Looking for a Newfoundland?

We provide a link to A list of Newfoundland Dog Breeders below, but first, please note:

The list on Karen's site is maintained by Karen Vail (she also maintains the Newf Friends "ring"), who labors long and hard to serve the breed. As you can see by the disclaimer at the top of her page, however, she cannot "endorse" any breeder listed. CRNC does not maintain the site, but provides this link to her site as a service to our visitors. If you encounter anything objectionable about a breeder listed in spite of Karen's best efforts, please contact her through her mail link, and also let us know.
This concern was raised by a "directive" that we remove the link to Karen's page because it turned out one or more breeders listed had a USDA license. To find out more about why a USDA license is a danger signal, click here: Briefly, although the federal regulations enforced by the Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture are comprehensive and designed to ensure the well being of animals -- more so, in fact, than those enforced by any national dog club, I suspect -- the presence of a USDA license suggests (there are rare exceptions) that the licensee sells to pet stores or otherwise engages in the wholesale business. This is because breeders who sell directly to puppy buyers are exempt. Selling to pet stores (or promoting such sales) is a violation of the NCA ethics guide for two very good reasons: 1) breeders who sell wholesale abdicate the very important responsibility of screening buyers to ensure that Newfoundlands end up in good and responsible homes; 2) breeders who sell wholesale ("puppy mills") are very likely to abdicate good breeding practices to achieve profit through volume (although there are one or more exceptional USDA licensed breeders who breed sound dogs). Karen Vail has ensured that she will make every effort not to list any known USDA licensed breeder, and we have been permitted to restore the link based on that assurance and our ongoing commitment not to list USDA breeders. Even more briefly: Irresponsible breeding and puppy-buyer screening accounts for the bulk of demands for Newfoundland rescue.

To learn more about how and why to avoid puppy mills, visit NoPuppyMills.com, a site maintained by Kim Townsend, another hardworking person who is trying to improve the lot of dogs and the practices of breeders.
There are several ways to determine if a person is licensed or not.

One is to contact the Animal Care Regional Office and ask them -- they have the up-to-date information. The addresses and phone numbers are at APHIS's website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/acorg.html
APHIS also has a listing of all licensed and registered persons/facilities that you can view on line or print (it's an Adobe Acrobat - "pdf" - file) at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications.html (scroll down to "Facility Lists")
The old APHIS search engine was back in a new form-- a search site for inspection reports. The last I saw the page, it reported "The availability of inspection reports electronically has been discontinued until legal issues are resolved. Hard copies of Animal Care inspection reports can be obtained through the regional offices." But you might find a more useful result when you use this link: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/laris7/query-cust.html

For some tips on how to find a responsible breeder -- and on how to be a responsible breeder, click here:
Finally, click here to get to: A list of Newfoundland Dog Breeders.

By the way, while we agree with the effort to avoid directing puppy buyers to irresponsible breeders, we contend that censorship is not the answer. Instead, we support making good information about finding a breeder, buying a Newfoundland, breeding responsibly, and screening puppy buyers easily available. For an editorial on the subject, click here: