Sweetness of temperament is the hallmark of our breed. Your support helped prove it can be measured.
The NCA Charitable Trust funded a breed temperament study with the University of Pennsylvania's C-BARQ program, and it is now complete. More than 1,100 Newfoundlands were entered by owners, breeders and fanciers, establishing the first validated, breed-specific temperament baseline for the Newfoundland.
C-BARQ (the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire) was developed and validated at Penn Vet. It scores a dog across a wide range of behavior traits, from trainability and attachment to fear, aggression and separation-related behavior. With a Newfoundland reference cohort of 1,116 dogs, any Newfoundland's results can now be compared meaningfully against the breed.
That makes C-BARQ a practical tool today for the people who shape the breed's future and care for Newfoundlands in need.
For Rescue Programs
Every Newfoundland coming into rescue arrives with an unknown story. C-BARQ helps rescue volunteers see how a dog's temperament compares with breed-typical behavior.
• Better placements. Understand a dog's comfort with strangers, other dogs, handling and being left alone, and match it with the right home.
• Earlier support. Scores outside the breed-typical range can point to areas where a dog may benefit from training or behavior help before adoption.
• Clearer conversations with adopters. Share objective information about what to expect.
C-BARQ is completed by someone who knows the dog well. For best results, have the foster complete it once the dog has settled in, typically after 3–4 weeks in the home. Use it alongside your program's own evaluation and veterinary input.
For Breeders
C-BARQ gives breeders an objective look at temperament when evaluating prospective breeding stock. Compare a dog with more than 1,100 Newfoundlands, track temperament across generations, and encourage puppy buyers to enter their adult dogs. Learn more on the Breeder Support Center.
For Owners
Curious how your Newfoundland compares with the breed? Entering your dog takes about 10-15 minutes, and every dog added strengthens the breed baseline.
More information about the C-BARQ
Dogs must be at least 6 months old. Each dog takes about 10 minutes.
1. Go to the The C-BARQ Website
2. Click the Green “Sign Up Now” button
3. Complete the “Create A Profile” page and click “Create Your Profile”. Your profile lets you return to see the scores for every dog you enter.
4. From your user screen you can click the “Add A Dog” option to add each of the dogs currently living with you. Each dog takes about 10-15 minutes to enter.
5. When asked how you were referred, choose "Dog is a pet and I want to learn more about his/her behavior".
Understanding your results
Your results show where your dog falls on each behavior trait, compared with the Newfoundland reference cohort (1,116 dogs as of 2025) and with all dogs in the C-BARQ database. Scores for your dog are displayed as colored bars, with the breed average indicated with a circle and the ttal population average shown with a diamond.
Supporting Research Like This
This study was made possible by donors to the NCA Charitable Trust. Gifts to the Trust fund health research, education and rescue that protect the Newfoundland for generations to come. Donate to the Trust