-legs should be bare of feather from the hock to the ground. Many good examples are feathered from hock to heel, but the best are not, and ought not to be.
As to the coat of a Newfoundland, the less wave in it the better. It should be shining and glossy, and on the body about three or four inches long. It must not be silky like the Setter's — at least, not silky and soft — but of a texture peculiar to the sort. Such a dog as I have described, with a mind, is worth a king's ransom; and, if attached to his master, neither length of time nor carelessness of treatment will ever be found to disengage his affections.
I say advisedly, if attached, for the Newfoundland is capricious in his likes and antipathies. I have, in one instance, possessed a dog which would never own me; and I had one brought to me for a very moderate price which had been discarded by his master for a similar reason. On another occasion, a dog with whom I was on the best of terms was amusing himself with a series of howls, "long drawn out," and disobeyed my repeated orders to leave off. At last, out of patience, I took my whip out, and calling my man, said, pointing to the dog, "Give that dog a moderate thrashing." The dog never resented it in the man, but he hated me from that hour, and we were never more than acquaintances as long as I kept him. He was not sulky, but indifferent and careless of my orders, though he had been well broken as a Retriever, and was an adept at recovering wounded game.
The Newfoundland is remarkable for his retentive memory. Mr. Youаtt mentions a dog of this breed which recognised him five years after he had parted with it, and left its new master to protect him from two ill-looking fellows who were making their way through the bushes between Roehampton and Wandsworth to intercept him.
Another instance is mentioned by Mr. Jesse. A traveller passing through a village in Cumberland gave a sleeping Newfoundland dog a blow with his whip, in mere wantonness. The animal made a rush at him, and pursued him for some distance. Twelve months after, as he was leading his horse through the same village, the dog, recollecting him, seized him by the boot, and made his teeth penetrate the flesh, and would have inflicted further injuries, but that some witnesses to the occurrence drove the animal off.
Mr. Youatt gives a touching example of this grand animal's tender heart. A lame puppy was lying close to a gate through which he desired to pass, but he could not push it open without causing the animal pain. To his surprise, his Newfoundland dog put out his strong paw, and gently rolled the invalid out of the way, and drew back to allow the gate to open. I myself have frequently seen a dog push a hare through a gate when he could not conveniently jump it, and then take it from the other side.
The following instance of fidelity and sense is given by Bewick, in his "History of Quadrupeds," in the article on the Newfoundland dog.
"During a severe storm in the winter of 1789, a ship belonging to Newcastle was lost near Yarmouth, and a Newfoundland dog alone escaped to shore, bringing in his mouth the captain's pocket-book. He landed amongst a number of people, several of whom in vain endeavoured to take it from him. The sagacious animal, as if sensible of the importance of the charge which in all probability was delivered to him by his perishing master, at length leapt fawningly against the breast of a man who had attracted his notice among the crowd, and delivered the book to him. The dog immediately returned to the place where he had landed, and watched with great attention for everything that came from the wrecked vessel, seizing it and endeavouring to drag it to land."
Mr. Watson, in his interesting book on "The Reasoning Power in Animals," tells us that the dog was afterwards kept at Dropmore, by Lord Granville, who, on the animal's death, wrote a Latin epitaph on him, with an English translation.