Newfoundland Dog stories from 1894....

[AC]

Thought someone might be interested. Enjoy:

( Originally Published 1894 in the Antiques Digest )

The dog known as the Newfoundland dog is one of the handsomest and best beloved of the dog family. He is distinct from the Labrador dog, which is more slender in make, has a sharper muzzle and is generally " black in colour with a tawny nose and a rusty spot over each eye". The Labrador dog and the Eskimo have been credited with the parentage of the Newfoundland species. At home the Newfoundland is made useful for the purpose of drawing loads, being harnessed to small carts and sleighs for carrying wood and other commodities. Abroad like the prophet who "is not without honour save in his own country", he has been found capable and worthy of much more honourable service, and his fidelity and sagacity have won for him universal esteem. He is an expert swimmer, his feet being webbed and so peculiarly adapted for the exercise. He takes to the water as though it were his natural element, and has so often carried the line to sinking ships, and rescued persons about to drown that such incidents have become quite common. The tribute paid to him by Sir Edwin Landseer, when he named his famous picture of him "a distinguished member of the humane society", was no more poetical than just. Volumes might be filled with stories of his intelligence and prowess, and it is difficult within present limits to select a due variety of characteristic anecdotes.

One of the most marked characteristic s of the Newfoundland dog is his generosity to a fallen foe. His temper is said to be uncertain, though this has been questioned by some who have had large experience of him under varying circumstances. Be this as it may, there are many stories told to his honour of his generosity to his enemies in the moment of victory. A Newfoundland dog, who had for some time treated with becoming dignity the impudence of some mongrels who were amusing themselves by snapping and snarling at his heels, suddenly turned and sent the crowd of persecutors flying in all directions, except the ringleader, who fell sprawling in the middle of the street, where he was about to receive the punishment he deserved when a cable car came dashing down the hill, right upon the dogs. The big dog saw the danger at once and sprang aside, but his enemy remained upon his back, too terrified to notice anything. The Newfoundland took in the situation, in a moment sprang back in front of the car, seized ' the cur in his teeth, and snatched him, still whining and begging for mercy, out of the very jaws of death. Laying him in the gutter, he gave a good-natured wag or two of his tail and went his way. Another Newfoundland much bothered by a small cur who was for ever barking at his heels, but who treated his assailant with sublime indifference, was on one occasion aroused to adopt drastic measures by receiving a bite on his leg. Seizing the cur by the loose skin of his back he carried him down to the quay of Cork and after letting him dangle over the water for a little while, dropped him into it. After watching the animal struggle with the water until nearly exhausted, the Newfoundland plunged in and rescued him. Mr. Jesse gives a fine illustration of this canine chivalry, witnessed at Donaghadee. "The one dog in this case was also a Newfoundland, and the other was a mastiff. They were both powerful dogs; and though each was good-natured when alone, they were very much in the habit of fighting when they met. One day they had a fierce and prolonged battle on the pier, from the point of which they both fell into the sea; and as the pier was long and steep, they had no means of escape but by swimming a con siderable distance. Throwing water upon fighting dogs is an approved means of putting an end to their hostilities; and it is natural to suppose that two combatants of the same species tumbling themselves into the sea would have the same effect. It had; and each began to make for the land as best he could. The Newfoundland being an excellent swimmer, very speedily gained the pier, on which he stood shaking himself; but at the same time watching the motions of his late antagonist, which, being no swimmer, was struggling exhausted in the water, and just about to sink. In dashed the Newfoundland dog, took the other gently by the collar, kept his head above water, and brought him safely on shore. There was a peculiar kind of recognition between the two animals. they never fought again; they were always together: and when the Newfoundland dog had been accidentally killed by the passage of a stone waggon on the railway over him, the other languished and evidently lamented for a long time."

Mr. Youatt gives a remarkable illustration, also quoted by Mr. Jesse, of a Newfoundland's apparent perception of danger of quite another sort. Finding it inconvenient to keep this animal Mr. Youatt had given it to a friend, and four years passed before the dog saw his late owner again, when they met quite by chance, the two masters and the dog, on a lonely road between Wandsworth and Kingston. The dog showed every sign of pleasure at meeting his old master, but when they parted faithfully followed the new. Mr. Youatt had not proceeded far, however, when he discovered that the dog had rejoined him and was walking at his side, growling and showing every sign of anger. Looking ahead he discovered two men approaching him stealthily from behind the bushes that skirted the road. °' I can scarcely say," says Mr. Youatt, "what I felt; for presently one of the scoundrels emerged from the bushes, not twenty yards from me; but he no sooner saw my companion, and heard his growling, the loudness and depth of which were fearfully increasing, than he retreated, and I saw no more of him or of his associate. My gallant defender accompanied me to the direction-post at the bottom of the hill, and there, with many a mutual and honest greeting, we parted, and he bounded away to overtake his rightful owner. We never met again; but I need not say that I often thought of him with admiration and gratitude."

Perhaps one of the most remarkable of trained Newfoundland dogs, was the one possessed by Mr. McIntyre of Regent Bridge, Edinburgh. This dog was trained to perform all kinds of tricks. He would pick his master's hat out from a number of others of the same kind, or indeed almost any article of his master's from a group of similar articles. He would ring the bell to summon the servants, and if there was no bell rope in the room, find and use the hand bell with equal facility. A comb was hidden on the top of a mantel-piece in the room, and the dog required to bring it, which he almost immediately did, although in the search he found a number of articles also belonging to his master, purposely strewed around, all of which he passed over, and brought the identical comb which he was required to find, fully proving that he was not guided by the sense of smell, but that he perfectly understood what was spoken to him. One evening some gentlemen being in company, one of them accidentally dropped a shilling on the floor, which, after the most careful search, could not be found. Mr. M. seeing his dog sitting in a corner, and looking as if quite unconscious of what was passing, said to him, "Dandie, find us the shilling and you shall have a biscuit." The dog immediately jumped upon the table and laid down the shilling, which he had previously picked up without having been perceived. Mr. M. having one evening supped with a friend, on his return home could not find his bootjack in the place where it usually lay. He then said to his dog, " Dandie, I cannot find my boot-jack,-search for it." The faithful animal, quite sensible of what had been said to him, scratched at the room-door, which his master opened. Dandie proceeded to a very distant part of the house, and returned carrying in his mouth the boot-jack, which Mr. M. then recollected to have left that morning under a sofa. A number of gentlemen, well acquainted with Dandie, were daily in the habit of giving him a penny which he took to a baker's shop and purchased bread for himself. One of these gentlemen, who lived in James' Square, when passing was accosted by Dandie, in expectation of his usual present. Mr. T. said to him, "I have not a penny with me today, but I have one at home." Having returned to his house some time after, he heard a noise at the door, which was opened by the servant, when in sprang Dandie to receive his penny. In a frolic Mr. T, gave him a bad one, which he, as usual, carried to the baker, who refused to take the bad coin. He immediately returned to Mr. Vs, scratched at the door, and when the servant opened it, laid the penny down at her feet, and walked off, seemingly with the greatest contempt. Although Dandie, in general, made an immediate purchase of bread with the money which he received, the following circumstance clearly demonstrates that he possessed more prudent foresight than many who are reckoned rational beings. One Sunday, when it was very unlikely that he could have received a present of money, Dandie was observed to bring home a loaf. Mr. M. being somewhat surprised at this, desired the servant to search the room to see if any money could be found. While she was engaged in this task, the dog seemed quite unconcerned till she approached the bed, when he ran to her, and gently drew her back from it. Mr. M. then secured the dog, which kept struggling and growling while the servant went under the bed, where she found seven pence halfpenny under a bit of cloth. From that time he never could endure the girl, and was frequently observed to hide his money in a corner of a saw-pit, under the dust. When Mr. M, had company, if he desired the dog to see any one of the gentlemen home, he would walk with him till he reached his home, and then return to his master, how great soever the distance might be. Many other stories are told about Dandie but these must suffice. Of their authenticity there seems little doubt; they were recorded by Captain Brown during the lifetime of Dandie and his master.

[Scootergirl]

Wow! That was a great article. What I found most incredible about these stories, though is that you could buy a loaf of bread with a penny!

Seriously though, were Newfs smaller back in 1894? Why would you even begin to compare a Newfoundland with a lab?

[AC]

In the beginning I believe there was the St. John's Dog and the Lessor St. John's Dog - one became the Newfoundland Dog and the other a Labrador Retriever so people always had to distinguish the 2 to avoid confusion.

[Newf Lover]

Cool stories!!�  I always thought that the Lab had been bred from Newfoundlands.�  History tends to get twisted around I guess.�  Here's another writeup I found  at www.PBS.com about one of the most Famous Newfs in American History.

SEAMAN

In preparing for the expedition, Lewis visited President Jefferson’s scientific friends in Philadelphia for instructions in natural sciences, astronomical navigation and field medicine. It is believed that it was during this period that Lewis, for “20$” purchased Seaman, his “dogg of the newfoundland breed” to accompany him to the Pacific.

Although Lewis left unsaid his reason for selecting a Newfoundland, he may have been impressed with the breed of dog first publicized in British Quadrupeds, a 1790 work authored by Sir Thomas Bewick. Honoring its place of origin, the breed was appropriately named Newfoundland. Lewis may have been influenced in selecting Seaman by the breed’s reputation of size, strength and swimming abilities, together with Bewick’s mention of “the great sagacity of this new member of the dog world.” Bewick accompanied his commentary with an engraving that represented the breed as black and white, later to be known as a Landseer.

The dog is mentioned frequently in the journals, including Lewis’s praise of the “sagacity” of Seaman, but nowhere in any of the explorers’ original manuscript journals is the color of Lewis’s dog given. Nevertheless, scholarly and fictional post-expedition literature alike mention the dog unequivocally as “black.” It is uncertain when today’s preferred solid colors of Newfoundlands were developed.

In 1916, the dog’s name, Seaman, through historian error in deciphering the journalists’ poorly formed words in their longhand manuscript journals, resulted in the popular but erroneous name, Scannon. It was not until 1987 when the late Donald Jackson, a leading research historian, published his documentary findings in his Among the Sleeping Giants that the dog’s name was proved rightly to be Seaman. This matter is treated in detail under Captain Lewis’s journal entry for July 5, 1806, below.

The dog appears in Captain Meriwether Lewis’s journal virtually from the outset of the explorer’s departure from Pittsburgh, August 30, 1803. Navigating down the Ohio River, Lewis, wrote on September 11, “[T]he squirrell appears in great abundance on either side of the river. I made my dog take as many each day as I had occasion for, they wer fat and I thought them when fryed a pleasent food.” On November 16, near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, Lewis mentioned that an encampment of Shawnee and Delaware Indians were encountered. “

• ne of the Shawnees a respectable looking Indian offered me three beverskins for my dog with which he appeared much pleased...I prised much for his docility and qualifications generally for my journey and of course there was no bargain.”

The dog is not listed in the roster of the party that embarked up the Missouri River from its 1803-1804 winter staging area at Camp Dubois, May 14, 1804. The only documentary clue that he was present at the time is contained in an existing scrap of an interleaf page, preceding the May 14, 1804 ,first entry in Sergeant Charles Floyd’s tattered longhand journal. The note states cryptically, “

• ur dog”

Seaman next appears in Captain Clark’s journal entry dated August 25, 1804, “Capt Lewis & my Self Concluded to go and See the Mound which was viewed with Such turrow [terror] by all the different Nations in this quarter...whic h the Indians Call Mountain of little people or Spirits . . . at six miles our Dog was So Heeted & fatigued we was obliged Send him back to the Creek.”

The dog was not mentioned during the Fort Mandan winter. He next enters the scenario on April 22, 1805, during the continuation of the Pacific bound explorers. Lewis recorded: “[W]alking on shore this evening I met with a buffaloe calf which attached itself to me and continued to follow close at my heels untill I embarked [board a boat] and left it. it appeared allarmed at my dog which was probably the cause of it’s so readily attaching itself to me.” April 25, Lewis expressed his attachment to Seaman. “We set out at an early hour. the water friezed on the oars this morning as the men rowed...my dog had been absent during the last night, and I was fearfull we had lost him altogether, however, much to my satisfaction he joined us at 8 Oclock this morning.”

On May 19, Lewis had more cause for concern over his dog: “One of the party wounded a beaver, and my dog as usual swam in to catch it; the beaver bit him through the hind leg and cut the artery; it was with great difficulty that I could stop the blood; I fear it will yet prove fatal to him.”

Fortunately, Seaman regained his vigor rapidly. Ten days later, on May 29, he was performing guard duty. Clark wrote: “In the last night we were alarmed by a Buffalow which Swam from the opposit Shore landed [by] the Perogue [next to the tipi] in which Capt Lewis & my Self were [sleeping]...and Crossed the perogue...our Dog flew out & he changed his course & passed without doeing more damage than bend a rifle & brakeing hir Stock and injureying one of the blunder busts in the perogue as he passed through.”

On June 27, while the explorers were portaging 18 miles overland around the Great Falls of the Missouri, Lewis wrote that “a bear came within thirty yards of our camp last night and eat up about thirty weight of buffaloe suit [suet] which was hanging on a pole. my dog seems to be in a constant state of alarm with these bear and keeps barking all night.”

On July 15, beyond the falls, Seaman’s strength as a swimmer was demonstrated. Lewis recorded that “Dreywer [Drouillard] wounded a deer which ran into the river. my dog pursued caught it drowned it and brought it to shore at our camp.” On July 26, Lewis wrote that the party encountered a “...species of grass, the dry seeds of which are armed with a barb [that] penetrate our mockersins and leather legings and give us great pain untill they are removed. my poor dog suffers with them excessively, he is constantly binting and scratching himself in a rack of pain.”

By August 17, the explorers had reached the Missouri system’s upper limit of navigation on a tributary they named “Jefferson’s River, in honor of that illustrious personage, Thomas Jefferson, the author of our enterprise.” Lewis, with three of his men, had crossed the Continental Divide at modern Lemhi Pass, and made contact with Sacagawea’s people, identified today as the Lemhi Shoshoni. At a site they named “Camp Fortunate,” they assembled the Indians, and opened discussions to trade for horses and obtain a guide to pass through the Rocky and Bitterroot Mountains. Lewis remarked, “[E]very article about us appeared to excite astonishment in ther minds; the apperance of the men, their arms, the canoes, our manner of working them, the black man york and the segacity of my dog.”

Between August 17, 1805, and July 5, 1806, the journals are silent as to the activities of Seaman, even over the 1805-1806 Fort Clatsop winter. During the return journey, Lewis, enroute to the Great Falls of the Missouri, explored a shortcut that the captains had learned about from Indians. Lewis’ route would extend from near modern Missoula, Montana, east through the Continental Divide of the Rockies at present Lewis and Clark pass, then on to the falls. On July 5 he “saw two swan in this beautiful Creek...” and proceeded on “3 miles to the entrance of a large creek 20 yds. wide [which I] Called Seamans’ Creek.”

In discovering this spelling of the dog’s name, Dr. Jackson, commenting in his book, Among the Sleeping Giants, wrote: “No person named Seaman is known to have been associated with the lives of either captain, and as a common term the word seems strangely nautical in view of its location. When it became necessary for Lewis and Clark to name a creek, river, or other geographical feature, they were predictably direct and simple in their choices...They usually went straight to the heart of the matter and chose a sound, reasonable name for the simplest of reasons: to commemorate a member or sponsor of the expedition.”

“It occurred to me that the name might be a garbled version of Scannon’s Creek, in honor of the faithful dog. The dog had been with Lewis on that side trip, and no geographical feature had yet been named for him during the entire expedition. I consulted microcopies of the journals held by the American Philosophical Society, half suspecting I would find that Seaman’s Creek was actually Scannon’s Creek. What I learned instead was mildly startling. The stream was named Seaman’s Creek because the dog’s name was Seaman.” Today, the stream is named Monture Creek.

Proceeding on to the Great Falls, Lewis remarked on July 7, “Reubin Fields wounded a moos deer this morning near our camp. my dog much worried.” On July 15, Lewis recorded the last words to be found the journals concerning Seaman. “[T]he musquetoes continue to infest us in such manner that we can scarcely exist; for my own part I am confined by them to my bier at least 3/4 th of the time. my dog even howls with the torture he experiences from them.” It is unclear whether Seaman traveled the last leg of the journey down the Missouri River to St. Louis. No post-expedition primary documentation has been found linking a Newfoundland dog to the exploring enterprise.

[AC]

Great Story about Seaman. I love reading about the history of the breed. I am going to check the history of the labrador just out of curiosity now.

[AC]

Another short story.

"Monday, August 26, 1782

Yesterday a young man leaped from the centre of Battersea-bridge, to swim up river against time for a wage of five guineas, but he was instantly followed by a Newfoundland dog, belonging to a casual passenger, who seized him by the arm, and without drawing blood, dragged him to shore, to the infinite merriment of a great number of spectators, who joined in paying a tribute of praise to this sagacious and generous animal."