Hi Sue,

I was seriously considering buying one before I moved out of my moms house. My mom told me that if I could buy one (they were on average $1500) and pay for the vet costs that I could get one. Not likely for a young teen, so I researched breeders, met parent dogs and chose a breeder. I had started to save my money and by the time I had enough saved for the pup, vet costs, and obedience training, I decided I did not think a Leo would fit into my lifestyle as well as I would have liked. First of all, they are water loving dogs to the extreme! They LIVE in the water and since I don't live on the water it would not have been as fun of a home as someone who lived on or walking distance from water. I wondered how they would like Michigan weather too. We have such extreme summers here, and they get hotter and more humid every year.

When I finally had a breeder picked out, I spent alot of time with her and her dogs and I noticed that they were gorgous and sweet, but they really seemed to lack intelligence. I went to a few training sessions with the breeder and her bitch, who was to be the mother of my future pup, and she was a stunning dog with a great, loving personality, but she was a slow learner. The other dogs picked up on the lessions alot sooner then her bitch did, and she was one of the best bred dogs, with one of the most highly reffered breeders that I could find. The breeder then told me that they usually, "don't get brains until they are about 2". My reason for wanting a leo in the first place was because I wanted a dog who was easy to train, and who was intelligent. It was then that I decided not to spend all my saved money on a leo. Funny, I did not know anything about GSD's when I had saved up enough $ for a leonberger, otherwise I would have gotten a well bred GSD pup instead! I ended up spending most of my dog money on books in college

I have been to about 6 rare breed shows and interviewed alot of breeders and met alot of dogs. Some of the leos were very nervous of people. I remember in the ring there was this pretty, young male going around the show ring and he was so afraid of all the spectators looking at him that his tail was tucked between his legs, he had fear in his eyes, and he was trying so hard to get closer to his owner, who was handleing him, that he kept making her trip! They were planning on breeding him that next year. I didn't think he was a good specimen of the breed, but that's something that people have to look out for! Leos are supposed to be more friendly and outgoing then he was.