Just for fun, since there are so many experienced dobe folk here with other big strong dog history...

Nordika said:
Do you know what her mix is? Definitely see the Dane in there.
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Here you go. Feel free to also follow the links to her breeder's website.

I agree. She looks like a fit Great Dane. That's the type of topline I see in dogs that are bred for performance.

Herja | Nordgard Kennel

Herja is a tenth genration Midgard Mastiff. She is strong, extremely loyal, and a terrific guard dog. She is extremely friendly with people she knows and a great hunter of small animals.
www.nordgardkennel.com www.nordgardkennel.com
 
Oh Little Oji said:
Here you go. Feel free to also follow the links to her breeder's website.

I agree. She looks like a fit Great Dane. That's the type of topline I see in dogs that are bred for performance.

Herja | Nordgard Kennel

Herja is a tenth genration Midgard Mastiff. She is strong, extremely loyal, and a terrific guard dog. She is extremely friendly with people she knows and a great hunter of small animals.
www.nordgardkennel.com www.nordgardkennel.com
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A note, from the Nordguard kennel page:

"Show breeding practices have placed an emphasis on appearance and adherence to breed standards, at the expense of a dog's working ability and overall health (Farrell et al., 2015). In the case of the Mastiff breeds, this has often led to a focus on physical traits such as size, head shape, and loose skin, rather than the breed's health or historical strengths as a working guardian dog (Meyer-Lindenberg et al., 2006). As a result, the modern Mastiff has been robbed of its working heritage, as breeders prioritize aesthetics over function (Farrell et al., 2015).

Once again, as per @Ravenbird comments about breeding in dobes, this is a common refrain in other working dogs.
 
Nordika said:
Um, where to start...their purpose was really to breed big scary guard dogs. They got a train full of dogs from Germany. Too much to cover, if you're interested in a good summary, this is great information
She does talk about many of the different breeds and why mixed were of necessity as some of those dogs brought in were single specimens. She also points out the Rottweiler used in BRT was not pure, and you'll see Doberman in there. The Russians at that time had no use for short haired dogs, Doberman, Dane, Hounds, all those short haired dogs were bred into longer/thicker coated dogs.

As far as my Newfoundland, she was Euro and American show line, nothing to do with Portuguese Water Dogs? Newfoundlands have a different way of swimming than other dogs, it is innate, as is their caretaking of human charges.
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Thanks @Nordika - I had a big Neufy mix, and I guess my memory fails on what I recall from breed origin. But that dog was so gentle and protective of our infant son...bring a tear to my eye still. I had to teach him to swim as he'd been rescued from being shut in a garage all day...afraid of everything, at first.
 
BGpa said:
Thanks @Nordika - I had a big Neufy mix, and I guess my memory fails on what I recall from breed origin. But that dog was so gentle and protective of our infant son...bring a tear to my eye still. I had to teach him to swim as he'd been rescued from being shut in a garage all day...afraid of everything, at first.
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Ah, I see. The origin of the Newfoundland dog is too obscure with just speculation at best. No one knows the origin of the landrace St. John's water dog, which both the Newfoundland and Labrador retrievers derived. The vikings brought large bear dogs to the islands in 1000AD, there is archeological evidence of that, and native dogs thought to have descended from the American Black Wolf (now extinct?), well we have our own Black Wolf here, the Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni), also known as the Islands wolf. The Basque brought their Great Pyrenees and the French Barbet, and the English - their Mastiff, and the Portuguese, their Water dog. Whatever their origin, there are genomic ties to the Irish Water Spaniel, Labrador retrievers and curly coated retriever, which likely stems from the St. John's water dog. The Barbet, which is an ancestor to the poodle is highly likely to have contributed to the Newfoundland. The Newfoundland dog specifically bred for assistance to fisherman, hauling nets, etc, and draft, hauling sleds of logs(i have an old picture somewhere of a team of Newfoundland dogs hauling logs in Newfoundland). I must say my Newfoundland did howl like a wolf, maybe gives some credence to the wolf ancestry theory, she was adept in water, water rescue, pulling a boat to shore, and some shore fishing...she caught her first herring at 8 months of age during a herring spawn. Although my BRT caught her first Salmon at only 3 months of age, was more water dog than any water dog, a photo of her dry is very hard to find as there were so few times she was dry, was adept at water rescue and could haul a light boat to shore. The winner of the smallest fish caught though goes to the Doberman! Hoorah!! 😄 I love dogs!
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BGpa said:
A note, from the Nordguard kennel page:

"Show breeding practices have placed an emphasis on appearance and adherence to breed standards, at the expense of a dog's working ability and overall health (Farrell et al., 2015). In the case of the Mastiff breeds, this has often led to a focus on physical traits such as size, head shape, and loose skin, rather than the breed's health or historical strengths as a working guardian dog (Meyer-Lindenberg et al., 2006). As a result, the modern Mastiff has been robbed of its working heritage, as breeders prioritize aesthetics over function (Farrell et al., 2015).

Once again, as per @Ravenbird comments about breeding in dobes, this is a common refrain in other working dogs.
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Stupid fashion trends have ruined many breeds. Compare this old Dogue de Bordeaux to the current breed.
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