#690 Newfie: The Living Life Bouys
Fun Fact #690
Newfie “The Living LifeBouys”
On December 10th, 1919, The SS Ethie was caught in a severe snowstorm off the coast of Cow Head, Newfoundland (Canada). Running low on coal, carrying (now) damaged lifeboats, and beginning to lose steering control Captain Edward English decided to beach the ship before it crashed into the infamous Whaleback reef nearby –but hit a sunken sandbar instead. Seeing the trouble from his home, local fisherman Reuben Becker with his dog swam a line to the ship allowing people to follow it in the water to safety. Together they operated as a team, with Mr. Becker treating people onshore while his dog continued to pull groups of people from the water –including an 18-month baby in a mail carrier’s bag– saving 92 lives in total (and an undocumented number of Livestock). The following morning, Becker’s Dog became famous and the breed is today as “The Newfoundland Dog” even though the breed itself long predated the incident.
Today Newfies are used in water rescues around the world, and it's not hard to see why. Their long history of accompanying Fishers and Sailors has led to them being bred to develop some extremely useful skills. For instance, they are one of the only dog breeds easily trained to rescue people from capsized boats thanks to their natural diving ability, massive lung capacity, and (more pronounced) web paws allowing them to easily drag people down under the edge of the boat and to the surface. This has led to some terrifying moments for people trapped though, as the hardest part to teach the dogs in training is that people need to be aware it's a dog saving them and not some monster from the depths picking them off 1 by 1. Additionally, their thick double coat keeps them dry and warm when in the water and makes them easy to hold onto. Interestingly Italy will even deploy them by helicopter as needed.
Sadly, Newfies are not one of the approved dog breeds for The US’ Military Working Dog (MWD) Program since the program is only for German Shepards, Malonis, and Labradors. However, many USCG members still adopt and train their own Newfies to accompany them as "Civilian assistance” to rescue calls. Over the last 40 years this has led to the creation of “The Newfoundland Club of America” which teaches these dogs to the point that they can even operate as independent lifeguards which some groups have made use of –particularly those who operate large public beaches.
