Newfypoos (All Sizes) Puppies

Where the Newfypoo comes from

A Newfypoo crosses a Newfoundland with a Poodle, and this page gathers the sizes in one place — which is more useful with this cross than with most, because the gap between the two ends of it is wider here than in almost any other doodle.

The Newfoundland is a working dog from the Canadian island it is named for, where it belonged to the inshore fishery. It hauled nets, carried lines from boat to shore, worked in cold water all day and pulled carts of fish and firewood on land. Everything about the breed is built for that job: webbed feet, a heavy oily double coat that turns water, a deep chest and a very large, powerful frame.

What the Newfoundland is genuinely famous for, though, is disposition. It is placid, patient and entirely undramatic, and that steadiness is the main thing people are after when they choose this cross.

The Poodle is the other water dog in the pairing. It was developed in Germany to retrieve waterfowl, refined in France, and bred into a ladder of sizes — Standard, Miniature and Toy. It brings the curl, a coat that holds its hair instead of dropping it around the house, and a fast, willing intelligence.

Both halves, then, are water dogs that were expected to think for themselves and work alongside a person. Put them together and you get a shaggy, calm, clever dog, in whichever size the Poodle parent dictates.

Standard and mini, side by side

A standard Newfypoo is built on a Standard Poodle, and it is a genuinely large animal. Adults commonly reach eighty to a hundred and twenty pounds and stand well above knee height, with the bone and the chest to match. It is the closer of the two to the Newfoundland in outline as well as in scale.

A mini Newfypoo is built on a Miniature Poodle parent and usually settles somewhere between about thirty and fifty pounds. That is a different dog to live with rather than a smaller version of the same one. It fits an ordinary car, an ordinary sofa and an ordinary doorway, and one person can lift it without help.

Between those two poles there is a lot of ground, and in a cross this size the range is real. Adult size is a projection rather than a promise, and littermates can finish some way apart. Ask our staff about the individual puppy and what its parents are like, and take that over any published figure.

Everything that scales with a dog scales with the choice: the crate, the car, the food bill, the grooming appointment and the amount of sofa you are prepared to share.

Choosing between the two sizes

For most households the practical answer is the mini. It keeps a great deal of the temperament people come for, at a size that fits an ordinary home and an ordinary routine, and teaching a fifty-pound dog to walk nicely on a lead is a considerably shorter project than teaching a hundred-pound one.

The standard is the right choice if you have the room and you want the full effect — a big, deliberate, shaggy dog that fills a doorway and lies across your feet while you work. Lead manners are the thing to start on the day the puppy arrives, because it is far easier to teach a twenty-pound puppy to walk beside you than to renegotiate it later, and a large dog with good manners on a lead is a pleasure to take anywhere.

Both sizes want the same three things: company, something to think about, and somewhere cool to lie down.

If you would rather look at each size on its own, browse the standard Newfypoo puppies and the mini Newfypoo puppies, and then come and stand next to one of each.

The coat, and the colours it comes in

Expect a thick, shaggy coat somewhere between the Newfoundland’s dense double coat and the Poodle’s curls. Most Newfypoos land in the middle, with a wavy, open coat that holds its hair rather than dropping it around the house. The curlier the coat, the more of it stays put and the more combing it asks for.

Colours follow both parents. Black is the most common by a distance, often with the Newfoundland’s white markings on the chest, the toes and the tip of the tail. Brown and chocolate turn up regularly, and so does the Landseer pattern — white with black markings — along with grey, cream and the occasional parti-coloured puppy. White can run from a full bib down to three white toes.

The coat also changes. Puppy coat gives way to adult coat somewhere in the second half of the first year, and the texture and often the shade change with it. A black puppy can clear to a soft charcoal, and a wavy puppy coat can come back curlier than it went.

Temperament and family life

This is a sociable, people-shaped dog. Neither parent breed has a guarding history and both were bred to work in company, so a Newfypoo is generally pleased to meet visitors, easy with other dogs and fond of children.

What it wants most is to be in the room. Both halves of the cross were selected to work alongside a person, and a Newfypoo would far rather lie across your feet while you get on with something than have the run of an empty house. Short absences are worth building into the routine from the first week, with a chew to work on and no ceremony on the way out or the way back in.

The adult dog is calm, and that is what the reputation rests on. It arrives in its own time. A large puppy is clumsy, enthusiastic and interested in absolutely everything for the first year and a half, and the settled dog you are picturing turns up after that. Plan for the adolescent stage and enjoy it, because it is a very funny period with a big dog.

Both parents love water, and most Newfypoos will get into any pool they can find. Show a puppy where the steps are more than once, and dry the ears properly afterwards.

Grooming, water and the weekly routine

The coat is the part with a schedule attached. Comb three or four times a week, in sections, right down to the skin rather than over the top, and follow with a finer comb to check your work. The places that want the most attention are behind the ears, under the front legs, under the collar or harness and down the trousers. Most dogs settle onto their side and doze once the rhythm starts.

A professional groom every six to eight weeks handles the feet, the face and a tidy. A groomer who knows heavy coats is worth finding early — ask about the right summer trim for your particular dog rather than taking the coat off short, because a double coat works in both directions and the outer layer keeps sun off the skin.

Exercise is more moderate than the size suggests. A decent daily walk, a swim or a game, and a few minutes of training or scent work suits most adults; this is not a dog that needs to run for an hour. While a big puppy is still filling out, keep it low-impact — no forced running, no repetitive jumping — and let the frame finish before you add distance.

In a Florida or Tennessee summer, the early and late hours are the pleasant ones for both of you, with shade, water and a cool floor through the middle of the day.

Come and meet the Newfypoo puppies

The difference between a mini and a standard is easy to underestimate on a screen and impossible to miss in person, and the coat is denser in the hand than any photograph makes it look. Come and stand next to both before you decide.

Our Newfypoo puppies come from our network of licensed breeders, and our team can tell you what a particular puppy’s parents were like and roughly where it is likely to finish. We have a store in Orlando and one in Nashville, and you are welcome to sit on the floor with a puppy for as long as you like before deciding anything. Find directions and hours, and ask about financing while you are here. Every puppy here goes home with its vet records, its vaccination history and a health warranty, and our team will walk you through what those cover.