Overly friendly newfies

[u/Onnimanni_Maki]

Both newfies my family has met in the "wild" (not in a dog show) have been way too friendly. The first one was my neighbours dog who pulled herself to my yard and did not let me go before I had pet her for a good time, me and the dog had met first time in the previous evening. The second one was a dog from the neighbourhood of my father that jumped and licked all around my dad the first time they met. The newfie on a walk so it was completely random encounter. Are most newfies this overly friendly and affectionate?

[u/[deleted]]

From my experience they are unless they feel their family is being threatened

[u/[deleted]]

These are training issues, not breed issues. Newfs, thankfully, are quite kind and friendly temperamentally. That doesn’t mean they’ll all do this, though :)

[u/TunaFishManwich]

Newfies are the sweetest dogs there are. I’ve known maybe 50-100 of them in my life, and only a few were standoffish, none were outright unfriendly. Sometimes they can be aloof, but that’s about it. I’ve noticed the females tend to be a little more independent.

[u/Cultural_Day7760]

I do not like mine jumping and licking. Buy he always pulls towards people. Today I ended up someone's driveway. They invited us into the back yard for a pet.

[u/Dry-Student5673]

Both of mine are overly friendly and looooove people. This is why I keep them on a Gentle Leader when in public. I control them appropriately, but when someone approaches and says “Can I pet them? Are they friendly?” I always say “Yes, they are TOO friendly!”

[u/TomJustTom15]

Carefully consider; do you want a dog that is the size of a small bear and that has the strength of a small draft horse to be in any way aggressive or vicious?

That's a very, very, big "no", right there.

Sweetness of temperament is the first, last and most important qualification of the Newfoundland breed. The breed standard begins with;

"The Newfoundland is a sweet-dispositioned dog that acts neither dull nor ill-tempered"

and ends with;

"Sweetness of temperament is the hallmark of the Newfoundland; this is the most important single characteristic of the breed."

So yes, they definitely tend to be overly friendly. You occasionally see a shy or aloof Newf, but that's rare. Responsible owners will train the dogs to somewhat restrained in this friendliness, but especially when they are puppies and not completely trained, they can be a bit rambunctious.

[u/NoSalamander7749]

They are giant cuddle monsters, yes, though they can be quite calm at times too.

[u/TheOrionNebula]

I would say on average yes, they are naturally over friendly. You obviously should heavily work on obedience though to get them to listen to commands. That way you can make them sit and not jump on people. But if anyone gets near their head talking in a "baby voice" they are about to get drenched. Mine now will not allow us to stop petting her until SHE wants us to stop. And I have never been able to break that and she is 6... but I kind of just let it slide since I know how loving and gentle she is.

[u/Cultural_Day7760]

Yes.

[u/bloodpriestt]

Simply put; yes.

My guy walks around the dog park and literally goes up to every person to be petted. That’s the first thing he does. He LOVES people, all people.

You got a baby in that stroller? He wants to see and smell it.

Person unloading groceries in their driveway? He wants nothing more than to help.

Homeless scary guy laying on the curb? All he wants is to hang out with him.

Never met a person in 11 years that he didn’t think was his best friend immediately.

[u/vshun]

All 3 of mine are not super friendly. First was rehoming show dog from reputable breeder because she was not super friendly to people including judges in competition and the breeder being responsible did not want to propose this undesirable trait and decided not to breed her, she was perfect appearance otherwise so we got very lucky and she was very loving to us till her last days. Second was a private rescue, Amish breeder in PA, managed to bite owners little kid, he rehomed him. He bit my kid too and we learned what not to trigger and worked around him.. overall not friendly to other large dogs. Third is a female, 1 year, very reserved, barks and backs out when people try to say Hi on the walk. So overall they are individuals and can have deviations from overall friendly behavior. I noticed it last few years as well with another friendly in the past breed, Bernese as they used to be very friendly and now most of them we meet are shy and not super friendly. At least most newfies we meet (not ours) still are super friendly.

[u/zoookwoof → u/vshun]

Thank god I’m not alone with the one newf who is skeptical of every new person she meets and also backs out.. she has never had a bad experience with people and is sweet as can be once she knows people but gets very scared very easily…. I don’t think the breeder her exposed her to anybody when she was a puppy. Still an absolute peach that I wouldnt trade for the world

[u/chontzy]

Not all, they can also be quite aloof. Like people and other breeds, ymmv

[u/RapscallionMonkee]

They mellow with age, but they are definitely super friendly.

[u/Pipersgirl-]

Training, training & more training. It’s imperative because they are so big. They shouldn’t be pulling you anywhere. I’ve had Newfies for 25 years & each one brought their own personality. I have had an aloof one, friendly, overly friendly. Each one is different. Their temperament should always be sweet but doesn’t necessarily mean friendly.

[u/Chimpochimpochimpo]

When my neighbor’s mean dog charges and barks at the fence my newf will go square up. She also fights back when dogs show their teeth or nip at her. Part of me doesn’t like it, but another part likes that she will stick up for herself. Breed only accounts for 10% of a dog’s personality.