So I bought a Newfoundland…that turned out to be a midget

As a first time dog owner I was super excited to own a large-size dog breed. Just my luck, she turned out be a runt of unprecedented smallness.

Stoic and statuesque—it’s all about how I photograph Totem. Above, she looks of regal size that exemplifies her breed (at 9 months old) in a field outside Pendelton, Oregon, this past Spring. However, below, next to me she looks like the midget she is. Sometimes I even feel like she has shrunk since she turned 9 months old (this picture below was taken of her last week at 13.5 months old at full growth). She is 75 lbs and holding—that’s light years away from what an adult female Newfie should weigh (100-130lbs). Enter this bittersweet essay on my first world problems being the baffled yet proud owner of one such runt….

I wrote my first blog on my beloved Totem upon riding the wave of excitement as a first-time dog owner this past September 2023. I had driven 7 hours out to Utah to pick up my little 11lb chocolate nugget and was excited about the future we would have together. Sure, I would cherish the adorable puppy months where I could still pick her up (which lasted until about 5 months) but I was really looking forward to her growing into her quintessential Newfoundland size which was, for a female, between 100-130lbs. You see, I have always been of this mindset to dog ownership as I do with men: if you are going to get a dog, get one that commands a presence, with stature but is a gentle giant. Interestingly, it’s an inverse equation on the yappiness of dogs: the smaller they are the more they hurt my ears, so I wanted a giant low pitch bark dog that hardly barks with a cat’s peaceful demeanor (we had 5 generations growing up, (see my other humorous blog I wrote 4 years ago on the love I have for cats) —enter the Newfoundland! For the past 2 years I had fallen in love with 3 things about the Newfie: the size, the coat and the sweet gentle giant” temperament. Well, I got the last one and she is beautiful—but her coat and size did not hold a candle to all of the other Newfies I saw in public and on Instagram. Ah, Instagram dog accounts—I should have known there could be exceptions to the size and coat of Newfies, but I was more fixated on the large size and voluptuous coats of these dogs that stole the scene on the internet.

Totem’s dad, above; me with Totem and her mom, below

Totem’s name origin and the irony behind the other name I was going to give her

The origin of her name came about serendipitously as I was running by a large Totem pole in Prince Rupert during one of my yachting jobs last summer. Right away, I thought, “What a perfect name for a big chocolate Newfoundland boy!” That was my tentative plan to pick a male from the chocolates in the litter; but when it came around to my turn, there was only one chocolate left and she was a little female.  “You can wait 6 more months until our next litter” the breeder said. No, I am not waiting. Even though I had enough females in my life and wanted some male energy, what’s another female to add to the estrogen-centered companionship. I settled on that last chocolate in the bunch. I brought up a cute name for a female “Thumbelina” but my friend said “No Whitney, too many syllables—just stick with Totem, it’s cute and fits with a boy or girl.” She was right. Just because I was not getting a boy, did not mean I would have to let the name Totem be lost to the wind. But now, considering Totem’s size, she would have fit perfectly with the female name I had for her in the first place. Being almost 30lbs under the minimum standard weight for a female, she turned out to be the poster child for the name—she was the ultimate “Thumbelina of Newfoundlands”!

We have created a bond

I am learning to embrace the old adage, “good things come in small packages” because she is truly a gem. Heck, her dog sitter wouldn’t even except my tipping her last time I picked her up after I was gone for 2 weeks! “She is welcome back any time, we just love her! If you ever need for us to foster her for longer or rehome her—we will be here!”. I was nodding my head with apeasment that my dog sitter had such enthusiasm for Totem—until she got to the rehoming part. Woah, slow down, lady! “She loves Totem so much that she is actually confident she could own my dog someday—gee, I love this lady!”, I bemused.

I get reminders of her beauty every day we step outside!

Women coo and so do the children. But I am more taken in by the men: not many speak in expressive emotional superlatives but many guys who have passed me on the street “What a beautiful dog!” or the one who left a voicemail for me who found Totem roaming the golf course I was recently working at (long story), said “I found your beautiful dog…” they all say the word “beautiful” and I find that so sweet coming from a man describing by little Newfie

!

But still, I had to call out the breeder…

At 13 months old I decided to contact her breeder—the first time was when she was about 4 months old and still puny. “Oh newfies all grow at different rates, blah blah blah.” I gave her the benefit of a doubt. .I even generously fed my dog sardines and high quality quibble to grow her coat and her body—but here we are, a measly 75 lbs! I even had friends around me vist the house when she was 6 months old and they would always comment on her paws, “Whitney, watch out, I can tell right now she is going to get HUGE!”  Rubbing my hands together while looking at my little chum, waiting for her growth spurt to happen any week now, it never came.

So, back to that email to Totem’s breeder. Here is what I copy n pasted (in case you, too, went to a breeder for your own vanity reasons like myself and unknowingly received the smallest runt in history like me):

Hi ____!

I hope you and the family are doing well! Totem and I have formed such a great bond this first year of her life--she is my great love, beautiful, has the most loyal temperament and gets lots of compliments in public! I even have recommended your program to several people (because I like how ethical it is and the horses you rehabilitate, too) I have come across who asked where I bought her. Nonetheless, the last time I texted you (which was last November I think) I noted how short of a coat she had and she was pretty small in size. You reassured me that her coat would grow in more and she would come of size--you expressed that some newfies just have different growth rates. Well, it's been 13 months and she still has a shorter coat than most newfies and she never grew into her "breed size"--she is 75lbs tops! At 12 months old the female weight charts should be 100lbs to 130lbs (that's most charts I studied). If I wanted a retriever-sized dog I would have gotten one, to be frank. There is a reason people buy Newfoundlands: for their larger presence which should be evident, whether they are a female or male. There is also a reason people go to reputable breeders and spend $2500 on a pure bred: they are looking for certain specs (let's be honest: we buy these dogs for vanity reasons). There are certain aesthetics we want and the signature aesthetic of a Newfie is their size and coat. These are quintessential big dogs and that's what I thought I was signing up for when I bought Totem through your operation. So, I am dismayed whenever she plays with other newfies that she looks like a runt among them. I spent $2500 on a pure bred (which I now question if she is even a pure bred) and she is not even reaching close to what a female newfie should be weighing right now. I am really curious to know how her litter mates turned out in size.  Idk how often this happens in your operation but I would let your future customers know about this caveat so they won't end up disappointed (if they are people who really cared about size, which most people who buy. a newfie do). Anyways, for what it's worth, I voiced my concern discreetly in private--not in public--that some of your dogs are not living up to the expectation of what constitutes a purebred Newfie. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts. -Whitney

Hey Whitney,

I’m sorry to hear your disappointment in Totem size and coat. I haven’t gotten a complaint from anyone else regarding this. I really strive in every way possible to produce healthy, well tempered, breed standard Newfoundlands . I do DNA my dogs. But i totally understand if you have a concern about her being a purebred (which I assure you she is) you are more than welcome to do a dna test with AKC.

75 pounds at 12 months is small. I’m really sorry you are disappointed! Sometimes with any breeding program you are going to get pups that don’t reach breed standard. Most of mine do and my costumers are almost always very pleased. Almost 80% of my sales are repeat customers . I’m not sure what you’re wanting? Are you wanting to return her?

Hi ____, 

I am not going to give up or return my dog as I have already formed a respectable bond with her (which I made clear in the second sentence of my first email). My issue is I did not get what was represented to me in terms of a standard purebred Newfoundland from a reputable breeder. Maybe some of your customers who DID receive runts over the years through your breeding program were indifferent to that and did not reach out, but the size and the coat meant something to me. It was part of my dream of raising a newfoundland. I might be the only fluke in your system to speak up after all your years in business, but if you pride yourself on presenting every customer the purebred standard, then I think some refund in this case is appropriate. I think 30% ($750) of what I bought her for is what I consider a fair restitution for something like this. As I was preparing to become a first-time dog owner, I spent so many months researching newfies and experiencing them in person, plus, investing in talking to you over the phone over the course of weeks leading up to me driving 14 hours roundtrip to Utah to pick her up--if it's anyone who did their homework on buying the EXACT dog they wanted it was me. It's a sign of an upstanding business when they take responsibility for when things don't go right and I hope yours will do the same. Thank you. -Whitney

I never heard back from her. That’s fine, at least I said my peace.  After a few days I did, however, have some spare time to use my imagination and I was just picturing us on court tv with Judge Judy: my dog was in the courtroom along with several other Newfies (for size comparison) and I was suing this breeder for false advertising. “I still love her and I’m not going to give her up, but damn it, she’s 1/3 of the her adult standard female size—I should be getting a 1/3 of my money back!” Then I make headlines in the local newspaper (probably was a slow news day or I am just really that outrageous): “DOG OWNER  TAKES BREEDER TO COURT OVER RUNT.” Luckily, the court setting in my head never metasticized in reality. But, look, don’t judge—what would you have done if you were so set on getting a large breed dog and it turned out no bigger than a retriever size? Whatever. Now, I have to move on and just be thankful I have such an adorable dog outside of the standard size and coat.

And there ya have it

I’ll tuck this story to bed, with one little anicdote:  she HAS to have me “tuck her in” at night—or she whimpers! Can you believe it?! And it works every time when I do it. It’s like our little ritual: I’ll scrunch her ears, massage her head and stroke her back a few times and then I slowly step away and she is….out cold.  And then the next day we start all over. I greet her in the morning and she wags her tail and licks my toes (is this a form of submissiveness or do they really taste that great?). I am so grateful to have a dog like Totem on my journey through life—cliché, but she is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.