This blog feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar.
Note: After I posted this review of the book Amazon deleted the book. Therefore it is no longer available.
That’s a strange title but bear with me. In this post I am reviewing a book containing some strange language and I am just pointing that out. The book I am reviewing is Leonberger: The Complete Leonberger Manual Leonberger Care, Personality, Grooming, Feeding, Health And All Included Paperback – October 18, 2021 by Dr. Aaron Abdul. The paperback is 38 pages, ISBN 979-8499345672, item weight 3.2 ounces, dimensions 5 x 0.09 x 8 inches. You can buy it from Amazon, as a paperback, or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $7.99 on Amazon, and the Kindle version is $2.99.
Front cover of the book Back cover of the book Leonberger by Dr. Aaron Abdul.
Below I am posting my Amazon review of Leonberger: The Complete Leonberger Manual Leonberger Care, Personality, Grooming, Feeding, Health And All Included Paperback – October 18, 2021 by Dr. Aaron Abdul. Click here to see my original Amazon review. BTW I gave the book two stars. It should be noted the book has been deleted but my original Amazon review is still accessible.
If the Breeder Refuses, Raise your Eyebrows
This Leonberger book has a lot of issues including typos, poor grammar, poor punctuation, the wrong choice of words, incomprehensible sentences, unfinished sentences, frequent repetition, and there are a lot of large random gaps between the words. Several lines begin with one word, and then there is a large gap followed by the second word in the sentence at the very end of the line. Basically, the book design is a mess. My guess is that the author does not speak English well and did not hire an editor. My review title refers to this sentence regarding asking for a visit to a breeder; “T 1 If the breeder refuses, raise your eyebrows”. The “T 1” at the beginning I assume is a typo. “Raise your eyebrows” I guess is a mistranslated metaphor. The high frequency of mistakes made it difficult to read the book.
The book contains no pictures or illustrations. The book contains this sentence regarding hip dysplasia “The Leonbergers account for 13% of all cases”. What I believe the author intended to say was “13% of all Leonbergers are afflicted with hip dysplasia” but the sentence reads differently seemingly stating the impossible considering that the Leonberger is a rare breed. I can add that hip dysplasia is more common in other giant breeds.
The book title states, “The Complete Leonberger Manual…”. As you can understand there is nothing complete about a book containing 30 pages of content, written in large print, and with words separated by large random spaces. However, the choice of facts and topics is good, even though the topics are discussed too briefly, and I did not see much incorrect information, which is why I am giving the book two stars instead of one star.
The back cover of the book Leonberger by Dr. Aaron Abdul.
In this post I am reviewing Murphy and the Great Surf Rescue (Puppy Academy, 4) Paperback – August 29, 2017 by Gill Lewis. It is illustrated by Sarah Horne. It is the fourth and latest book in a children’s book series featuring the adventures of different dog breeds at the Puppy Academy. In the Puppy Academy dogs learn a job. In this book the main character is the Leonberger puppy Murphy. Considering that Leonbergers are a rare breed this is a nice surprise. The other books in the series feature a German Shepherd puppy, a Border Collie puppy, and a Labrador. The reading age is 7-9 but I believe it is OK for younger ages as long as a parent is doing the reading.
This paperback is 128 pages, ISBN 978-1627798044, item weight 4.8 ounces, dimensions 5.21 x 0.36 x 7.82 inches. You can buy it from Amazon, as a paperback, hardback or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $9.52 on Amazon, and the hardback is $12.94. The Kindle version is $9.99.
Normally I don’t read children’s books. OK maybe I do, but I read this one because it was about a Leonberger. I sent it friends of ours with young children (our children are grown up). I think this book was very well written and it is filled with life lessons and practical advice ideal for children. It is also quite useful to parents.
Front cover of the book Murphy and the Great Surf Rescue. Click on the image to go to the Amazon location for the book.
Below I am posting my Amazon review of Murphy and the Great Surf Rescue. I made some minor updates. Click here to see my original Amazon review. BTW I gave the book five stars.
A Leonberger learns important skills and as well as life lessons.
I bought this book for the children of friends of ours, but I read it myself first because it looked so interesting and the main character of the book, Murphy, is a young Leonberger, and we used to have a Leonberger. I couldn’t help myself, so I read the whole book, but I did not bend the book, so it is as good as brand new. Anyway, a Leonberger is a very large furry dog with big, webbed paws. They are great swimmers, they are protective and sensitive, and they are truly great family dogs.
Murphy is a member of the Puppy Academy where dogs train for all kinds of jobs. Murphy’s specialty is water rescue. In this book Murphy and his friends Scruff, Pip, Star, Major Bones, Boris, Professor Offenbach and Rodrigo are participating in some great water adventures and they are learning some great life lessons, especially Murphy.
The book is teaching children about water safety, the dangers of sea water, jelly fish, rip currents, how get out of a rip current, large waves, etc. The book also teaches children about envy and how to handle such feelings and to not compare yourself with others, and instead focus on learning and improving yourself. Above all, don’t play dangerous games or try to trick people. The book contained one oversimplification referring to Newfoundland dogs as the ancestors of Leonbergers. The St. Bernard is probably the main ancestors of the Leonberger but Newfoundland dogs and Pyrenee dogs are involved too, but that is not important.
I believe this is a really fun book for kids and it was interesting reading for me too. The story is great, and the information is useful and important. I highly recommend this book.
Back cover of the book Murphy and the Great Surf Rescue.
With this post I am adding another Leonberger book that I recommend. It is a very good guide for new Leonberger owners with one caveat. It implies that you should neuter/spay your Leonberger at six months old, which would severely harm your dog if you did. The in general recommended six months does not apply to Leonbergers. Vannessa Richie did her research except regarding this. She has written many dog books, interviewed many Leonberger breeders, and she is a skilled author. However, it is obvious that she has never owned a Leonberger. Therefore, I am giving this otherwise great book four stars instead of five.
Front cover of the book the Complete Guide To Leonbergers by Vanessa Richie. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the book.
The book is The Complete Guide to Leonbergers: Selecting, Training, Feeding, Exercising, Socializing, and Loving Your New Leonberger Puppy Paperback – May 12, 2022 by Vanessa Richie. It is 195 pages, and the current price on Amazon for the paperback is $19.95, the hardback is $26.95, and the Kindle is $9.95. ISBN-13 978-1954288485, weight 12.5 ounces and the dimensions are 6 x 0.44 x 9 inches.
Complete and Very Helpful Guide to Leonbergers, but DON’T Neuter/Spay a Leonberger at Six Months
As the title promises this book is indeed a complete guide to Leonbergers. It is focused on training and care. First the book examines whether a Leonberger is the right dog for you as well as the history of the breed. The rest of the book includes topics on how to find and prepare your home for a Leonberger, puppy training, socialization, exercise, grooming, nutrition, health, etc. The book has a lot of detail and a lot of useful information. The author clearly did her research. She interviewed ten breeders after all.
The content of the book is almost 100% correct as far as I can tell, and the information is very useful to Leonberger owners. I question the second page of the chapter on history where she claims that Essig bred his Leonbergers from two dogs, a white and black Newfoundland and a long-haired St. Bernard. Essig claimed a third dog was also involved, a Pyrenean Mountain Wolfhound or possibly a Pyrenean Mountain Dog (Great Pyrenees). However, Essig’s claims have been disputed, and this is not important.
The book design is very professionally done with various sorts of sidebars, highlighted headers, professional looking tables, dividers, little corner boxes with graphics for “helpful tips”, “fun facts”, “historical facts”, “Health Alerts”, pros-cons sidebars with graphics, and 62 black and white Leonberger photos. The author is not only a good writer, but she also knows a thing or two about book design.
I’ve read more than a dozen Leonberger books and this is among the best Leonberger books I’ve read. I wish this book had existed when we got our Leonberger. I should say that we did not do everything right, but we got a lot right, and he lived exceptionally long for a Leonberger, 13 years. If we have had this book, maybe he would have lived even longer. I should add that we donated his DNA to Leonberger health research (upon request).
The reason I am not giving this book five stars is because of a problematic blooper in the middle of page 30. It says “….the dog is spayed or neutered once it reaches maturity (typically six months)”. Leonbergers aren’t fully matured until the age of two and should not be neutered/spayed until then. If you spay/neuter a Leonberger much earlier (six months) you will harm the dog. Yes, they are different from most dogs. I should say that we did not wait two years, it was not practical, but we waited about one and half year, which is much better than six months. If the author removes the faulty parenthesis, I will change my rating to five stars and update this paragraph and the title of the review. Assuming the book is print on demand you can update so that future prints here on Amazon will be correct.
So, in conclusion, this is a great Leonberger book with a lot of useful information, and I highly recommend it to Leonberger owners and prospective owners, but the blooper on page 30 prevents me from giving a perfect rating at the moment.
Back cover of the book the Complete Guide To Leonbergers by Vanessa Richie.
With this post I am adding a sixth Leonberger book that I recommend. It is a very short book, but it contains a lot of useful information. It contained a few inaccuracies, so I am giving it four stars instead of five, but it is still a good book.
The book Leonberger Dog by Lankford Marcus. Click on the book to go to the Amazon page for this book.
The book is Leonberger Dog: A Large and Friendly Leonberger for Your Family: Leonberger Dog Breed Origin, Behavior, Trainability and Facts by Lankford Marcus. The book is 57 pages, and the current price on Amazon for the paperback is $6.99 and the Kindle is $2.99 unless you have kindle unlimited in which case it is free. ISBN-13 : 979-8463499851, weight : 3.53 ounces and the dimensions are 6 x 0.15 x 9 inches.
This is my review for the book
Short Leonberger book packed with useful information but some inaccuracies
This is a short book. It has 55 pages of actual content. However, it is densely packed with information useful to Leonberger owners and those interested in getting one. The book is primarily addressing British readers, but it also mentions the Leonberger Club of America and give some advice specific to American prospective owners. It is quite useful to both American and European readers. The book feature 17 black and white photographs. I would have preferred the photos to be in color but that raises the printing cost, and some Leonberger books have no photos in them at all.
The book contains 11 chapters; Overview, History, Appearance, Temperament and Personality, Living Needs, Caring for a Leonberger, Feeding, Leonberger Health, Choosing a Leonberger Breeder, Average Cost to Keep for a Leonberger, How to identify a Leonberger. Almost all of the chapters were condensed but contained very useful information to Leonberger owners and prospective Leonberger owners. I especially cherished the “Temperament and Personality” and “Caring for a Leonberger” chapters. However, I had an issue with the two first chapters.
I would have given the book a five-star rating if it wasn’t for some incorrect information regarding the history of the breed. On page 4 it says that Heinrich Essig, the creator of the Leonberger breed, was the mayor of the town of Leonberg. Heinrich Essig was a prominent citizen of the town, and he was a successful businessman, farmer, innkeeper, horse and dog trader, large-dog enthusiast, dog breeder, and town councilman, but he was never the mayor of Leonberg.
On page 5 it says that after World War I there were only 5 Leonberger left alive. World War I was tough on the breed, but it was not quite that bad. After the war, Karl Stadelmann and Otto Josenhans, worked hard to save the breed, and they were able to find twenty-five Leonbergers whose owners were willing to cooperate in reestablishing the breed. Of these, only five were suitable for breeding. That’s where that info comes from. That’s a little different from saying that only five Leonbergers survived.
On page 6 it says that after World War II there were only 8 Leonbergers left. However, that is once again an exaggeration. However, there was indeed a “genetic bottleneck” of Leonbergers in the 1940s. This was largely because people repeatedly bred the dogs they thought were the best specimens in a misguided attempt to improve the breed. Scientific pedigree analyses demonstrate that the Leonberger has twenty-two founder animals, or animal ancestors unrelated to one another (ten males and twelve females). Again, a little bit different from “only 8 survived”. Another inaccuracy is that on page 2 the book state that the Leonberger have a tragically short lifespan of 6-8 years. First, all giant breeds have a very short lifespan and the lifespan of the Leonberger has improved partially due to the work of the Leonberger Health Foundation International. Today the Leonberger lifespan is 8-10 years. Ours lived almost 13 years (two weeks short of 13), so the Leonberger Health Foundation International wanted his DNA, which we provided.
This book is short, but it packs a lot of mostly accurate information that is truly useful to Leonberger owners. In that sense I think it is great. I wrote quite a bit about the few mistakes in this book, but I think it is important to point out inaccuracies. These inaccuracies frequently appear on-line and in other Leonberger books as well and they are not important to Leonberger owners. I feel I cannot give five stars considering these inaccuracies are in the book. However, I can still highly recommend this book to all readers interested in a short Leonberger book.
Note the books above are Leonberger books that I do recommend. Here is a set of three more reviews for Leonberger books that I don’t recommend.
To this list I am adding another Leonberger book that could have been better; Leonberger: The Comprehensive Owners Guide For Costs, Feeding, Care, Grooming, Health, Nutrition, Breeding And Training Paperback – August 23, 2022 by by Ben Bradley. The book is 24 pages, kindle version 10 pages, and the current price on Amazon for the paperback is $7.66 and the Kindle is $3.00. ISBN-13 : 979-8847969666, weight : 2.72 ounces and the dimensions 5 x 0.06 x 8 inches.
The book Leonberger by Ben Bradley.
This is my review for the book
The World’s Littlest Leonberger Book
This is a very short book that takes 5-10 minutes to read. As a brief introduction to the Leonberger it is fairly good. It does not contain any obvious errors, which is unlike some other Leonberger books I’ve read, and the font is large, which is helpful to those with bad eyesight. So, to some I believe this book could be useful.
However, the title is misleading. This book is anything, but a “Comprehensive Owners Guide” and the book says nothing about costs, nutrition and breeding. It is not even a brief owner’s guide. The Product details states that it is 24 pages (Kindle version 10 pages), which is probably true if you include the blank pages. Considering the large print, and that the number of pages with text is 21, my guess is that the content of the book corresponds to maybe 6-7 pages of a book with normal sized font. The book contains no photos, no pictures, no illustrations and no details. The product details state that the categories are Veterinary Parasitology, Food Animals in Veterinary Medicine, Fish & Aquarium Care. The book never touches on any of those subjects, so the categories are wrong.
Note the books above are Leonberger books that I do recommend. I can add that the first book Leonberger by Caroline Bliss-Isberg is a masterpiece, but it is very expensive.
However, I’ve also read Leonberger books that have substantial issues and that I therefore cannot recommend. This blog is about them.
The problems with the books I am presenting below include that the author has never owned a Leonberger, the book is full of factual errors, it’s full of grammatical errors, spelling errors and other typos. In addition, two of the books were copy and paste operations. What I mean by that is that the author wrote a book about how to train a dog, any dog, for example a Pug, and then changed the word Pug to Leonberger (copy and replace) to create a Leonberger book. Of course, they needed to add a few Leonberger facts, that may or may not be correct. Repeat the process for 65 breeds, or 167 breeds. You can write hundreds of books in one day using this procedure. The last book was written by a Russian who obviously did not speak English and probably rammed Russian text through a mediocre translation app with comical results. Parts of the book was unreadable. None of the books had any photos or illustrations to make them more interesting.
They say that you should not slam the competition. It will come back and to haunt you. That’s true. However, I don’t think these authors are my competition because they are not “Leonberger people”, and they are unlikely to ever read this. Below I am presenting and reviewing three books which I have given three stars, two stars and one star respectively on Amazon.
.
.
The Leonberger: A Complete and Comprehensive Owners Guide to: Buying, Owning, Health, Grooming, Training, Obedience, Understanding and Caring for Your Leonberger. By Michael Stone. Three stars.
It was published July 4, 2019
The paperback is 112 pages
ISBN-13 is 978-1078136211
Weight is 6.2 ounces
The dimensions : 6 x 0.28 x 9 inches
The price of the paperback is $8.00
Prcie of Kindle version is $2.99
Kindle unlimited is of course $0.00
Review below
A brief Dog Owner’s Manual with some Leonberger specific information, plus comical typos
This is a very basic book, about 14,000 words, no pictures or photos (other than the front page), and no diagrams or graphs, just text. However, considering that the printed version is eight dollars and the kindle version is free that is to be expected. The book should be judged accordingly. It is a simple and inexpensive book. The book description here on Amazon may not be entirely helpful. According to the “Final Thoughts” on the last page the author is planning to publish “multiple other dog care manuals …”. He is associated with the Dog Care Professionals organization. Based on the focus of the book and from what I can “read between the lines”, I am fairly certain the author has never owned a Leonberger and that he is not very familiar with the Leonberger breed or the community. For example, I don’t think he is part of the Leonberger Club of America. Maybe he can correct me if I am wrong.
However, where the author shines, is in his knowledge regarding the training of, and caring for dogs. I assume he is a professional dog trainer or a dog care professional. The book may not be a true Leonberger book, but it is useful for Leonberger owners none the less. We would have been helped by reading this book while training and caring for our Leonberger, or our German Shepherd, or our Pug, or our Labrador, or our Japanese Shin, or our Australian Shepherd, you get the picture. Therefore, the book is useful to Leonberger owners but may not be the best book for those specifically interested in the Leonberger breed.
I found the typos in the book a bit distracting. On page 74 he is giving a “Breif overview” and he is urging us to contact our local “Keenle Club” (my guess is that was supposed to be Kennel club), and “Heir on the side of safety” I can’t even guess what that means. That’s just one page. On page 15 he claims that the Leonberger will stand between 25 to 31 inches (? To ? cm) tall at the shoulder and weigh between 120 to 170 pounds (? to ? kg). He could have used a calculator or Wikipedia to complete page 15 without question marks. Better still, hire an editor. Question marks in the text looks sloppy. Also, the 25 to 31 inches refers to the withers, not the shoulders, it is close, but not the same thing.
From a training and caring for your dog perspective this is not a bad book. In fact, I found it to have a lot of useful information. The author is without doubt a skilled dog trainer professional. Hiring him to train our Leonberger would have been a good idea. Hiring him to spell our dog’s name, not so much (Le Bronco Von Der Löwenhöhle). Leonbergers have fancy names. Intimate understanding of Leonbergers seem to be missing in this book, and the editor is missing too. Therefore, I cannot give this book a five star rating.
The question is, should I give it three stars or four stars. I decided to give it three stars. It is an inexpensive book, that is an easy and quick read that is helpful to Leonberger owners, or prospective Leonberger owners from a general dog knowledge and training perspective. However, between the feeling you get of something missing in the Leonberger department and the comical typos, I don’t think it can be highly rated. An editor and a Leonberger (owned by the author) would have guaranteed a five star review from me.
Back cover of the book Leonberger by Michael Stonewood
.
.
Leonberger Training Book for Dogs & Puppies By BoneUP DOG Training, Dog Care, Dog Behavior, Hand Cues Too! Are You Ready to Bone Up? Easy Training * Fast Results, Leonberger. By Karen Douglas Kane two stars. Two stars.
It was published December 13, 2020
The paperback is 102 pages
ISBN-13 is 979-8580681658
Weight is 5.3 ounces
The dimensions : 6 x 0.23 x 9 inches
The price of the paperback is $11.97
Prcie of Kindle version is $5.19
Kindle unlimited is of course $0.00
Review below
A good dog training manual, but it is not a Leonberger book
This book contains a lot of good dog care and dog training advice. The author describes how and when to feed dogs, brushing, cleaning teeth, health related issues, raising and training dogs, how to train your dog to obey commands, clicker training, hand signals, etc. It is fairly complete and written with some lighthearted humor. I noticed a few typos but not many. As a dog training manual, this is a good book.
On page 5 it says, “Thanks to a British Politician Heinrich Essig the Leonberger was created”. The author got the most basic Leonberger fact wrong. Heinrich Essig was a German businessman, dog breeder, horse breeder, and occasional councilman of the town of Leonberg in the Kingdom of Würtenberg (now Germany). “Heinrich Essig” doesn’t even sound British. The rest of the extremely short two paragraph Leonberger history section was pretty misleading as well and did not do Leonbergers justice.
On page 21 and 22 the author presents a guideline for feeding dogs that starts at 5lbs and ends at 100lbs. The book says; “But keep in mind that the average Leonberger is about thirty-five to sixty five pounds fully grown…”. It is difficult to find an adult Leonberger under 100lbs, unless he starved to death. On another page in the book she says (more correctly) that adult Leonbergers weigh between 90 to 170lbs, thus contradicting herself. A lot of interesting and useful Leonberger information is missing. There’s nothing about their love for swimming, webbed paws, breed characteristics, natural drafting/pulling skills, and the explanations of how and if to get a Leonberger left a lot to be desired. The most important American Leonberger kennel club; the Leonberger Club of America was never mentioned. By the way, they have a ton of useful Leonberger information on their website.
It is obvious that the author has never owned a Leonberger and that she does not know much about them. Considering that her website (or their website) is mentioned several times in the book and the fact that she has written 65 identical looking books on different dog breeds it seems like this book is a quick “search and replace” operation of a dog training manual created for advertising purposes. To me the book looked exactly like she did a search for “your dog” and replaced it with “your Leonberger” (in a few hundred places), and then added a little bit about the specific breed (using google) but without much care for getting it right. You can write 65 books very quickly that way. By the way, she is not the only dog trainer doing this. It is a clever advertising trick. However, as a Leonberger enthusiast this rubbed me the wrong way. She should have written one generic dog training book or taken the time to research the breed better if she wanted to make it Leonberger specific. Therefore, despite the overall good dog training and dog care advice in the book I can only give it two stars.
Back cover of the book Leonberger by Karen Douglas Kane
.
.
Leonberger Dog: Complete Guide Book and Everything You Need To Know in Selecting, Raising, Health Care, Grooming, Crate Training, Feeding, Choosing the best dog food, and Loving Your Cute Puppy. By Nelson Dawson. One star.
The paperback is 145 pages
ISBN-13 is 979-8834953302
Note, the book was deleted from Amazon before I had a chance to write a review so the review below was never published. In fact, all of Nelson Dawson’s dog books disappeared from Amazon. He had written hundreds of books on hundreds of breeds. I suspect Amazon deleted them.
Priceless translation errors
This book has a lot of quality issues. First of all, it contains a lot of incorrect facts. For example, it states that the Leonberger was created in the 1930 and 1940’s (it was 1830’s and 1840’s), that the breeder tried to match the appearance of a mountain lion (it was a lion), that the first Leonberger arrived in Russia 1989 (no they existed in Russia in the 1800’s), etc. The book also contains a lot of grammatical errors, strange sentences, and incorrectly used words. For example, puppies are sometimes referred to as “children”, dogs are sometimes called “cattle”, and crates are called boxes. The word “order” is used instead of “command”, as in: Simple orders include ”Next”, “Fu”, “Give a paw”, and “Tumble”. By the way can anyone guess what the commands “Next” and “Fu” are supposed to be? I think “Tumble” is “Roll over”.
The book also features many bizarre sentences that I could not figure out what they meant. On page 28 the book states: “It is not advisable to bring two Leonberger puppies into the house at the same time. Representatives of this type are gregarious men who easily make friends with their tribesmen.” Yes, the Leonberger puppies are called “gregarious men”, which is hilarious. On page 30 the book states in regard to teaching the Leonberger a trick: “Leonbergers are true virtuosos who may stomp on the neck of their own song in order to gratify the owner. These individuals are the ones who compete in agility events.” On page 46 the book states: “When you return to work, have someone check on your dog, let him out, play with him, and reshape him with a yummy kong.” In regard to crate training the author states out of the blue: “if your home has battens, you may wish to select wood”. I have no idea what that means.
Since the prices mentioned in the book are in rubles and the intended audience seems to be Russian my guess is that the book was created by running a Russian book through a mediocre language translation application. I don’t think it could have been Google Translate because it is not that bad, not anymore. I believe the author may have taken a large stash of Russian books for different breeds and just rammed them through a translator and then uploaded it Amazon without anyone checking if the English made sense.
In any case, this book has a lot of problems, and I cannot recommend it. One star.
Back cover of the book Leonberger Dog by Nelson Dawson
This blog is primarily about Leonbergers and our late Leonberger Bronco as well as the book I wrote about him and his dog friends. However, sometimes I review other Leonberger books. This time I am reviewing The Dogfather: Dog wisdom & Life lessons: Leonberger book ~ Leonberger gifts Paperback – May 12, 2020 by Alex Luther. This paperback is 285 pages, black and white, ISBN 979-8645268923, item weight 13.4 ounces, dimensions 6.34 x 0.65 x 6.34 inches, so fairly small. You can buy it from Amazon but exist only in paperback format. It is currently $18.99 on Amazon.
The Dogfather Leonberger book by Alex Luther.
We’ve owned many dogs, all wonderful dogs, but our Leonberger was the most amazing creature I’ve come across. He passed away one year ago. Originally bred to be large companion dogs they are in tune with your feelings, and for the same reason they make great therapy dogs. They are double coated and have webbed large paws, making them excellent swimmers, they are sometimes used for water rescue. They are smart, very strong, they have an excellent sense of smell, they are big, about the same size as a St. Bernhard, and they are excellent guard dogs as well. Our Leonberger became the protector of our smaller dogs. He saved our pug’s life once. He also found and brought back our hamsters when they escaped their cage. He noticed (smelled) that our Labrador, who had diabetes, was about to have an insulin shock and alerted us to it. One time he chased away an intruder that frequently trespassed on our property and threatened us as well as our neighbors. No, he didn’t try to eat him. He probably just wanted to say hello, but the intruder didn’t know that. After that the intruder never came back. Above all he was very loving, very sociable, and sensitive to our feelings.
I thought the book looked interesting and might be worth reading at the same time as I expected a lot of sayings I’ve heard before and maybe silly jokes, but as I read on, I found the book to be better than I had expected. It is a very touching collection of sayings that were all new to me and the poetic wisdom words captured the personality of a Leonberger very well. Initially this made me believe that the author must own or had owned and loved a Leonberger like us. A few examples: “I think Leonbergers are the most amazing creature; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive.” “One reason a Gentle Lion can be such a comfort when you’re feeling blue is that he doesn’t try to find out why.” “The reason a Gentle Lion has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue” and my favorite “Sometimes I think I like Leonbergers more than I like humans. The only time a Gentle Lion has ever betrayed me…was by dying.” However, upon rereading the book I realized that it is possible that the sayings could apply to any kind of dog breed. Furthermore, I also realized that the author has written 160 nearly identical books called “The Dogfather <insert dog breed> or “The Dogmother <insert dog breed>”. So, I had just fooled myself. Most likely the author has never seen a Leonberger.
However, the sayings in the book are touching and the word Leonberger is used throughout the book. Not as good as I thought, but close. In the middle of the book there are two pages of advertisement and a web link for buying stuff. So, this book is partially advertising. That’s OK. The book is mostly for a younger audience but also sentimental adults. I gave the book four stars on Amazon.
Followers of my blog probably know that I sometimes review Leonberger books, and on occasion other types of books. This time I am reviewing Leonberger, Leonberger Dog Complete Owners Manual. Leonberger book for care, costs, feeding, grooming, health and training. May 31, 2015 by George Hoppendale (Author), Asia Moore (Author). The paperback is 186 pages, black and white, ISBN 978-1910941003, item weight 9.1 ounces, dimensions 6 x 0.41 x 9m inches. You can buy it from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and it exist in both printed version (paperback) and e-Book (kindle). Currently the paperback version is $12.58 on Amazon and $13.97 on Barnes and the kindle version is $8.97.
Leonberger Dog Complete Owner’s Manual by George Hoppendale and Asia Moore. Click on the photo to go to the Amazon page for the book.
Our Leonberger Bronco lived a long life for a Leonberger. He was the sweetest most loving and brave soul I’ve known, and he was quite intelligent. The average life span of a Leonberger is 8 years and Bronco was two weeks short of 13 years old when we had to put him to sleep. I read this book while we still had Bronco and later on, I read it again. The first four chapters of the book are fairly specific to Leonbergers, including a description of Leonbergers, how to choose a breeder, and some vital statistics. The next five chapters apply to any dogs but still contain some information about Leonbergers regarding health problems, feeding and care. Chapter 10 to 18 apply to any dog and describes training, grooming, medical care, poisonous food and caring for aging dogs. The book also lists rescue organizations, resources and references.
Page 6 of Leonberger Dog Complete Owner’s Manual by George Hoppendale and Asia Moore. Click on the photo to go to the Barnes and Noble page for the book.
I should say that the authors did not own a Leonberger and they wrote a lot of dog books for many different breeds containing similar content. However, a lot of dog book authors have done this. They basically mass produce dog books reusing material. In some Leonberger books the breed specific information minor and incorrect, as if the authors had never seen a Leonberger and copied their information from an online source focused on Pugs. Yes you really have to watch out when you buy a Leonberger book. It might not be about Leonbergers at all. At least the authors of this book included substantial Leonberger information that was mostly correct. Another consideration is that if you write about Leonbergers you have to include some information that is apply to all dogs or the information will be insufficient.
The book is fairly basic, but it contains useful and important information, some of it that I did not know before reading it. The book contains an error on page 120 where they are referring to Leonbergers as “smaller dogs”. I believe that is a copy and paste error, maybe from their Pug book. However, the book describes Leonbergers as being big (120lbs to 170lbs) everywhere else in the book, so this is obviously just a typo. The book was well written, easy to read, and as a (former) Leonberger owner I think it was a good introduction to caring for a Leonberger (as well as other dogs). The fact that the paperback version was in black and white was a little bit of a disappointment, but the color printing cost is quite high. There are better Leonberger books, but I still recommend this book because it contains mostly correct information, and it is inexpensive.
I gave it four stars on Amazon. Some people may think that four stars might be high based on what I’ve said. However, based on all the Leonberger books I’ve read, and I’ve read many; if you go any cheaper on your Leonberger book you are going to get a book with nothing but nonsense.
This is the third Leonberger book review on my blog. I am reviewing and recommending Leonberger books that I loved. This time I am reviewing Hey! What Kind of Dog is That?: Life With Leonbergers, by Julie McGloin, ISBN 978-1662913679. You can buy it from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is currently $13.88 on Amazon and $30.00 on Barnes and Noble. It is 104 pages, in a medium sized format (8.5 x 0.28 x 8.5 inches, 9.3 ounces) and it is in color.
Hey! What Kind of Dog is That?: Life With Leonbergers, by Julie McGloin. Click on the photo to go to the Amazon page for the book.
This book is a photographic tribute to a remarkable dog breed, the Leonberger. It is a fairly new book. It was launched early March 2022 and uploaded to Amazon at the end of February 2022. The author did not only include photos of her own Leonbergers but included photos from many other Leonberger owners as well. The book feature 100’s of beautiful color photos from around the world as well as interesting and useful information about Leonbergers. Our Leonberger Bronco is featured on page 6-7, which is something we are grateful for.
Page 6 & 7 spread in Hey! What Kind of Dog is That?: Life With Leonbergers, featuring our late Leonberger Bronco. Click on the photo to go to the Barnes and Noble page for the book.
I loved reading about all the other Leonbergers and learning a little bit more about the Leonberger breed. The information and the photos are presented in a charming and fun way, and it is easy reading. Leonbergers are beautiful and majestic, they love swimming, they love winter and snow, they love to eat, they are friendly and intelligent, and they are way too cute as puppies. All of this is reflected in the gorgeous photographs throughout the book. The book is for all ages and a great tabletop book. Below is the spread for page 64 & 65.
Page 64 & 65 spread in Hey! What Kind of Dog is That?: Life With Leonbergers, featuring Leonbergers in water.
Another important thing to mention is that a portion of the sale proceeds from this book is donated to the Leonberger Health Foundation International. I guess this book started a trend. Hopefully all Leonberger book authors will donate to the Leonberger Health Foundation International from now on. I highly recommend this book to all dog lovers and anyone thinking about getting a Leonberger.
Two copies of “Hey! What Kind of Dog is That?: Life With Leonbergers” arriving at my house.
This is the second Leonberger book review on my blog. This time I am reviewing Leonberger, Special Breed Edition, a comprehensive owner’s guide, by Madeline Lusby, ISBN 978-1593783143. This is a Kennel Club book and part of a large series of dog breed books (167 books). You can buy it from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and it exist in both printed version (hardcover) and e-Book (kindle/nook). It is not expensive $9.95 on Amazon for a used hardcover version and $24.99 for the kindle version (nook a little cheaper). It appears that you can no longer buy it new (as I did). I remember buying the book new for $24.95. It is 155 pages, in a medium sized format (6.75 x 0.75 x 8.25, 1.27 pounds) and it is in color.
Leonberger, Special rare breed edition, by Madeline Lusby. Click on the photo to go to the Amazon page for the book.
This book was published in 2005 before the Leonberger breed was recognized by the AKC and therefore there was no Leonberger AKC breed standard at the time. However, the FCI Leonberger breed standard certainly existed, and it is still the most prominent Leonberger breed standard. I was very impressed by the image summarizing the FCI Leonberger breed standard on the inside front cover (see below). I should mention that FCI (Féderation Cynologique Internationale) is the international organization that defines the dog breeds. However, some local organizations, such as the AKC (American Kennel Club) have their own breed standards that typically exactly match (but differ in language) or very closely match that of the FCI.
The FCI (Féderation Cynologique Internationale) breed standard illustrated
As the front cover states this is a pretty comprehensive book on Leonbergers. Due to the age of the book a few of the chapters may not be up to date, but overall, the book contains useful information for all Leonberger owners or potential owners. Leonberger history is interesting and fascinating, and this book contains some Leonberger history even though some of the claims should be taken with a grain of salt. For example, there is no proof that Leonbergers were used to pull ammunition carts during World War II as they were in World War I. There are chapters on the characteristics of the Leonberger, the breed standard, the Leonberger puppy, proper care, training, healthcare and the showing of your Leonberger. The chapter on healthcare is detailed and very well written and organized with nice sidebars, illustrations and photos. Unfortunately, this chapter is also a bit outdated. As the book points out, a Leonberger is not for everyone. Do you have the time and money to take care of it? Do you have the space? You can find out if a Leonberger is right for you by reading this book.
Overall, the book is well written, well organized and professionally made. There’s amusing anecdotes, and it is filled with interesting and beautiful photographs, tables, illustrations and colorful sidebars and notes. It was a pleasure reading it and despite its age and some inaccuracies I highly recommend this book. I gave it five stars.
Leonberger Life 