Happy New(foundland) year to all
Gentle, heroic and devoted — there is no better dog with which to welcome the year ahead.
Originating on the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, these dogs were bred to work alongside fishermen — hauling nets, pulling carts and plunging into icy waters without hesitation. There is no shortage of strength, stamina or instinct to save here; it is all hard-wired.
Newfoundlands are among the largest dog breeds in the world. Adult males can weigh more than 70kg, with females only slightly smaller, and all of that bulk is softened by a famously gentle temperament. Living with one is to accept a life of slow walks, large sofas, constant grooming and a healthy tolerance for drool. In return, owners get a dog that is patient, affectionate and devoted. Their double coat needs regular brushing, their joints careful management, and access to water is less a luxury than a calling.
They have also left enormous pawprints on history and culture. Nana, the patient nursemaid of the Darling children in Peter Pan, was described by J. M. Barrie as a ‘prim Newfoundland’, inspired by his own Landseer Newfoundland, Luath — despite decades of stage and screen miscasting as a Saint Bernard. Seaman accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the epic Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804–06, navigating the American wilderness alongside the explorers. Boatswain, beloved by Lord Byron, was immortalised in Epitaph to a Dog. Carlo was the sole canine companion of Emily Dickinson, whose company she famously preferred to that of most humans — a sentiment I relate to strongly. And Rigel, owned by Titanic first officer William Murdoch, reportedly saved a lifeboat of survivors by barking through the fog as the rescue ship Carpathia approached.
Their heroism is not confined to legend. A Newfoundland known as Hairy Man helped rescue 163 people from a shipwreck off the coast of Newfoundland, inspiring the novel A Star in the Storm. Gander — ‘Sergeant Gander’ — served as the wartime mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada and was killed in action in Hong Kong during the Second World War after carrying a live grenade away from wounded soldiers.
In 2007, Rebecca Pearson volunteered as the human casualty for the East Anglian Working Newfoundlands, writing for Country Life and discovering first-hand what these dogs were bred to do. Hauled to shore by dogs weighing more than ten stone, towed behind boats and ‘rescued’ repeatedly, she found them immensely powerful yet unfailingly careful — webbed feet, water-resistant coats and an almost eerie instinct for keeping humans safe. Exhausted, damp and smelling faintly of wet dog, she left convinced that Newfoundlands do not merely rescue people from water — they convert them for life.
Not perfect, not long-lived, and certainly not small, the Newfoundland is a breed that improves the year — and life — of anyone lucky enough to know one.
