Location: St. John's, Newfoudland, Canada
Address: Harbourside Park, Water Street
Date: June 2017
Website: www.stjohns.ca
In the lower section of St. John's Harbourside Park stand two dog statues. These are the Newfoundland and the Labrador dogs. Labrador is the portion of the province Newfoundland & Labrador that is attached to mainland Canada. Newfoundland is an island and is the eastern most point of Canada. The statues are 1.5 times larger than the dogs are in real life. The statues were sculpted by Luben Boykov who was born in Bulgaria but now lives in Newfoundland.
The dogs look out across St. John's harbour towards Signal Hill. The Newfoundland dog is the larger and shaggier of the two. Newfoundland dogs love to swim. They are adapted for swimming because they have a thick waterproof coat and even have webbed toes. They also have a large tail which acts as a rudder while they swim. These strong dogs are perfectly suited for the wet, cold environment found in Newfoundland.
Up over the hill and past the colourful houses stand two more dogs. It is another pair of Newfoundland and Labrador dogs. They are located near the GEO Centre as you head up Signal Hill.
The Labrador is better known as the Labrador retriever. It is descended from the Newfoundland dog but weighs about half as much. It is better suited as a household pet since the Newfoundland is too big and from what we read, constantly salivating. The Labrador also has webbed toes and loves water too. Labradors come in chocolate, black and yellow colours.
From the top of the hill we couldn't see the Harbourside dogs since the Atlantic Griffon (last orange boat on the left) was parked in front. The Atlantic Griffon is part of a fleet of offshore support vessels which also include other bird named boats such as the Atlantic Shrike, Atlantic Kestrel, Atlantic Merlin and more.
While we didn't get a chance to see a real Newfoundland dog during our visit, the closest we came was seeing Sable Chief at The Rooms museum. Sable Chief was a popular mascot for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during World War I and is preserved for all to see.
Map of Our World:
Newfoundland Dog Statues (Harbourside Park) , Newfoundland Dog Statues (GEO Centre)
The RoomsPost # 210