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The Leonberger started working in England, in an organised way when Lee & Lesley Gray formed the Working Section as part of the Leonberger Club Of Gt. Britain, back in 1994. Owning both a Newfoundland and a Leonberger called “Tsagan”  they had been doing the water test training  with a Newfoundland Working Group. Their dog Tsagan had been doing really well at only 6 months old. The question they wanted  an answer to was, is “Tsagan” a one off, or was this a trait in other Leos? So in September 1993 they organised a successful  FUN water day held in Essex. This proved “Tsagan” was not alone as many Leos excelled that day. “Fiscus” a Leo owned by Carol Lear was a real star in the water. Over the next few years Leos were put through their paces with Draught Work, Tracking, Agility and even one Leo doing Flyball, “Eersteen” owned by Liz Guy. ( Unless you know different the only Leo doing Flyball.). The rest is History as they say.

“Tsagan”

Introduction to the working Leonberger.

The Leonberger in England was finally  accepted into the Working Group in January 1999.  Perhaps this change will encourage people to take the Leos’ abilities more seriously. Despite its size the Leonberger is a very lively dog.  It enjoys doing water rescue, obedience, agility, carting, working trials - there was even one Leo taking part in flyball at a competitive level!  They are also very good at tracking and searching and are used as avalanche dogs in some areas.

If you are thinking of buying a Leo remember that he is happiest when his mind and body are given something to do.  They love to please and are happy to try anything with you although they do get bored easily, especially if training is too repetitive.

The favourite activity of many Leos is probably water rescue work.  Most Leos inherit the love of water from their Newfoundland ancestors and love the chance to use their natural instincts. Leo Water Assessments are held on a regular basis and are proving very popular. Dogs that pass these assessments are rewarded with a certificate. 

Leonbergers have recently started Draught Assessments so that their carting skills can be put to the test. Draught work was part of their original function and they most thoroughly enjoy it.

Why Leonbergers should have their own Working Discipline

The Leonberger dog is probably unique in many ways, none more so than being bred for cosmetic purposes. The town of Leonberg in Germany is the origin of this dog; the town's crest contains a picture of a lion. A breeding program was established to create a dog to resemble that lion. It is believed that to look lion-like was probably one of the only criteria set in this program. Although not bred with a specific purpose or trait in mind, the Leonberger results from all strong working dogs. Although always exceptions to the rule, I have found that training with most of the Leos being worked in the U.K. over the last 10 years that they seem to be a jack of all trades and master of none. This would not be unexpected taking into account our Leos history. Other working breeds usually have a main trait that they have been bred for, Herding, pointing, tracking, pulling and many more. This gives these breeds far more trainability for his fellow man to establish a training program to be able to guide the dog through his natural abilities, or if training these dogs for something other than their original purpose a starting point for his trainers to use and work from. This is not as straight forward for the Leo; I have found that he needs far greater understanding in his training to encourage him further than just dabbling. I have helped to train many Leos including my own through many varied activities. These include, draught work, obedience, tracking, agility, but probably mostly water rescue training, and found that the training for them on the whole needs to be vastly different than from our other breed the Newfoundland, and previous breed the German Shepherds to achieve the same level in similar activities. I have always strongly favoured water rescue training, so chose this activity to make a personal study for the last 6 years of the Leos trainability. Seeing what makes him tick, what makes him different, why his response is different to other breeds that we train. The above statements and what follows below is part of the conclusions from that study. Much must be considered when training our Leos; he has a short attention span, does not like over repetition and is quite a sensitive soul who will often give up far too easily if not trained with care. Over a decade ago when I first discovered this magnificent breed he was of a very different construction than today, stronger, more able to pull and extremely strong in the water. Having seen the new breed standard for the future of our Leos (now formally accepted) his abilities in the power stakes will carry on diminishing. I therefore strongly feel if you take into account the breed’s uniqueness, and change in construction over the years that working activities and training programs should be strongly geared to our Leos. We need to have control of our own destiny to make necessary the changes that suit our unique breed. The Seals Assessments have been formulated with all the above considerations taken into account. Their natural progression allows the training to be most suitable to the Leonberger

Click to view Working Assessments

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