[ Sporting Magazine ]
The Sporting Magazine (1792 - 1870) is considered the first general sporting magazine, though in its later decades it gave considerable emphasis to fox hunting. But it published all manner of sporting-related material, from news stories to poetry to calendars of upcoming sporting events. The subtitle of this magazine was "Monthly Calendar of the Transactions of the Turf, the Chace, and every other Diversion interesting to the Man of Pleasure, Enterprize and Spirit." [more at Wikipedia]
A Newf is mentioned in passing in an article (November 1822) about one nobleman's attempt to deal with a rabbit infestation on his land. He contacts a neighbor and asks him to round up as many dogs as he can, and when all the dogs — sixteen in total — are collected in a stable to begin the hunt, the somewhat chaotic scene prompts the following observation:
A large Newfoundland dog, victorious after a bloody fray with two or three competitors, sat on his haunches whisking about his tail, as doubtful whether he should be able to maintain his superiority, whilst the head of a sturdy mon- grel, peeping out from underneath a broken hen-coop, and a bow-legged terrier which had taken its station in the manger, returned grin for grin and growl for growl. During this conflict between the higher powers, the less in size, and the more timid, had withdrawn, some into remote corners, and others under some old faggot-wood, whilst two or three, whose nerves were less braced than their bodies, were shaking and striving now on three legs, now on two, to do what they could not do, amidst a stun- ning and incessant chorus of yelling, snapping, and snarling. (67)