Breed: Newfoundland.
Sex: Male.
Name: Threepond's Hamish.
Pet name: Hamish.
Born: 14 July 2002.
Breeder: Threeponds Newfoundlands, Amsterdam, NY.
Owner: Elizabeth Quandt, Upstate New York.

Story

The perception of Hamish as a typical mellow Newfoundland is quite mistaken. True, he has his calm and benevolent moments, but for the most part he is an alert, energetic dog with a mischievous personality. He forever provides great entertainment with his antics and highly amusing expressions that tell very clearly what he seems to be thinking. Hamish very often proves how much more intelligent he is than most people, finding loopholes in his training and playing them to his advantage. In example, when he was a pup he knew that when he was told to 'come' he would be rewarded, so on walks he would pause every few seconds and refuse to budge until he had been called and rewarded! He also subscribes to the idea of reverse psychology from time to time---in his mind, the command 'come' translates to run away in the opposite direction as quickly as possible. And then there are times when he is completely innocent and well-behaved...but after a few days of that behaviour, he unexpectedly turns around again to play out his devious acts.
 
Hamish loves running through the woods every day, especially when he gets to chase after chipmunks and attempt to dig them out of their burrows, or make them come out of the trees by barking at them. At five years of age, he still retains the energy of his puppy years. When he was three months old he was so timid that he would hide from other dogs, but a good amount of socialization swung that behaviour into the opposite direction, so now he becomes extremely excited when another dog is present. He has become an alpha in the pack he now runs with, along with his best friends, a Labrador-Pointer mix and a Labrador-Border Collie(?) mix.
 
Hamish has had the honour of portraying Meriwether Lewis's Newfoundland Seaman for a Lewis and Clark Day at a local school. Other than that, he hasn't done a heck of a lot of activities worthy of recognition. But I think he's fine with that.
 
Hamish particularly enjoys: chasing airplanes, barking at crows, digging up chipmunks (as previously mentioned), stealing food, and going through muddy puddles. He is an incorrigible food stealer and has eaten a variety of unusual meals, such as an entire bag of hot pepper flakes and entire sticks of butter (and he has never once gotten sick). He also has some unusual tastes in food---he loves romaine lettuce and kale, but will not eat shrimp, tomatoes, or celery.
 
I am interested in starting him in draft work sometime soon, and if he takes to it it will be fun to see where this new endeavour eventually leads.
 
Hamish is a wonderful dog and it is such a pleasure to share my life with him.

Elizabeth Quandt, U.S.A.