Overview: A playful yet gentle and sweet dog, the Leonberger is loving and protective of its owner. This breed does need some training and exercise at a young age but when it has been trained it will be a great companion to its owner and the family. It has an abundant amount of hair that will need grooming on a regular basis.

Temperament: The Leonberger is a calm and friendly dog breed who is willing to please its owner. It is good at learning and enjoys doing what it is instructed to do. This breed finds being around children pleasureable. Because of its size adult supervision is recommended while it interacts with smaller children as it can be overwhelming at times. The Leonberger seems to be calm in any given situation.

History: There are no records of when and how the Leonberger came to be. However it is believed that Heinrich Essig of Leonberg Germany bred a Landseer Newfoundland female with a St. Bernard male for 4 generations during the mid-19th century. This combination, with a little Pyrenean Mountain Dog at some point, led to the birth of the Leonberger. Essig exported close to 300 of these dogs over the years of his breeding in other cities and even royalty. At some point Garibaldi, the Prince of Wales, King Umberto of Italy, the Czar of Russia, and Empress Elisabeth all owned at least one Leonberger, Elisabeth owning seven of them. At one point many breeders tried to get in on breeding this dog for profit and because of this the official cynologists attempted to ban this breed from entering dog shows as it was just a tool for money. This action led people to lie about what the breed truly was and entered them in shows different breed names. One dog in particular, by the name of Ceaser, was shown as three different breeds in different shows. Finally, a St. Bernard specialist noticed that Ceaser was not a St. Bernard as registered in one of the shows but was, in fact, the Leonberger. The International Klub fur Leonberger Hunde Stuttgart was founded in the late 19th century only six years after the first Leonberger breeder, Essig died. At some point prior to World War I the breed started to diminish in numbers and all written records of this breed were destroyed. After World War I two men were charged with locating any remaining dogs of this breed and start breeding them once again. After World War II a committee led by Hans Weigelschmidt spearheaded the breeding program.

Names: The Leonberger has no other names that it goes by.

Groups: The Leonberger was formally recognized by the American Kennel Club in 2010 and assigned to the Working Group.

Physical Characteristics: The average adult Leonberger height can be 25.5 to 31.5 inches and can weigh about 120 lb. This breed is large, muscular, and well balanced in build. The males of the breed have a lion-like mane on the neck, unlike the females. The coat of this dog is medium to long, thick and1 water resistant. The undercoat is soft and thick however it may diminish during the summer months. The overcoat is soft yet coarse and lies close to the skin. The coat comes in several colors like yellow, golden to red, and a red-brown. These colors may be combined in a variety of ways.

Care: This canine needs to be trained and exercised often with active games and long walks. The training is essential at a young age so it does not misbehave when it grows older. The Leonberger should have access to both the outdoors and indoors to truly be content. This dog needs to be groomed and have its nails trimmed weekly with brushing more often during its shedding periods which happen twice a year.

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