• Ensure that your dog will be in a secure area where there is no access to exterior doors they could accidentally slip out of. 

• If your Newf is not used to be being on a grooming table, let the groomer know this ahead of time, it may be safer for your Newf to stay on the floor to be groomed. 

• Newfs should never be allowed to jump out of tubs or off of tables without someone supporting their front end to prevent injury. 

• If your Newf has any orthopedic issues, tell your groomer about them before hand. Some groomers may tell owners to double up on their dog's pain meds for the day of the groom -- NEVER DO THIS without consulting your vet first!

With a few basic safety precautions and some common sense your Newf can enjoy it's day at the spa without any risk.

Thanks to Screech's owner, JoAnne of  Badbear Newfoundlands in Thunderbay, ON for sharing Screech's story with us, and to his co-owners for granting permission for us to share it on our site. We're all wishing Screech a speedy recovery.

AM/CAN CH Top Shelf Screech to Badbear RN

If you have other grooming safety tips feel free to email them to us to be added to our article.

New arrivals Noodles is making herself at home in foster care.  She is a total love-bug who enjoys spending time with people, getting lots of belly rubs, hugs and attention.

Noodles thrives on attention and loves to be groomed, handled and to stick close to people.  She is gentle and friendly and would be very happy to have a family where someone is around a lot of the time and where she will have many opportunities to hang out with people.  She adores children and would be a great match for a family with well mannered kids.


She is uninterested in other dogs, not really keen on playing with them.  She pays little attention to dogs she meets at the park or while out and about.    If a dog gets in her face wanting to play she will give an appropriate signal to let them know she is not interested in their shenanigans, then will move along.  She would love a family where she could be the  only dog and get all of the love to herself! Or she could join a family with a mellow dog who is equally uninterested in horsing around.


She pays little attention to small animals (cats, squirrels, etc) so could potentially join a family with a dog savvy cat.


Born on September 28, 2008 she just turned 7 years old and appears to be in good health.  A retired dam she has now been spayed and will be brought UTD on vaccines before adoption.


Noodles is being fostered in Toronto.  Her approved adopters will be required to pick her up in person.  An adoption donation of $500 applies.

I was adopted December 1, 2015.

Sweet as can be, this adorable 5 year old Newf is the perfect match for someone looking for a friendly, affectionate, gentle companion.

Annabelle, or Bella for short, knows her basic commands, has excellent house manners, is easy going and an absolute pleasure.  She is quiet in the house, has excellent recall and is a real gem!
Well mannered around children, she could join a family with dog savvy kids.She is friendly with everyone, gentle and sweet as can be.

Annabelle gets along well with other dogs, is fine with cats, and is a wonderful girl! She could join a family with another well mannered four footed playmate.

Annabelle LOVES to play with toys!

LOL!  Silly girl!

Typical of the Newf breed, she wants to have people around her most of the time and would prefer a home where she will not be left alone for long hours.  She finds being alone to be stressful.  She would be an excellent therapy dog as she loves people and adores getting lots of attention.


Born on January 21, 2010 she has been spayed and is current on vaccines.  Annabelleis quite overweight at the moment, but good diet and lots of opportunities to exercise should help those pounds melt off.  She underwent bilateral cruciate repairs when she was younger and has excellent mobility with no issues. 

Yep, she's a Newf!  Check out that drool!

Annabelle is being fostered in the Ottawa, ON area and her approved adopters will be required to pick her up in person. We will consider applicants who live within a 1 day drive of her foster, including applicants from the US.  An adoption donation of $500 applies.

Affectionate, full of love and a total ham, Wilson is a wonderful boy who will make one lucky family very happy.

Born December 6, 2013 this sweet boy is 2 years old.   He has nice house manners, knows basic commands and has excellent off-lead recall.  His leash manners are a work in progress but coming along nicely.


Wilson is neutered, UTD on vaccines and weighs 50 kgs.   Xrays show that his hips are ok, showing mild dysplasia on his left side but nothing too problematic.  He was surrendered to us due to bilateral cruciate ruptures.  An orthopedic specialist performed surgery on both knees on November 9/15.  His recovery is coming along well and once healed he should have no further issues with his knees.  On Dec 21st he had follow-up xrays and everything looks good.

Wilson is ready to join an adoptive home.  He will need to continue on with his exercises and slowly build up to full activity--his adoptive family will need to have the time to take him for several walks daily and continue working with him to help him reach his full potential.  The focus of his rehab now is to rebuild muscle mass, increase his strength and help his bones heal.    He does daily range of motion exercises at his foster home and goes for supervised walks to build up his muscle mass in his back end.  Full recovery is expected by the Spring of 2016.



Coming from a loving home, Wilson is used to getting lots of hugs, belly rubs and cuddles.  He adores people and wants nothing more than to get lots, and lots of attention!  He loves attention so much that he will frequently plant a big, sticky kiss right on your face!   Pucker up!  He likes children very much but can be a bit in their face so is not suited to a home where there are very young kids.


He is an active,  playful boy who is looking forward to his knees healing so he can resume his favourite activities again.  He loves to go for long romps in the woods, and is an avid swimmer.  A home where he will have access to a pool, pond, lake or river would make Wilson so very happy!  He will play in the water and swim around for hours - a great candidate for water rescue work perhaps?


Wilson is playful and enjoys the company of other dogs.  He shares toys well and loves to play tug and wrestle.  He shares his foster home with 4 other dogs and gets along well with everyone.   Sometimes he becomes overstimulated when there is a lot of excitement--in those moments he does respond to redirection by a calm handler who can identify when he is becoming too aroused and intervene before he escalates.  He is doing really well learning to control his arousal when situations are very exciting.  He could happily join a family with another well socialized dog who likes to play and assuming the dog is a relaxed, gentle dog, there will be no issues at all.   A home with an equally excitable dog is probably not the best placement as he will feed off the arousal of the other dog.   Calm and relaxed companions are best for Wilson!

Wilson finds kitties irresistible (they are just so darn fun to chase!).  He's made a lot of progress with this during his rehabilitation, but a cat free home would be best, or a home with a very dog savvy cat.


Wilson is being fostered in the Bancroft, ON area.  His approved adopters will be required to pick him up in person. An adoption donation will apply.

I was adopted

Kira is living with her adoptive family in a foster-to-adopt placement pending her spay surgery in February.  Her adoption will be finalized once her surgery is completed
                                                                   
She's not a Newf, but this sweet Saint Bernard needed our help, so here she is......Gorgeous gal Kira arrived in our care on November 6th after being pulled from a high-kill shelter.  She is approximately 4 years old, and is as sweet as she is pretty.

Very nervous in the shelter environment, she immediately cheered up and relaxed at her foster home.  She is a love-bug who enjoys lots of attention and belly rubs!


She knows a few commands, en français, and we'll be working to teach them in english.  She has good house manners and is an absolute doll.  Her leash manners need a bit of work, but she is quick to learn and eager to please, so this should not be a problem.

She gets along well with other dogs, appears to be ok with cats when tested but is not living with a cat in foster care.

Kira came into heat shorty after arriving so has not yet been spayed.   She will be ready to be spayed by late January -- we wait several weeks after their heat ends before spaying, this is safest for the dog.

She is being fostered in the Mississauga, ON area. Once she is spayed we will consider homes within a 1 day drive of her foster location.  However, we will consider a foster-to-adopt placement for Kira now.  In this type of placement Kira could join her adoptive family prior to the spay, and then once it is safe to spay her we will proceed with surgery at one of our rescue-friendly vet clinics, at our expense. Once her spay is completed her adoption would then be finalized.  To be considered for a foster-to-adopt placement, the adoptive family would have to live near one of our rescue friendly clinics which are located in Apsley, Mississaugua, Guelph, Brantford and Unionville.

****  Below are the steps we take to treat dogs who have skin issues and enter our foster program.  You should always contact your veterinarian before beginning any treatment protocol -- hopefully this list of treatment options will help you and your vet come up with an effective treatment plan to help with your Newf's skin issues.****

Skin issues are becoming a common ailment in Newfs and are a condition that we frequently deal with in rescue.  There are a number of things that can contribute to skin and ear issues,  including allergies, genetic predisposition, thyroid dysfunction, and improper grooming and parasite prevention. 

We are often contacted by desperate owners looking for help to resolve their Newf's skin issues.  Depending on the severity of the issue there are a number of things that we do to help heal the dog's skin.  It is important to determine what is causing the skin issue and take steps to prevent future flare-ups, not to just treat the symptoms. 

Below we have listed the steps we take when a Newf who has severe skin issues arrives in our care.  The first two are done immediately, then based on the condition of the dog we move onto the next steps.  If you are battling chronic skin issues the first 4 items should be done right away.


1. Treat for fleas/lice/parasites - flea bite dermatitis is a common cause of itchy, inflamed skin which then becomes infected because the dog scratches and chews.  Ensure that your Newf and your home is free of fleas.

Your vet should also do a skin scraping to test for mange if that is the suspected underlying cause.

Hair loss and sores from flea bite dermatitis, Mackenzie began to heal immediately once her flea infestation was treated

2.  Diet -- when dogs arrive in our care we switch them over to a grain-free fish based food immediately.  Typically we use Acana Pacifica or Orijen 6 Fish and in a very short time we often see great improvement to skin issues with this one simple change.

Hair loss due to diet.  Harold began to improve immediately and began to heal when switched to Acana Pacifica.

3. Ear and skin cultures - by doing a culture this will let you know if any yeast or bacteria are growing on the skin or in the ears. Unfortunately some vets will prescribe antibiotics without doing a culture and sensitivity test which could lead to the wrong antibiotic being used. It is important to know if it is yeast vs bacteria as the conventional and holistic treatments will be different.
 A great product for cleaning ears is Burow's Solution which you should be able to purchase through your vet clinic. It is not a drug so doesn't interact with other meds. We use it twice daily on dogs that have severe ear issues - 1 squeeze of the bottle in the ear, rub for a minute and then wipe away any excess from the outside of the ear. Once the ears start to clear then we will go to once a day and then slowly back off to the point that we are only applying it weekly for maintenance. It can also be used as a topical ointment for really bad skin issues. We also clean the inside of the ears twice a day at the beginning as well using the Burow's on a cotton pad and slowly decrease as the ears clear up.

Chronic, severe antibiotic resistant ear infections.  A culture of the ear showed which antibiotics this infection was resistant to and helped us select the most appropriate treatment option

4. Thyroid panel - many dogs who have skin problems are also hypothyroid which is one of the underlying causes for the skin not being healthy. A thyroid panel will tell you if the thyroid is working correctly and if it isn't then your dog needs to be placed on thyroid meds which will continue for the rest of your dog's life. The meds are inexpensive and make a huge difference in the condition of their skin, energy levels and weight control. One thing to keep in mind though is that even if the results are within the "normal" ranges for the lab that does the testing a low-normal result should be treated as a hypothyroid case. Example - Lab T4 normal range is 10-60 and the test result is 17 - this is low-normal. The dog should be in the mid-range, around 35-40. You have the option of having your vet draw blood and sending a vial of serum into Hemopet in the US. Dr. Dodds provides specific results based on age, sex and breed and will advise you of the dosage that should be used if the your dog is outside of the appropriate range.

Skin issues caused by poor grooming, thyroid dysfunction and allergies

6. Bathing - We have played around with a ton of different shampoos and the one that we are really happy with is Eqyss Micro-Tek. You can use it at full strength or cut it down with some water to make the bottle last longer. Our preference is full strength while the dog is having major issues and then as the skin is healing you can put the shampoo in a groomers bottle so that you can add water to it. A little goes a long way even at full strength. Dogs with severe issues should be bathed 2-3 times a week to start with and then slowly reducing the number of baths as the skin improves.

Another shampoo that works well is ProHex.  We have used this with great success with several fosters who have serious skin issues, including Kera featured below.

Bathing and topical treatment made a huge difference for Kera

7. Drying - It is really important that after bathing your dog gets dried really well. If you do not have a dog blower already we highly recommend you look at buying one. Keeping your dog dry after bathing and swimming will be key to long term skin health. There are many blowers on the market to choose from but keep in mind the more powerful the blower the shorter the drying time - unfortunately the more powerful also means more $$$. The good news is that if you buy a high quality blower it should last you a lifetime.

Hair loss due to lack of grooming and living in unsanitary conditions

8. In between baths - Green tea works great for cleansing and cooling really bad areas of the skin in between baths. Take 5 tea bags, place them in a 4 cup bowl and add boiling water. Let the tea steep for 10 minutes and then place it in the fridge to keep it cool.  Use a clean cloth to dip into the bowl and then wipe down the bad areas of skin multiple times a day. The other option which can be alternated with the green tea is Povodine Iodine Solution which is available over the counter at your local drug store. Squirt some into a bowl and add water until it is the colour if ice tea. Wipe the skin with a clean cloth - no need to rinse off.

Fiona required antibiotics, daily bathing and topical treatment between baths to clear her skin issues

 9. Supplements - Skin health starts from within the body so adding supplements into your Newf's diet may help. Supplements can be purchased either online or through your local organic health food store or health pharmacy.   Below is a list of things we use for dogs that do not respond to diet changes and bathing:

Hopefully the information above will help get your Newf on the road to good skin health.

Luna was suffering from flea bite dermatitis and food allergies, a very simple fix

Verona is a pleasure to spend time with.  She knows her basic commands, follows direction well, loves to be handled and petted and is a typical "velcro-newf" who wants to be at her foster mom's side all the time.  She is gentle and well mannered with children and could join a family with dog savvy children over the age of 5.


Verona plays nicely with other well socialized dogs and could happily join a family with another nicely mannered large dog to romp and play with.  She would also be very happy to be the only dog in the household and hog all of the attention to herself!


She has very high prey drive and is not suitable for a home with cats or other small animals.  Families who have small animals need not apply for Verona. Due to her high prey drive, she is not a match for families who want to take their dog to the dog park.


Verona is 6 years old and upon arrival she was in horrible condition.  She had been living her life as a brood bitch for a well know large scale puppy producer just west of Toronto.  On intake she was emaciated and suffering from chronic antibiotic resistant skin, ear and eye infections that had been left untreated for quite some time, she was very ill.  It's been a long road, but Verona is doing much better now aside from her ears.  Her ears are damaged permanently due to the negligence of the puppy producer who failed to properly treat her infections and instead used bleach to clean her ears.  She will need ear meds for the rest of her life to keep her ears in good condition.


She was spayed on February 17 and at that time a large mass was found and also removed.  The pathology report shows that the mass is not a kind that will recur and that removal is curative -- very good news!  She is now healed from surgery and ready to find a wonderful adoptive family.

Verona is being fostered in the Toronto, ON area, and her approved adopters will be required to pick her up in person.  Given her ongoing issues with her ears necessitating medication, a reduced adoption donation of $350 will apply.


To be considered for adopting Verona, or any other dog through Newf Friends please complete our adoption application found here and email it back to us to begin the screening process.  

I WAS ADOPTED!

Quick Adoption Overview

1 year old
Good with dogs -- looking for a home with another canine pal
Good with cats
Special Health Needs: requires daily monitoring, special diet, should not be left alone long hours
Fenced Yard Required
Located in Bancroft, ON

All About Buster
Smart, spunky, eager to please and full of puppy energy, this little stinker is looking for a special family to call his own.

Buster is a fast learner who is very motivated to please.  He knows his basic commands and has a strong desire to be with people.  He will be a great candidate for obedience work and once he is a bit older, water rescue and possibly draft work too.


A friendly and outgoing boy, Buster loves meeting new people and does well in a variety of social situations. Whether visiting friends, attending a parade, or working at his foster family's shop, he is game for pretty much whatever is asked of him. He also enjoys cuddles, belly rubs, ear scratches and lots of loving.

An extremely active boy, Buster loves to go for long walks in the woods and requires regular exercise appropriate for his age on soft surfaces.  When his exercise needs are not met he will run laps around the living room, so it's pretty important that he have opportunities for appropriate exercise!  

Buster enjoys the country life and would be happiest in a rural environment -- city life is not for this boy!

Buster loves to run around like a lunatic!

Buster is 12 months old and after a rough start to his life he is looking for stability and lots of love and care.  His ideal adopters will have the time and financial resources to give Buster some extra support throughout his life.

Thanks to a great team of veterinarians and loads of care he is happy, healthy and doing great now.   A special prescription diet and supplements, paired with strict adherence to dietary restrictions around treats should prevent any further issues. It is important for Buster to have someone home with him most of the time, so families where he will be left alone at home for several hours a day are not a suitable match for him and need not apply.


His health history will be discussed in great detail with potential adopters during our interview process.  A brief overview is that he will require regular monitoring (using a very simple and quick, inexpensive,  at home test a couple times a week) to ensure all is well with him. Buster will require regular early detection health tests (ie. regular blood work) to ensure that he remains healthy.  It is essential that his prescription diet be followed closely--due to his dietary restrictions he is best in a home without young children who may be tempted to feed him snacks.

Given the extensive diagnostics and treatments that we have provided Buster, it is our hope that he will lead a long, happy, healthy, issue-free life.  We are optimistic that with preventative steps followed closely he will not have any serious issues.

Mobility wise Buster is an active boy who gets around well.  He is slow to rise on some surfaces, and given that his special diet has not been ideal for a growing giant breed pup, we are taking some extra steps to help with his development. Buster has specific exercises that he does to help build his hip and leg muscles and promote a healthy back end and he takes special supplements to help with his joint health.

Run, run, run...Buster loves to run around!

Buster is being fostered in the Bancroft, ON area.  His approved adopters will be required to pick him up in person.  We will consider homes within a one day drive of his foster location, ideally under 5 hours, as he becomes stressed on long drives.  An adoption donation will apply.

 To be considered for adopting Buster, or another dog through Newf Friends, please complete our adoption application found here and email it back to us to begin the screening process.