THE NEWFOUNDLAND. 



BY L. F. WHITMAN. 



>HE history of the Newfoundland is very brief, and 

 until the last century no writer who treats of dogs 

 has said anything about him. Among the leading 

 writers on this breed, to whom I am deeply indebted for 

 much of the information given herein, are Hugh Dalziel, 

 author of "British Dogs," Yero Shaw, author of "The 

 Illustrated Book of the Dog," and Stonehenge, author of 

 "The Dogs of the British Islands." 



It is as common to call every large, black, shaggy dog a 

 Newfoundland as it is to call all small, shaggy Terriers 

 Scotch Terriers. 



The intelligence of the Newfoundland made him, in 

 former times, where a large dog was desirable, one of the 

 greatest of favorites in Great Britain long before the 

 St. Bernard was known there his fine formation, great 

 strength, and stately carriage being unsurpassed, and 

 rendering him highly popular as a companion. 



The early settlers in Newfoundland were mainly natives 

 of the Channel Islands; and it is a question whether some 

 of these did not bring with them some large dogs, which, 

 being crossed with the native dogs, formed, after a time, a 

 new breed. 



Several writers speak of the impurity of the breed that 

 is now found in Newfoundland, lamenting that it is only 

 found there in a mongrelized form, having been crossed 

 with various other breeds. It is extremely doubtful 

 whether the breed, in its early day, possessed the intelli- 

 gence of the present Newfoundland. It is more likely that 

 the breed as now known was manufactured by Europeans, 

 as it was very popular in England during the latter part of 



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