Hi friends,

I know some of you that read my posts are blessed enough to have a Newfie or another cool dog in your life already. But others come across my posts and undoubtedly think, “Gosh, Newfies are cool. I really want one!” — and who can blame them because we are super awesome. But I thought I would mention a few things to prepare you in case you are thinking about getting a Newfie of your own.

5 Things Newfies are Not…

• A Chihuahua — We are big, huge dogs and we like to take up space–although we sometimes have no concept of just how big we are. We will lay in the middle of the kitchen floor when you are cooking, or want to be under the desk when you are working, just to be near you. But if you’re looking for a dog you won’t be able to notice, Newfies are not it.
• Stupid — Newfies are stubborn and silly — but they are seldom stupid. In fact, we are far more intelligent than people usually give us credit for. This means we can get away with stealing food from the counter (come to me steak!), grabbing the turkey out of closed the oven (I have not done this myself) or letting ourselves out of yards (yep, guilty). Never trust a Newfie — because when your back is turned and your guard is finally down, we will take action!
• Clean & tidy — Newfies drool, we sling our drool all over the place (called floogers), we leave a gallon of water on the floor after we take a drink (and will probably come give you a bath to say “thanks” for filling the water bowl), we bring in tons of dirt in our fur and paws, we go in every body of water we see and we require somewhere easily accessible for bathing (like a walk in shower) — although we’d prefer you don’t bathe us at all. We also need lots of brushing because our hair is quite long and tends to get matted if you don’t brush regularly.
• Sloths — Sometimes it may be hard to see that we do actually move during the day because we really do enjoy our rest, but that does not mean that you should just let us lay. We still need exercise and must be walked daily (like every other dog). That does not mean taking us on a 20-mile hike up and down the mountain every weekend…but 1-2 miles a day or even a bit more will make us far more relaxed when we get back home.
• Brave watch dogs — Newfies are far more likely to sleep through a burglary or try to lick the intruder to death than they are to bark up a store and scare someone off. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have a big dog bark which we can occasionally use to scare people — but it’s not really our nature to guard the home front. We may however deter someone from breaking in because they cannot get the door open when we are sleeping behind it!

5 Things Newfies ARE…

• Calm & Gentle — Ok, we’re not always calm; especially when we’re young. But in general, once we’ve got over the excitement of the mail carrier coming by or an old friend at the door, we usually just lay down and relax. We also don’t usually mind when kids ride us like horses, pull on our ears, want to brush us for hours or use us as pillows. In fact, we’re so good with kids, that the original dog Nana in Peter Pan was a Newfie!
• Loyal &  Loving — We love our families and will often show protective instincts when out with them. We would rarely harm a fly, but if we think our humans our in danger, especially our kids, we will take action to protect. We will try to pull you out of the water if we think you’re drowning (which may mean a few scratches from our toe nails) and we will try to push you out of the way if we think danger is approaching.
• Velcro dogs — We NEED companionship and attention during the day, and prefer not to be left alone all day which you’re at work. Five hours is pretty much our maximum alone time tolerance. And do expect to be showered with kisses, exuberance and lots of leaning against you when you return home.
• Goofy beyond belief — We Newfies love to have fun and often act like puppies long into our adult years. Heck, I’m 5 years old now and I still run around like a young dog, lay on my back to do the kicky-dance and have FRAP (frantic random activity periods) on a regular basis.  I also still test my limits and manage to get into trouble every now and then, just to keep my humans on their toes.
• LARGE dogs who need training — If you’ve never had a dog before, you really need to go to dog school with a Newf. And even if you’ve had a dog before, a giant breed dog which probably weighs as much or more than you do is tough to handle. I still have moments when I go crazy and feel the need to challenge other dogs. So mom and dad have to find a way to keep themselves planted on the ground when I’m acting crazy. It’s also very useful to know how to prevent your dog from running away, learning basic tricks, and knowing how to overcome our dominance plays so we know our place in the dog pack

So what do you think? Still want a Newfie? In our house, most of the time my good qualities outweigh the bad. Plus I have the sad puppy face down PERFECT! Helps to keep me from getting totally ejected when I push the limits! 😉

Sloppy Newfie kisses to you!