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Newfoundland Dog - Nomination for Clan Dog



Dear Clan,
	The messages of dogs and the grief we feel when losing them, has
begged me to send this item to you.  
> I hope you find this ineresting.
> Can anyone in the discussion group answer this question?	Where did
> these dogs come from?
> 
> Having had 4 Newfoundland dogs over the years as boy.  I now think about
> how much I miss having one lying underfoot where-ever I go.  As close a
> companion as you could ever hope for.  But what might interest this group
> is that the origin of the breed has never been established.
> 
> North America which was abundant with wolves and cyotes seems light on for
> native dogs.
> If memory serves, I believe that it (the Newfoundland), and the basset
> hound are considered to be genuine North American dogs.
> With regard to the Newfoundland it has a coat that protects it form water,
> completely webbed paws, tends to swim more breast-stroke than a genuine
> dog-paddle, and the instinct to retrieve people from water.  The giant
> silent guardian.
> What wonderful, but wierd traits?		Did they arrive from
> elsewhere?
> The origin of this working breed is disputed. Knowing the breed's origins
> might be the KEY to early North American contact!
> Vikings and Basque fishermen visited Newfoundland as early as 1000 AD and
> wrote accounts of the natives working side by side with these retrieving
> dogs. 	If they pre-date the Viking and Basques, did they come from
> even earlier trans-atlantic crossings?
> 
> The breed as we know it today was developed in England, while the island
> of Newfoundland nearly legislated the native breed to extinction in 1780. 
> There are many legends of Newfoundlands saving drowning victims by
> carrying lifelines to sinking ships. The dogs were kept in the "dog walk"
> on early sailing ships. If the sea was too choppy when land was sighted,
> the dog carried a line to land. A Newfoundland named Seaman was selected
> to accompany the Lewis and Clark expedition, and Nana, the children's
> "nurse" in the original of "Peter Pan" was a Newfoundland.
> The best description of the character of the Newfoundland dog is the
> epitaph written by Lord Byron inscribed on the grave of his Newfoundland:
> 
> Near this spot
> are deposited the remains of one
> who possessed beauty without vanity
> strength without insolence
> courage without ferocity
> and all the virtues of man without his vices.
> This praise which would be
> unmeaning flattery
> if inscribed over human ashes
> is but a just tribute to the memory of
> Boatswain, a dog
> who was born at Newfoundland, May 1803,
> and died at Newstead Abbey,
> November 18, 1808.
> 
	With connections to Native Americans, Vikings and Britain; it could
be considered a suitable nomination for the Sincalir Clan Dog.
	Just as Sinclairs journey to all points of the compass, so too does
the Newfoundland, even down to Melbourne Australia in plentiful numbers.

	Love to all
	Bruce Carlyon
	Melbourne, Australia.
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