Hi

I'm hoping to get advice or an owners point of view of the leonberger, me and my wife are ready for a dog and both love the Leon , we have been to discover dogs a few times and always come away knowing that the Leon is for us, we plan on doing a lot more research and meeting as many as we can before we get one but just want to find out what there like as a breed and what experiences people have with them? As the breeders have told us all the good points and always have nothing but good things to say which is great but we just want to make sure they are as great as we have been told. And all the breeders we have spoken with had no issues with us being first time owners but all our friends keep telling us to go for something smaller as we're will be way in over our heads with a giant breed, but we don't want anything else, we feel we can control a Leon and like I said we plan on doing a lot of reading on dog behaviour, training , getting help right from the start so we can prevent any issues while the dog is still small before it gets to big. We also plan on meeting loads of the breed before getting one too.

We love the Leon and don't want anything else. The breeders told us the following (we just want check this is all true , I know they probably are telling the truth it's just we haven't been told of any breed flaws and when we ask were told the Leon doesn't really have any)

1) by nature there friendly, calm, placid, affectionate and are gentle giants who are not aggressive.

2) they need medium exercise around 1-2hrs a day

3) they don't drool that much

4) there also friendly to everyone including strangers a bit like Labrador but they just don't go out of there way to say hi but if a stranger came over they would be happy to have a stroke.

5) there great with other animals, dogs, children, cats ect..

6) there clownish when young but calm and not hyper when young

7) because of the Newfoundland background they love water and love to swim

8) they can be clumsy

9) there happy go lucky and fairly easy to train

10) they don't bark a lot and are fairly quiet dogs

11) rubbish guard dogs at most they would lick a stranger to death

12) they are low aggression dogs who not aggressive at all ( provided they come from good lines, good breeders, are then raised well by both breeder and owner, trained and socialized well , given plenty of love and care and get enough physical and mental exercise)

Then the only things that were downsides were (but we can live with all the following so didn't really see them as bad points)

1) they she'd a LOT

2) being a giant they can squash your feet when lying beside you

3) they are expensive to feed and keep

4) they can knock things over or clear things off a table easily

5) there love of water can dribble water everywhere in the house

These are the only drawbacks and good points we were told about, is all the above true? And is there anything else we should know? And if there are any owners who can tell us what it's like to live, train and raise a Leon or anyone with knowledge or experience of the breed we will be very greatful.

Sounds about right. the only down sides are those practical ones you would expect for a large hairy dog

I love the breed, as the sister of a good friend showed and bred them, also the breed community have been very hot on health so hips and elbow status is really good for a dog let alone a giant breed.

The lady I know did have some with Anal Furunculosis, most often seen in GSD (I rather think they must have shared ancestry).

Thank you very much could you please tell more about the breed from your experiences, if the only downside are the ones above that the breeders told me about then we're happy to deal with things like getting a bigger car, loads of shedding, ect...

The other downside the breeders told me about was short lifespan which were fine with as well, anal furunculosis were aware of in the breed and of hips, elbows, I did wonder if they may be related to the GSD many, many generations away with them both being from Germany.

> I did wonder if they may be related to the GSD many, many generations away with them both being from Germany.

Well to the uninitiated they would look like a Newfie cross GSD.?

All the ones I have met have been lovely

You've got the LPN testing too. 1&2.
Eye testing is needed
Lemp is another test many are now doing also.

https://www.leonbergerclubofgb.com/links-for-more-health-info

Lots of info on health tests which should be done.

I have a number of friends with the breed and many of them breed too.
They are fairly easy going but do have a stubborn streak to them.
Lots of grooming around the feathering to stop it knitting up is needed.

They are a lovely breed :)

The history is Newfoundland x St Bernard but there has been info saying the GSD was used and also the Pyranean Mountain Dog also.

Just looking at them and the colouring says GSD had to be in there somewhere along the line.

Hi all

Thanks for all your advice , we will be getting a leonberger and are looking forward to crufts to see them in the flesh again.

I wanted to ask is there any difference between male or female? As my partner wants us to get a boy as boys are more laid back and affectionate were I feel getting a girl might be easier as there smaller compared to a male and might be more easy being a first time owner?

What are your thoughts should we get a boy or a girl?

I am totally biased, I prefer bitches, no leg cocking.

Seriously though the one advantage to bitches is you rarely get other dogs show aggression to the girls, where even if you have a  laid back male dog some other males feel they must challenge other males.

I've had leonbergers for 25 years and sounds like you have been given a bit if a rose tinted glasses picture or a good sales talk

They are obviously a fabulous breed but especially young Leos can be very far from gentle calm giant! More so a bull in a China shop
They can be pretty energetic, especially teenage boys can be hard work to guide them to become fabulous adults...

Facebook has a great group called -so you want a leo- realities of living with a giant dog...

I have 6 at the moment ( between 10.5 years and 1.5 years old) but you do have to be special kind of person to have a Leo & enjoy living with all that comes with them :-)

I have many puppy families where Leo has been a first dog and they have done great - gone in the ownership with eyes open and ready to train and work with their dog. I do tend to select easier pups for these families so they can cope and will not be walked all over by their bundle of fluff

No breeder should be telling leonbergers are not aggressive. Any dog can be aggressive and there most definitely are leonbergers that are not great with other dogs, some males do not tolerate other males etc normal dog behaviour can be expressed by leonbergers too, which can bring it's challenges when dog weights 10+ stones. Granted, they are generally pretty easy going but they are not always gentle all tolerating teddy bears.

Many also have a bit of a guarding instinct, not of a level of many working breeds but let's say I do not have to lock my doors.