My wife always wanted a Newfoundland.
She was denied dogs growing up. When we got married and got a new house, a Newfoundland was the first thing we added to our family.
His name was Madden, and he was more retriever like, but a very large boy. I liked to play a game where I would run across our wood floor and jump over him while he ran in the other direction. He had a lot of energy, and Mandy even taught him to pull a wagon.
Once our firstborn arrived, he would pull him in the wagon around the neighborhood. Madden died when our kids were young, and for a while we decided it was better to not have a dog, as the kids required a lot of our time.
Enough time passed, we found an old female Newfoundland that needed a new home. Her name was Margo. We picked her up in Ohio, and she never really got settled in. She was very attached to Mandy and wouldn’t let her out of her sight. A few months later, we added another Newfoundland to our family.
This was the boy that my wife always wanted. He had a big block head and was a classic newfie. We formed a relationship with the breeder and knew that this boy was going to be special.
A little over a year later, we found out that Margo had cancer and needed to be put down. I can still distinctly remember her getting close to my face and I felt her saying, “it’s time.” We had to put her down and for the next three years it was just us and Maui.
My wife spent an enormous amount of time training Maui and making him a certified therapy dog. He now has over 450 therapy visits and is loved by hundreds in our community. He is extremely well-behaved and a giant walking teddy bear.
For the last two years, we have been looking to find a friend for Maui. My wife had fallen in love with a breeder in Norway and her brown Newfoundlands. Unfortunately, a law was passed that prevent dogs under the age of six months from entering the country. Just when she had given up hope, we got a message from the breeder saying she had a young boy that she was looking to home.
In a fury, Mandy tried to figure out all the logistics of how to get a 100 pound dog into America.
Magnus arrived terrified, snapping at our sweet boy Maui. He was not behaving like a newfie and Mandy thought she made the biggest mistake of her life. But within a week he was much improved and understood that we were his new family.
Within a month, he was significantly less reactive and just wanted to be a puppy and carry a stick around. Since he doesn’t have the enormous blocky head like Maui, we have given him the nickname, “Little Head.” But he is a highly intelligent and lovely boy.
My wife is already looking at getting a third.
