These latter are simply watch dogs
kept by the monks for their own safety, and which do not go at all by
themselves alone to search for travelers that have lost their way in
the snow.
The Newfoundland dog, which differs from the preceding in its wholly
black or black and white coat, was, it appears, also of mountain
origin. According to certain authors, it is indigenous to Norway, and
was carried to Newfoundland by the Norwegian explorers who discovered
the island. Adapted to their new existence, they have become excellent
water dogs, good swimmers, and better life savers by far than the
majority of their congeners.
Is it from descending to the plain that the mountain dogs have lost
their long hair and have become short haired dogs like the English dog
or mastiff and the German or large Danish dogs? It is very probable.
At all events, it is by this character of having short hair that
mastiffs are distinguished from the mountain dogs. Again, the large
breed of dogs are distinguished from each other by the following
characters: The mastiff is not very high at the shoulders (30 inches),
but he is very heavy and thick set, with powerful limbs, large head,
short and wide muzzle and of a yellowish or cafe-au-lait color
accompanying a black face; that is to say, the ears, the circumference
of the eyes and the muzzle are of a very dark color.
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