We know it is heretical for an agricultural paper now-a-days to see much that is good in dogs, but we cannot help it, especially when one is presented to our consideration like this in the engraving, which is a portrait by Landseer, of the full-blooded Newfoundland dog which received the medal of the Humane Society of London, for saving the lives of several drowning persons. It is certainly an astonishingly faithful representation of a good Newfoundland.
This variety is usually classed with the Spaniels, and is probably in some degree related to the Esquimaux dogs. There are two quite distinct families, the large and the small, and these have indefinitely intermingled. All are marked by a long body, broad chest, pointed head, large and fully webbed feet, great intelligence, dignity of demeanor, excessive fondness for water. The coat is always shaggy or closely curling. They are animals of great power and endurance, and by the natives of the island whence they come, were extensively used for hauling wood from the back country to the shore; a pack of four or six traveling off with what would be a good load for a horse. The Newfoundland makes an excellent watch-dog, unless he has been taught to make friends with everybody, after which he is nearly worthless for this purpose. Kept chained, he becomes very alert, and often unfriendly, though he seldom inflicts serious injuries. These dogs are possessed of a peculiar instinct, which leads them to bring out of the water almost everything which falls into it. Hence the endeavor to rescue drowning persons, in which they have been successful in numerous instances. In point of intelligence the Newfoundland ranks, among dogs, second only to the Scotch Cooley or Shepherd dog. They are the safest of dogs to have as playmates for children, and nothing can exceed the gallant care and attention one will pay his mistress or her children if allowed to walk with them, or otherwise act as their protector.
In a careful enumeration of canine virtues, we think all familiar with this noble breed will accord to it almost every one. The attachment of a Newfoundland to his master is great, but it is remarkable that any person in real distress need not call in vain upon the dog for aid that he can give. In the water, with great sagacity he holds up the drowning man's head and swims to shore; men or children floundering and freezing in deep snows are dragged out and brought to notice; in fact, wherever he finds a human being is in distress he serves him if he can. These noble dogs have repeatedly been known to undergo great hardships in order to bring succor to entire strangers. On their native island, the dogs used to be hard worked during the winter and turned loose in the spring in a half-starved condition. Preferring mutton and game to codfish heads and offal, they are naturally inclined to the sports of the chase, and it is said that flocks often suffer. No doubt a natural proclivity thus strengthened is hard to correct in subsequent generations, — still we do not think that Newfoundland dogs are worse sheepkillers than others. Dogs of the large breed ot Newfoundlands often stand 30 to 32 inches high, while the smaller ones, sometimes called St. John's dogs, measure only about two feet — a notable difference. In character they are much alike. As a watch-dog the cross with the Mastiff is greatly valued. When the Setter is crossed with a dog of the smaller breed, an animal of great service to the sportsman as a retriever, is produced, the clog retaining that faculty of the Newfoundland which leads it to bring things out of the water, to fetch and carry so naturally and handily — while it has some of the lightness and agility of the Setter.
Upon the island of New Foundland little attention has been paid to breeding these dogs, and the best animals have been sold freely for prices very small in comparison with what they will readily bring in England or the United States; the result is that the breed of the island has not improved, and it is probable that better dogs may be obtained elsewhere. The larger breed is common upon the coast of Labrador, and here fine specimens have been obtained.