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Other lesser known dogs worth mentioning with similar temperments and ancestry are Leonbergers and Pyrenean Mastiffs. The former is a combo of Newfs, Saint Bernards, Prys, and some extinct German mountain dog. The latter is a combo of the Spanish Mastiff and Great Pyrenees. Great dogs, all.

My first Newf (when I was a kid) was very friendly to people but uncharacteristically nasty to all other dogs. It all started when my dad was taking him - Bruno - for a walk in the park when he was around 7 months old, and he was attacked by a full grown German Shepherd. It was a bad fight, and Bruno's face was a bit cut up. But the Shepherd was almost killed.

Every since that day, when he tasted blood at a very early age, he just didn't tolerate being around other canines. He even growled at stone statues of dogs.

He died at around 12 (the age every single one of my dogs has died), and it was an incredible event. He spent about 3 days digging a huge hole in the corner of our property, and when he was done he simply layed down in there and died peacefully.

That's amazing!

I don't know why I haven't bought a back hoe to fill in all of the holes they've dug. Some people chop wood for exercise, I fill in holes. Twenty years ago one of my males decided we needed a moat around the house. Eventually I lost the battle and he finished the job. Except for the walkways at the doors we had a 3 to 4 foot deep moat completely surrounding the house.

Most of my Newfies have lived to around 12. The Pyr's tend to live longer with the oldest making 17. I think he stuck around until my latest Pyr arrived. About 6 months after she joined the family he laid down and went to sleep.

The male that lived to be 17 was an artist with doors, any kind. If it wasn't locked with a key lock he would open it. This included house doors, garage doors (with and without openers) and car doors.

A couple of my females have tended to "vocalize" a lot. One had a vocabulary of about 50 words. Have you seen any of the same in your dogs?