History

Going back into history, the Beothuck Indians were the first human beings appeared on the isle of Newfoundland. We can be sure they had no dogs in their ground possessions. This is certain because it is stated in many ship journals and descriptions from excursions effected throughout Newfoundland.
One early ship journal reports that the Beothucks were very scared of the English Mastiffs, when they were shown them for the first time. Some other journals report the total absence of dogs on the island several times, being used to commonly see dogs with Indians, on the Labrador territories.
Therefore, we can forget about the fairy-tale of Vikings whose would have left big black dogs on the island, as it is often reported on some English books by black Newfoundland authors. Facts do not give any evidence of that.
In 1497 Newfoundland was re-discovered by John Cabot who was soon followed by other pioneers. They all didn't report of dogs on Newfoundland, too.
In 1615 Captain Whitbourne wrote: we didn't find any dogs on Newfoundland, but instead two species of wolves; a tall, long coated one who hunts mostly alone, and a smaller one who hunts in pack....
At the end of the 17th century Captain Bligh and Sir Joseph Banks found a kind of dog who had a special admiration for water. We know now, that they meant these big white and black dogs, later on called Landseers.
What did happen in between these two periods of time, then?
Basque fishermen, used to sail the whole sea world for fish, had found very large fish-packs around the Isle of Newfoundland coasts. Around the middle of the 17th century they installed their first fishing station on the Canadian east coast, at Rougnoust.
As evidenced, we can be sure that those fishermen brought along with them from their home region, the Pyrenean Mountain dog, for protection and safety.
Modern laboratory researches have highlighted that magnification of the hair structure of a Pyrenean Mountain dog is pretty much the same of the Landseer, thus proving their genetic relation, when the hair structure of black Newfoundland bred in purity is quite different than the Landseer one!
However, there are unfortunately not enough proves to go into deeper details with the Landseer background.
Dogs from Labrador, who were spread over the whole country, had been crossed with the very isolated Pyrenean dog on Newfoundland basks settlements?
Nobody knows, but it’s likely that some other early "breeds" as the Curly Dog or the tall English Butcher dog were involved. However, in the old Bask archives, we found the following description:
"By disposition and profession, no better dog could have been chosen to assume the role of protector and friend of the early settlements of the Biscay fisher folk on Newfoundland Island.
By 1662, when the first permanent colony at Rougnoust was made, it was the Great Pyrenees dog that had become companion of the people. Here he was crossed with the English retriever, brought in by the English settlers, and from this cross resulted the true white-black Newfoundland dog."
In England these dogs were strongly bred and spread over whole Europe.
Until 1876 the Landseer, or we might say the "white and black", was described as the one and only true dog of Newfoundland.