They certainly are cold-weather dogs, but there are quite a few in need of rescue in So Cal (most of which will never get to see snow in any case), and because of their disposition, they do fine as a mostly indoor dog in an A/C’d house. I’ve known several Newfies in SD, and they didn’t seem to mind, they just avoided going out during the middle of the day (unless it was down to a dog beach for a swim), and got their walks done early in the morning or the evening. Certainly one nice benefit of a Newfie is that you can walk one of those just about anywhere at any time without much fear (who’s going to attempt to mug anyone who’s walking a dog that probably outweighs the mugger?)
I can certainly understand your friends wolf-hybrid (or any other highly active cold weather dog) having a serious issue with the SD climate, especially during the summer months – but those are dogs that really need to be outside a good portion of the time to fulfill their instictive drives. Newfies don’t really need that “outside” time, and while they’ll go for a walk readily (and should get one for daily excercise purposes in any case), the Newfies I’ve known have been just as likely to shoot you a “go out? why? I’m happy snoozing here on the couch” look as get up and mosey to the door if you show up with a leash (as opposed to a retrievers “leash? woohooo – time for a walk” *barrels towards the door* attitude).
