Before you go ooh-aah about the above picture, please remember that by about 6 months old those tiny little handfuls of joy will be starting to develop into large demons capable of pushing you and your family closer to the edge than you ever thought possible.

They are world-class mud-magnets and can bring an amazing amount of water and dirt into your house.

For further information please read further down this page as well as downloading the following documents which are in PDF format. If you click on the following links it may take some time for the documents to appear on your screen. The easiest way is to right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..." to save the file to your computer.

So You Think You Want a Newfoundland - a guide for prospective owners.

You and Your Newfoundland Puppy - a helpful booklet for the new owner.

To view these files you'll need Adobe Reader. if you haven't got it, you can download it now from here.

Still interested?

Finding a reputable breeder - Newfoundland Club members should abide by a 'Code of Ethics' laid out by The Newfoundland Club. They will have done all the relevant health checks that have been identified to affect the breed at this time.

These are:-

Hip-dysplasia:

All breeding stock should have been X-rayed prior to breeding; they will have a score sheet from the BVA which they should be happy to show you for both sire & dam.

Heart disease:

All breeding stock should have been examined by a veterinary surgeon with a diploma in veterinary Cardiology (DVC), males require echo-doppler examination, bitches may have either echo-doppler examination or have been examined twice by auscultation (stethoscope test) also with certificate of the results.

Cystinuria.

The only disease for which we have a DNA test. Providing the status of both parents is known, no Newfoundland need ever suffer from this disease again.

Some of our members go one step further and have signed our 'Breeders Charter'. This pledge goes beyond the 'Code of Ethics'.

The Kennel Club also has an 'Accredited Breeder scheme' which some breeders have joined. This is similar to our own Breeders Charter and is a pledge to follow good breeding practice. Currently the Kennel Club permits breeders to put two endorsements on registrations – Progeny Not Eligible for Registration and Export Pedigree Not Allowed. Most good breeders will use both of these. for further information please click here. Also, the Kennel Club have a series of helpful information guides available here.

The Newfoundland Club has a data base listing the results of heart tests belonging to breeders who have given permission to us to publish their results. See the Heart Data Base.