Newfs do seem totally underrepresent ed. Though, my Dad's neighbor has two huge Newfs that have always been a delight at Block Parties.
I guess some family background would be helpful for the advice department, huh?
Sean and I live in Sacramento right now, though we'll be moving up to Coastal Washington within the next few years or so. It gets pretty hot in the summer here, but I'm such a heat wuss that our house is an icebox close to year round. We're pretty big couch potatoes, though we love walking around downtown and such. We spend a lot of time up in Lake Tahoe helping out at a camp, so that means plenty of snow and lake play for our new baby. Since we're up there a lot, we'd like a pretty mellow guy that likes meeting new people. We're big dog fans, the smallest dog either one of us has ever had is the White Sheperd my parents still have. I'm also a big long hair fan, from being brought up with Samoyeds and Pyr mixes and everythign in between, I find my current fur and drool free life a little lacking.
So far I've read tons of books (and posts here!), emailed several breeders and still haven't been able to decide, Gah. since we're going the rescue route, I've thought about putting applications in with both groups and leaving it to chance, wherever the perfect dog for us shows us, he's ours! Then again, I'd much rather be able to make a decision and stand by it. Sigh.