44S 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST?. 
[DECEiEBEfi, 
A MEMBER OF THE HUMANE 
[COPYEIGHT SECCEED.] 
SOCIETY. — Engraved, for the American Agriculturist, after a Painting by Sir Edwin Landseer. 
The Newfoundland Dog. 
3 
We know it is heretical for an agricultural pa- 
per no-w-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 re- 
ceived the medal of the Humane Society of 
Loudon, for saving the lives of several drown- 
ing 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 bodj', 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 pur- 
pose. Kept chained, he becomes yery alert, 
and often unfriendly, though he seldom inflicts 
serious injuries. These dogs are possessed of a 
peculiar instinct, which lead3 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 iutelligence 
the Newfoundland ranks, among dogs, second 
only to the Scotch Cooley or Shepherd dog. 
They are the safest of dogs to have as play- 
mates 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 natu- 
rally 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 sheep- 
killers than others. Dogs of the large breed of 
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 ani- 
mal of great service to the sportsman as a re- 
triever, is produced, the dog 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 at- 
tention 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. 
