Only an animal lover can feel the immense joy and love this family experiences sharing their home with seven huge Newfoundland dogs.
Emma Bone, 33, and her husband, Mark, 40, spend hours on end grooming and walking the pups; the couple haven’t been able to go on holiday in years in order to look after the dogs—but they wouldn’t have it any other way.
The couple, from Hexham, in Northumberland, England, got their first Newfoundland seven years ago and now live with seven of the giant dogs. The dogs, called Granny Bay, Moonie, Dom, Roo, Monroe, Tuppence, and Kit, on average weigh around 140 pounds (63.5 kg) each.
The couple, their three sons—Wade, 10, Tate, 3, and Zach, 1—and their seven adorable pets make one big happy family.
The couple, who run Newfangled Newfoundlands—a licensed show kennel, say that the breed is “highly addictive” and that they had to put a cap on how many they could manage. The huge hounds have the run of the house downstairs and are treated to regular grooming sessions which can last up to three hours.
Emma said the dogs aren’t allowed upstairs as its “hard enough” to keep the downstairs clean, and also, as any giant breed is “prone to joint issues,” they shouldn’t use the stairs.
“It is difficult to navigate around the kitchen, especially while cooking,” she added. “It’s like trying to get into your pan cupboard with eight bags of wet sand laying in the way.
“When one wants a cuddle they all do, so more often than not my husband just lays on the floor and let’s them mob him.”
Emma said that the dogs are fed on various dry foods depending on their life stage.
“It costs an absolute fortune to feed everyone but at least it saves on bin liners for the rubbish,” she said, jokingly.
“It takes me around three hours to groom each one and we aim to get them done at least once a month with regular brushing in between.
“We do not go on holiday; in fact, we haven’t even had a honeymoon and we have been married for four years.
“We go away for one night for Crufts, showing a couple of the dogs each year, and for that to go ahead, we have to split the remaining dogs between several friends and family members—it’s a military operation and logistical nightmare.”
Emma and Mark moved to the countryside to give their precious pups more space to roam and now the lucky dogs have their own stream and access to the river for swimming, something which Newfoundlands are notoriously good at and enjoy.
“Newfoundlands are definitely a lifestyle, not just a pet,” Emma said. "They are hard to maintain, hard to clean up after and hard to groom. It is a full-time job. Training isn’t optional, you simply cannot have a dog that potentially weighs more than you, doing things that smaller dogs can get away with.
“They are notoriously stubborn and if you allow them to, they will walk all over you—literally. But the hallmark of the breed is their wonderful temperament and their natural love for small children, which is completely endearing.
“They really are are the nanny of the dog world.”
She added: "They have a huge presence and that isn’t just down to their size. They are sweet, fun, quirky, cheeky and absolute wonderful.
“People always react in amazement. They most probably think we are mad and in all honesty, we probably are.
“The food bills are big and the vet bills are even bigger but the love they give us makes up for all of that.
“They aren’t the breed for everyone but to us, they are our world.”
