A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'N'

N - Norfolk/Norwich Terrier, Newfoundland

I knew nothing about either of these terriers until I looked them up, apparently the Norfolk is a variety of the Norwich Terrier. You can distinguish between them by looking at their ears.

A recently groomed Norfolk Terrier
(By Flillia; 6 April 2008; PD)

The Norfolk was recognised as a separate breed in 1960 and has dropped ears; the Norwich Terrier's ears are pricked,

You would have no problem identifying a Newfoundland from its size, A large dog weighing in at over 70kg, it hails from the province of Newfoundland in Canada where with its webbed feet and water resistant fur it was a dog favoured by fishermen.

Newfoundland Dog (Young Rüde)

(By Gunter Rott, January 2006; Newfoundlanddog at de.wikipedia; CC BY-SA 3.0)

These large dogs may be black, brown, white and black (Landseer) or grey. That Landseer 'colour' arises from a series of paintings by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer of the black and white Newfoundlands.

Lion, a Newfoundland Dog - 1824 oil painting

(By Sir Edwin Henry Landseer - ex Google Art Project)

Newfoundlands feature in poems and stories.

Boatswain, the pet of Lord Byron, became the subject of his poem "Epitaph to a Dog" and had a memorial built for him at Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire after his death from rabies.

The Boatswain Memorial (inscription)

(By Steve Dufour, 7 Sept 2007 - original photo by Ray Treece)

In literature the pet dog of Edward Fairfax Rochester in Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" was a Newfoundland named Pilot.

It should come as no surprise that J M Barrie had a pet Landseer Newfoundland (Luath) which was said to have been the inspiration for Nana, the nurse dog of Wendy, John and Michael in his classic story of "Peter Pan."