The Leonberger is a German breed of large dog. The breed name derives from that of the city of Leonberg, in Baden-Württemberg, where it was bred in the mid-nineteenth century.

History

thumb|upright|The coat of arms of Leonberg

In the 1830s, Heinrich Essig, a dog breeder and seller and mayor of the town of Leonberg near Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, claimed to have created the Leonberger by crossing a female Landseer Newfoundland with a "barry" male from the Great St Bernard Hospice and Monastery (which would later create the Saint Bernard). Later, according to Essig, a Pyrenean Mountain Dog was added, resulting in very large dogs with the long, white coats that were the fashion for the time, and a pleasant temperament. The first dogs registered as Leonbergers were born in 1846 and had many of the prized qualities of the breeds from which they were derived. The Leonberger dog became popular with several European royal households, including Napoleon II, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the Prince of Wales, Otto Von Bismarck, Emperor Napoleon III, and Umberto I of Italy. Essig's claim of breeding the dog as described is disputed. Records from as early as 1585 may indicate the existence of Leonberger-type dogs; documents dating from 1601 held by the Metternich family describe similar dogs used to deter the theft of livestock. Either way, no doubt exists that Essig named and registered the breed first. A black-and-white engraving of the Leonberger was included in The Illustrated Book of the Dog by Vero Shaw (at p. 488) in 1881.

The modern look of the Leonberger, with darker coats and black masks, was developed during the latter part of the 20th century by reintroducing other breeds, such as the Newfoundland. and were bred until World War II when, again, almost all Leonbergers were lost. During the two world wars, Leonbergers were used to pull the ammunition carts, a service to the breed's country that resulted in the Leonbergers' near-destruction. Karl Stadelmann and Otto Josenhans are credited as the breed's saviors, bringing them back from almost extinction. and draft work. They were frequently seen pulling carts around the villages of Bavaria and surrounding districts. The breed continues in that role today, along with the Newfoundland, Labrador Retriever, and Golden Retriever; they are used at the Italian School of Canine Lifeguard. They have been used successfully as flock guard dogs.

The Leonberger received American Kennel Club recognition as a member of the Working Group on January 1, 2010, alongside the Icelandic Sheepdog and the Cane Corso. It was the 167th breed to be recognized by the AKC.

Description

Appearance

The Leonberger is a large, muscular, and elegant dog with balanced body type, medium temperament, and dramatic presence. The head is adorned with a striking black mask. Remaining true to their early roots as a capable family and working dog and search-and-rescue dog (particularly water), the surprisingly agile Leonberger is sound and coordinated, with both strength in bearing and elegance in movement. A sexually dimorphic breed, the Leonberger possesses either a strongly masculine or elegantly feminine form, making gender immediately discernible. The breed has webbed paws

Size, proportion, and substance

thumb|Leonberger female

Height at withers:

  • Male: , average
  • Female: , average Nose leather, foot pads, and lips should always be black. Faulty colours include brown with brown nose leather, black and tan, black, white, or silver, and eyes without any brown. A small patch of white on the chest or toes is permitted.

Temperament

First and foremost a family dog, the Leonberger's temperament is one of its most important and distinguishing characteristics. Well socialized and trained, the Leonberger is self-assured, insensitive to noise, submissive to family members, friendly toward children, well composed with passersby, and self-disciplined when obliging its family or property with protection. Robust, loyal, intelligent, playful, and kindly, they can thus be taken anywhere without difficulty and adjust easily to a variety of circumstances, including the introduction of other dogs.

Health

A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 10 years for the breed compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds. A 2015 French study found a life expectancy of 8.75 years. A 2005 Swedish study of insurance data found 74% of Leonbergers died by the age of 10, higher than the overall rate of 35% of dogs dying by the age of 10.

An analysis of Leonberger pedigree found an inbreeding coefficient of 0.29 with just 22 founding dogs. From 1989 to 2004 the life expectancy dropped from 9.4 years to 7.7 years. Almost half suffered from at least one health condition and 21.5% suffered from neoplasia. The next most common group of conditions were orthopaedic and neurological at 15.8% and 14.8% respectively. The most common individual conditions were arthritis, polyneuropathy, hypothyroidism, gastric torsion, and dilated cardiomyopathy.

Ophthalmological conditions

A study in the UK identified cataracts in 90 out of 211 Leonbergers surveyed.

Neurological conditions

A study found a high prevalence of neurological conditions in the Leonberger, which is likely due in large part to limited genetic diversity. and in the GJA9 gene, and an autosomal recessive variant in the CNTNAP1 gene.

Another disease described in the breed is the juvenile-onset leukoencephalomyelopathy caused by an autosomal recessive variant in the NAPEPLD gene.

Neoplasia

The Leonberger has a predisposition to hemangiosarcoma and osteosarcoma. A study in the UK of more than 900,000 dogs looking at the annual prevalence of osteosarcoma found the Leonberger to have the second highest rate, at 1.48%, compared to 0.037% overall.

The Lifetime TV movie Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever features a Leonberger that becomes a victim of a dognapping, co-starring with the famous Grumpy Cat.

In the story Murphy and the Great Surf Rescue in Gill Lewis' Puppy Academy series of children's books, Murphy is a Leonberger puppy whose special skill is swimming.

The graphic music video "Deutschland" by German rock band Rammstein portrays the symbolic figure of Germania giving birth to Leonberger puppies.

Leonberger dogs are represented in many stamps from around the world.

In Norwegian author Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer series, the title character has a Leonberger named Kollberg.

Three Leonberger dogs (one was a female, and two males) played the main character Buck in The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon (1997), a Canadian rendition of Jack London's Call of the Wild which stars Rutger Hauer as John Thornton and is narrated by Richard Dreyfuss. The breed chosen in this movie was not the one identified as Buck in the novel.

References

Further reading

  • Pfaumer, Sharon (July 1996). "The Leonberger, the golden-hearted lion dog". Dog World (USA), pp. 14–22.
  • Stramer, Metha. The Dog of Leonberg: The History of a Dog Breed . Multilingual (English, German, French, Dutch) trilogy on the history of the Leonberger dog (1846–1948) (Independent Leo Gazette) .

<!-- Editors: breed registry, club, rescue, and kennel information links are placed on DMOZ, not here. -->

  • World Wide Leonberger Independent Database Foundation
  • Other resources at Leonberger Union