Breed Priorities – The Newfoundland

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314 – The Annual, 2023-24

By Nikki Riggsbee

Newfoundlands were developed as a large working dog by the fishermen in Newfoundland, even before it became part of Canada. The breed is thought to have developed from crosses between native dogs and the Great Pyrenees dogs brought to the area by Basque fishermen in the seventeenth century. The larger, longer coated, heavier dogs were called Greater Newfoundlands or just Newfoundlands. The smaller were called the Lesser Newfoundlands or St. John’s water dogs and are considered to be behind the Labrador Retriever.

The Newfoundland is famous as a water rescuer and for its calm and sweet temperament. They have also been used for draft work. AKC recognizes coat colors of black, brown, gray, and white and black for the breed. The white and black coat is often called Landseer after the painter who included the breed with those colors in his paintings. The Canadian standard allows traditional black and Landseer coat color. The United Kingdom and FCI countries accept black, brown, and Landseer.

We found twenty-eight Newfoundland breed experts, including twenty-one AKC breeder-judges, to invite to take a survey on their breed’s priorities. Twenty-four agreed to do so. Fifteen completed surveys were returned.

The participants had been in the breed nearly thirty-four years on average. Those who were judges had been approved to do so for nearly sixteen years on average. More than half of the judges had judged the breed’s national specialty, and all had judged other Newf specialties.

Newfoundland Virtues

Click here to read the complete article
314 – The Annual, 2023-24

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