Leonberger
Official Standard
Country of origin: Germany
The Leonberger is very elegant dog.
He/She is well-balanced shape and looks confidence with calm, but also vivacity.
On our today’s living style, the Leonberger is the best partner as a family dog who can be taken
anywhere without difficulty and is friendly to children.
He/She is neither shy nor aggressive.
He/She has confidence and always keeps calm.
He/She is very easy to train among large dogs because he/she is obedient and has learning ability and
good memory.
As of the ideal proportion of adult Leonberger, height at the withers to length of body is 9 to 10. The
depth of chest is 50% of the height at the withers.
The head is deeper than broad and the better shape is elongated rather than stocky.
Proportion of the length of muzzle to length of skull is 1 to 1. The head is fit all over by coat with no
wrinkles.
Black nose is preferable.
Muzzle is rather longer and nasal bridge is even breadth.
Lips are closed fitly and black and a level bite is accepted.
Not slobbering.
Preferable eyes color is between light brown and dark brown.
Eyelids are closed fittingly without any gap. The white of eye isn’t reddened.
Ears are set on top and not far back.
Ears are medium size, drop toward the head and fleshy.
Neck is thick and a little flabby.
Withers are important, especially males. It is defined that back is flat and broad.
Broad, strong and well-muscled loins are preferable.
Chest is broad and deep, reaching to the upper parts of the elbows. Not too barrel shaped and oval.
While standing, tail hangs down straight.
In movement, tail is curried no higher than the level of topline with slightly curved.
Limbs are very strong, especially males.
Coat is medium soft with fine texture, long, close fitting and never parted.
Under coat makes the outline of the body plump.
Coat is straight or slightly waved and soft and thin.
It is important for mature males to carry a mane which extends over neck and chest.
The Leonberger has distinct feathering on forelegs and ample feathering to breeches on the hind legs.
Coat color is lion yellow, red, reddish brown or sandy (fawn, cream colored) and all combinations always
must be with a black mask. Black hair tips are permitted, but black must not determine the dog’s basic
color.
The basic color on the underside of the tail, the mane, the forelegs and the breeches on the hind legs
must not be highly visible, interfering with the harmony of the main color.
Height at the withers; males are 72 to 80 cm (recommended average: 76 cm) and females are 65 to 75
cm (recommended average: 70 cm).
Weight ; males are about 50 to 65 kg and females are about 40 to 55 kg.
Well balanced proportion is preferable, not too big or small.
In general, huge dogs tend to have a health problem and die extremely young.
History
In 19th century, from the late of 1830s and early 1840s, when Mr. Heinrich Essig was county councillor
in Leonberg, he crossbred a female black and white Newfoundland and a male St. Bernard “Barry” who
was from a monastery. It is the beginning of the crossbreed.
Later, he crossbred a Great Pyrenees and the Leonberger was bred.
Mr. Essig’s aim was to breed a dog like “lions”.
The lion is the coat armor of the city of Leonberg.
The dogs who were called “real” Leonberger at first were born in 1846.
They had the most excellent qualities ever bred.
In a short time later, the Leonberger has come to attention as a symbol and a status from all over the
world.
During World War I and II, the number of dogs has reduced dramatically.
Today, the Leonberger is an excellent family dog who is obedient and fit in our modern life.
It was the beginning for our kennel that we imported 3 Leonbergers from Germany and Poland in 1998.
We met Leonbergers with relying on dog person.
We have started our breeding by one male and two females whose names were “Leo”, “Lake” and
“River”. In spending with 3 Leonbergers, we have needed to know about the country of origin, especially
bred area, we visited Brussels in Belgium in 2002. And we imported a female Leonberger “Bianca”.
We’ve got the information about breeders in Germany and France at that time.
In 2003, we imported a male Leonbergaer “Daimyo” from Quebec in Canada.
The breeders in Canada have bred dogs by pedigree dogs from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 2008, we imported “Greg” from Belgium. In 2009, we imported “Indy” from Belgium.
Belgium is sandwiched between Germany and France which are both of powerful countries and a small
country sported by history.
Depends on areas, Belgian speak two or three languages.
But eventually, they maximize the advantage of location of Central Europe and often fill the main role
of Europe. Their breeding ways reflects the merits of exchanging of various European cultures.
At our kennel, our Leonbergers have given birth once or twice a year at most. Sometimes, we have no
babies.
In the past, we had only 2 babies at one birth or we had 13 babies at another birth.
On average, we have 8‾10 babies at one birth.
Situation in Japan
The Leonberger has been imported to Japan in 1990s. The number of registrations of Japan Kennel
Club (JKC, organization for registering pedigree papers) has exceeded 100 dogs once, but recently,
there are only about 40 new-borns in Japan.
The below data is the number of registrations dogs who were registered pedigree papers by JKC per
dog types in 2012. It is only in Japan and announced every year.
No.1: Poodle 93,000 dogs
No. 10: Miniature Schnauzer 7,700 dogs
No. 20: Beagle 3,000 dogs
No. 11: Golden Retriever 7,300 dogs (It is the most as of middle or large dogs)
No. 26: Bernese Mountain Dog 1,700 dogs
No. 34: Great Pyrenees 500 dogs
No. 40: Great Dane 300 dogs
No. 45: St. Bernard 239 dogs
No. 58: Newfoundland 116 dogs
The Leonberger is very rare dog.
(190 kinds of dogs are approved by JKC.)
So, we always have to import new pedigree Leonbergers from abroad because bred Leonbergers become
all relatives soon and it is impossible to continue breeding.
If we breed by domestic large dogs (huge dogs), bred dogs tend to be smaller. So, it is our policy to
continue to import Leonbergars who are born and grow abroad to keep their standard size and body.