William a very different Newfoundland (Part 1)

 

 

William was a magnificent Landseer Newfoundland with more champions in his pedigree than you could shake a stick at. He had been born in quarantine to an American bitch with the right forbears, introduced into the UK to strengthen the breed. I don’t know about his brothers and sisters but I was to learn much about William.

He was brought by a Newfoundland breeder to service a very nice bitch she had and was loaned to me on a breeder’s contract, which in essence meant I would look after him as my dog but she would show him and breed from him under her name. So I had him from a pup and with Meg’s help we trained him in basic good manners like asking ‘to go out and not weeing in the house’, he learnt a lot more from her but that’s for the book. He grew up quite rapidly becoming larger by the week until he topped Meg quite handsomely in fact he was a very big example of the breed. Despite his size he was  really soft and friendly to all other dogs and humans. In fact it was not unknown for him during a walk to wander into people’s houses if they had left the front door open which was still common at the time in the country and introduce himself. Sometimes he would rush out if the reception was hostile and Meg would box his ears but most times the family would come out with him whilst he behaved as though he was their dog. We found out later that these families would often give him a tip bit and so it became increasingly difficult to get him past their doors whether they were open or closed.

However there came a time when he was attacked by another dog and sadly this changed his opinion of the canine world and he adopted the view “attack is the best form of defence” which meant that if there was another dog about he was on the lead all the time. Fortunately he had learnt from Meg and myself that when he was on the lead I had control. The love for all two legged animals still remained. His relationship with Meg was that of mother and child, it was beautiful to see; he would always look to her for guidance if he was asked to do anything he looked at her and I’ll swear she nodded her head before he went ahead. He was not the brightest of dogs and nowhere near the IQ of Meg but he became totally integrated into our family, we loved him and he loved us. So it came as quite a shock when the breeder asked for him for a few days to service her bitch.

William returned to us still a happy dog with a very unhappy breeder; it appears no matter what she did, nothing happened; whilst he was eager to play with the bitch, he just hadn’t a clue what he was there for and so all the past champions in his lineage were as nought. Eventually the breeder became so frustrated with him she ended the contract and we became his owners. Bless his misogynistic leanings!