In this post I am going to review a Leonberger book, “Leonberger Complete Training Guide” by Bella Ross. However, before I do, I would like to remind everyone about my e-Book promotion in honor of our late Leonberger Bronco’s birthday on July 3rd, as well as the one-year anniversary of my book release.
I temporarily lowered the price of my e-Book from $4.99 to $2.99 on Amazon as well as on IngramSpark, which covers a range of bookstores including Barnes and Noble, Indigo in Canada, independent bookstores, libraries, and Apple devices. I am ending this promotion in a couple of days, but the lower price may stay longer on IngramSpark bookstores because they only update prices on Fridays.
Finally, this is my review of the book Leonberger Complete Training Guide by Bella Ross
I recently finished reading Leonberger Complete Training Guide: Essential Training Guide To Raising A Healthy And Obedient Dog: Caring, Health, Feeding, Exercise, Socialization, Breeding, Showing And Much More. Paperback – Large Print, April 21, 2023. The dimensions of this paperback are 6 x 0.1 x 9 inches, and the weight is 3.84 ounces, ISBN 979-8392099306, and it currently costs $7.99 on Amazon in the US. There is also a Kindle version, ASIN B0C3JGL9FP, which costs $2.99 but is free with Kindle unlimited.
In summary: The book has 34 pages of content in large text with no images. There are really 40 pages but a few pages are blank. The book does not have much to say about training Leonbergers, so the title “Leonberger Complete Training Guide” is an embellishment. The title also mentions the words breeding and showing and the book says nothing about those topics. The book also has issues with repetition, a few incorrect statements, and the listed categories “Veterinary Genetics”, “Veterinary Parasitology”, “Mammal Field Guides” don’t match the content at all. Aside from those weaknesses, the book is otherwise well edited and positive in its tone. I gave the book three stars. Click here to see my original Amazon review.
A Very Short Leonberger Book with some Strengths as well as Significant Weaknesses
This short book (34 pages of content) in large type gets a lot of information right including information that many Leonberger books get wrong. It is also well edited with respect to spelling, sentence building and paragraphs. I like how positive it is and how well it captures the personality of Leonbergers.
However, it also gets some things wrong. The town of Leonberg is not in Bavaria. Their fur should not be clipped and trimmed if you want to show your dog, and weekly bathing is too often for a Leonberger. Contrary to what it says on page 11 Leonbergers aren’t known for long lives. The book mentions hip dysplasia over and over and states how big of a problem it is when in reality other giant breeds have a significantly bigger problem with hip dysplasia. On page 18 puppies are referred to as kids and on page 35 a reference is made to something that has not been mentioned. The biggest issue with the book is probably that it is very repetitive. Certain things are repeated a half dozen times, which is a lot in a book with only 34 pages of content. The title says “Complete Training Guide” but the book does not say much about training a Leonberger. The book has no pictures and the photo on the front cover is a commonly used stock photo. One more issue; the current categories Veterinary Genetics, Veterinary Parasitology, and Mammal Field Guides do not match the content of the book.
It is a very short Leonberger book with some strengths as well as some significant weaknesses, so I think three stars is a fair rating.
Leonberger Life 
Hi Thomas, thank you for this excellent and well rounded review. You did a great job. Would you consider getting another Leonberger?
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Thank you so much Roberta for your kind words. We get that question a lot from our friends and relatives. We are definitely interested in getting another Leonberger but our current circumstances make it less than ideal for a big energetic dog that needs to be well trained. One of those circumstances is that we failed to properly train our latest and cutest addition, our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. Rollo is badly socialized and he hates other dogs, except for Daisy, and we allow them on our bed, and have for years, and we also have other bad habits that are very difficult to break. We want to fix the current situation first, which is taking longer than we hoped. Also, the Leonberger Club checks your circumstances and if it is not good they may not even allow you get one.
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Okay, I understand.
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It sounds like the author may have been well intentioned, but that the final result wasn’t all that good.
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Yes that is a good way to put it. I don’t think the author had an editor and did not take the time to edit it themselves. But just using one common stock photo and choosing small sized categories that did not match tells me she tried to take shortcuts too.
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Great review, Thomas. The title certainly seems a bit misleading but one thing I like is that no matter what Leonberger book you are reviewing, you always have something positive to say.
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Thank you so much for your kind words Kymber. By the way I did review your book as well. March 12 “Review of Secrets in the Blood by Unity Hayes”. Check the “All Posts” menu item if you want to see.
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Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry to have missed that, Thomas! Thank you so much!
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Thank you Kymber. I loved the book and I just thought I mention it. It is great to have you back.
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Thanks so much for your review of this book! You have saved me some money!
At first glance of seeing the cover of this book, however, I may have been hesitant in purchasing it as the cover photo is very similar, if not the same but turned around, as book I have, “ Leonberger Dog Complete Owners Manual” by George Hoppendale and Asia Moore.
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Thank you Brenda. Yes you are right. This is a stock photo that is easy to get. “ Leonberger Dog Complete Owners Manual” by George Hoppendale and Asia Moore is a good book. They may have created the stock photo.
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Leonbergers are such gorgeous dogs, it’s tempting to buy the book just for the gorgeous cover. Not this time!
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Yes I agree. Thank you Jacqui.
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so nice with his birthday hat! have a nice day!
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Thank you Carfax and have a nice day you too.
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Well reviewed. The cover page is excellent. He is looking good.👌
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Thank you Priti
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☺️🙏
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Your e-book looks interesting and heartwarming.
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Thank you so much JR
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God love you for weeding out those who do not deserve. Maybe you could have the best beer goes with this book… ! 🙂 Gonna come visit I is in Portugal?
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Thank you Julie. Yes a beer is not a bad idea. It’s so amazing that you are moving to Portugal. What a change. I just made a post about culture shock. You may have one but you get over it. I would love to visit you in Portugal. Are your Leos coming with you?
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I’d wager this has been AI generated as there’s plenty of indicators such as the editing patterns, language and incorrect facts.
Yo are generous to give 3 stars as the reality is, this book barely scratches the surface of training or looking after your dog. It’s a generic & poor attempt at using AI to generate a quick revenue stream.
Well done to you for reading through the book in its entirety to pull together the review! I wouldn’t have been so kind with my time
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You might be correct Alex. The author does not seem to have any intimate knowledge about Leonbergers and the writing was generic and repetitive. To be honest three stars might actually be generous, like you say, but I didn’t want to be too negative towards another Leonberger book. For Leonberger books I try to be as positive as I can.
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