How did this breed get developed?

The first Landseers came to Europe from Newfoundland approximately 200 years ago. British and French fishermen were fishing in front of the Newfoundland coast and brought those dogs with them. The fishermen began to sell the Landseers in England and they became very popular due to their friendly nature and unusual appearance. In fact, the fishermen imported so many dogs that Newfoundland ’s own population dropped down at the beginning of the 1800s.

In England the breed was having success till mid 1800s and it also became very famous outside England with the help of a famous painter called Sir Edwin Landseer. In 1837 he painted a famous picture “ The Distinguished Member Of The Human Society”. In that painting there is a giant black and white dog called Paul Pry. This dog has saved his master and people from drowning. After this people began to call this breed Landseer. Even nowadays the white and black dog with high legs and from Newfoundland is known as Landseer. The British exported lots of these dogs to the European continent, which was good because other breeds came fashionable in Britain and the Landseer population dropped down.

The first purebred Landseerlitter was registered in 1902 in “Newfoundländer –Klub fur den Kontinental”. It was the result of two dogs that were imported from Great Britain. Behind the sire there were 11 Landseer colored dogs in four generations. Later they crossbred those dogs with black Newfoundland dogs. That is probably because people did not know how colors inherit. It was not until in 1904 and 1905 breeders combined an unknown Landseer male and dogs from imported bloodlines from Great Britain and got purebred Landseer litters again. In continental Europe they began breeding mostly with imported dogs from the UK. For example, they combined some local black or black and white Newfoundland dogs. Perhaps they combined the imported dogs with some big white guarding shepherd dogs too.

Otto Walterspiel from Germany was a breeder who made tremendous work for the breed in his “von Schartenberg” kennel. Thanks to him this breed remained in Europe and in the whole world. In 1960 FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale) accepted this white and black dog with high legs as a breed of it is own and since then these dogs have been called Landseer Europäischer Continental Type or just shortly Landseer.

The first two female Landseers were imported to Finland from Great Britain in 1977. Those dogs were registered as Newfoundland dogs in the UK. The Finnish Kennel Club registered these dogs as Landseers since their father was a Landseer called Lasso von der Weilerhöhe that had been imported from Germany to the UK. When the breeders had imported a couple of males they could begin the breeding. The first litter was registered on 16 February 1981. In year 1993 there was the biggest number of registered Landseers in Finland, 268 puppies! The lowest number was in 1999, only 124 puppies.

You can find Landseers all over North and Central Europe. The breeding (of this breed) is most active in Germany, Belgium, Holland and France. In Nordic countries this breed is not as popular except for in Finland.

In Finland Landseers are mostly companion dogs. The Landseer loves to swim and they have a clear idea that they have to rescue people from the water. That is why people have created water trial competitions which provide good exercise for these dogs. With Landseer you can also take part in working competitions.

The Finnish Landseer Club (or Suomen Landseeryhdistys ry in Finnish) was established on 16 October 1982. The amount of members varies from 450 to 500 members. Members choose the breeding committee every three years at the club’s general meeting. This committee is only for giving recommendations and advice. All the new puppies are registered in the Finnish Kennel Club.