When I started to think of getting a new dog, I had dreams of a gentle, snuggly ball of fluff that I could love and kiss and spend loving time with.

I researched Newfoundlanders and they claimed to be ‘gentle giants’. When I read that, I thought: perfect. This is the breed for us.

What I didn’t know is that Newfs turn out to be gentle giants but they start out as hyper active, biting machines.

George bites. Everything. He nips arms, cables, sleeves, pant legs, faces, noses, furniture…basically anything he can reach with those sharp, little teeth. Within one day of his arrival, my arms were checkered blue and green with his bites.

Originally, we were worried Ocean might be too rough with him. One second of seeing them together changed that. Now we worry that George might be too much for Ocean.

We’ve had to buy two crates to keep George from biting sockets or something else that would harm him. We’ve had to put away our carpet because he was going to eat the thing. We have things that have suddenly gone missing, from the TV remote to clothing. We seriously thought about giving him up to the SPCA or to the next person who walked by our house.

I’ve found a site for dog training run by the man who introduced Newfoundlanders to Ontario: https://dogtrainingandequipmentsales.com/training/. I’ve talked to Newfie enthusiasts and we are going to do some puppy classes.

If anyone out there knows how to teach a puppy that has piranha tendencies to stop biting, I would welcome any tips.