For Want of Salt

Early History of the Newfoundland Breed

Early style of Newfoundland. Note the moderate bone and general retriever qualities.

The Newfoundland breed is the progenitor of many modern breeds of dog, including all of the retriever breeds But what is the origin of the Newfoundland?

Newfoundland Province, in Canada, consists of both the island of Newfoundland proper and the easternmost coast of mainland Canada, in Labrador. Both Newfoundland and Labrador consist of many inlets, bays, rivers, estuaries, and lakes. This region was home to several Native American tribes, including Inuit and Beothuk, as well as several others. While the Beothuk did not appear to have dogs, other peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador did, which they used for sledge transport in winter, and packing or pulling travois in summer months.

Native dogs packing supplies. Note thick coats and medium size. Dogs of this type formed part of the foundation of the Newfoundland.

Newfoundland was explored by the Vikings in about 1000 AD, and settlements were made there. These settlements existed for half a century or more, and because they were settled, rather than mere camps or temporary stopping places, we can assume that the Norsemen brought their dogs with them as well. No doubt, these tough arctic dogs were interbred with the already resident native dogs. These settlements were abandoned after a time, but the reason for their being abandoned has not been discovered. Annual festivals are held in Newfoundland celebrating the Norse settlements, and reenacting how such a settlement would have looked. And yes, dogs are included in the reenactments!

In 1497, an explorer named John Cabot made a landing on Newfoundland, and explored the coastline of Labrador by ship. Fantastic tales of being able to lower a bucket into the sea of this "new found land" and raise it full of cod fish soon had many rushing to make their fortunes in the fisheries off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the post-renaissance era, the rise of the merchant class meant that there were many that would take advantage of the fortunes to be made in trading fish in the Catholic countries of Europe. Many fishing companies converged in the area, from many lands; Portugal, france, spain, england. The Basques would also develop a thriving whaling enterprise along the Labrador coast that lasted until the mid-1600s.

The fishermen from the European continent did most of their fish processing on board ship. The cod were laid down in layers, and salt was thrown on top of each layer to cure the fish. Once the boats were laden, they returned to their home ports. The ships did land, and small summer encampments and landing sites dotted the Newfoundland coast here and there, but for the most part, the companies doing the fishing did not encourage long-term settlement on land. They feared mutinies and general sloth among the fishing parties, so permanent settlements were discouraged.

The European continent has a ready supply of salt, which was mined and placed on board each ship before starting the voyage across the Atlantic. However, England does not have plentiful salt, and had to trade with other nations for its salt. This led to a different fish curing process. Rather than throw salt down into the hold of the ship onto the fish, the English were obliged to make their scarce salt supplies up into a thin paste, which was brushed onto the fish, which were then dried on long racks. This required processing plants be set up on land, where the fish-curing could take place. Once dried, the fish were then loaded on board the sips, and sent back home. A winter crew was left behind each year to maintain not only the equipment and facilities necessary for fishing, but also the fragile toe-hold England had in the cod fishing industry. Being able to stake out the shore space necessary for their land-based curing process assured continuation of the business when the race across the Atlantic from Europe to the Grand Banks began each spring. 

Wood cut showing John Guy meeting the Beothuk people of Newfoundland in 1612

Newfoundland is a beautiful, rugged region. The weather is often harsh, with rain, fog, and arctic blasts bringing snow and ice thrughout much of the year. In our comfortable modern times, it is nearly impossible to imagine how difficult it must have been for those early settlers who clung through the long winters to their tiny stake of land. It was not long before the company settlers brought their families with them, and real settlement of Newfoundland by the English began. Of course, these settlers also brought their dogs. We have not only Native Inuit, Innu and Micmac dogs, Norse dogs, and ship's dogs, but English settlers' dogs now intermixing on Newfoundland. Breeds most common on board ships were of the hunting or guarding types; mastiff types, Greyhounds, spaniels, and waterdogs of different origins; Portuguese water dogs and Barbets being two of the most comon types during that era.

George Cartwright, early settler and explorer of Newfoundland. Pictured here with his Greyhound; many European breed types went into the creation of the Newfoundland Dog.

As a result of these various mixtures and natural pressures, a discernable type of dog emerged, called the Newfoundland dog. This was not the Newfoundland we know today. Today's Newfoundland dog is the result of further development and refinement in England during the latter part of the 19th century. Rather, the early Newfoundland was a medium to large sized dog, rugged and primitive in build and temperament, with either a dense close coat, or a longer coat. This dog came in many colors, and had many differences in look, caused from the fact that there were so many different types of dog that went into the Newfoundland's makeup. In those long-ago times, appearances were not important, so long as the dogs were useful.

And useful they were! These Newfoundland dogs were jacks of all trades, hauling firewood and water by sledge or travois, hunting and retrieving game from woods and water, and making themselves useful in hundreds of other ways. No dog developed in such a watery environment would last long unless it was water going itself, and soon the word of the Newfoundland's exceptional abilities in frigid waters spread back to England. By the 1700s, many Newfoundland dogs were being exported back to England and other European countries. These Newfoundland dogs were of many types, but all had one thing in common - their love of water.

Color and type variations in the Newfoundland of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Two dogs of this type were the foundation of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever breed. 

Along with exportation, the Newfoundland was used extensively as a ship's dog. The breed was well suited to act as companion and helpmeet on board ship, and few ships that plied the waters of Eastern Canada and the Colonies were without one resident Newfoundland dog. By the early 1800s, the Newfoundland  dog had become a staple for those who required a dog capable of performing strongly when physical work was needed.

English Newfoundland of the late 1800s. The English fancy had stabilized the breed into one general type which was larger and considerably different from the Newfoundland still in the Americas.

By the mid-1800's, pedigreed breeding of dogs had become popular. England began publishing a Stud Book, and written standards became the norm. The Newfoundlands imported to England had been further bred to other mastiff-type breeds to "improve" the Newfoundland, and to create larger and more imposing size. Color stabilized somewhat, the solid black and the black-and-white Landseer types being considered ideal. By the 1920s, the breed in England had diverged considerably from what was considered ideal in the Americas. Importations of English-style Newfs back to the Americas soon spelled the end of the original type of Newfoundland. Traces of the original Newfoundland can still be found in its closest living descendent: the Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

A Champion Newfoundland in America during the 1920s. This was the typical style of Newfoundland before importation of large numbers of English show-type Newfoundlands into the US & Canada.

Boatswain II, a famous Chesapeake Bay Retriever, also from the 1920s. Note the general similarities between this dog and the Newfoundland from the same era, pictured above.