THE
LEONBERGER
JULIA BRADY
1. Where do you live? What do you do “outside” of dogs? 2. Huggable and lovable but also a formidable foe, the Leo has gained a great group of fans. Do people on the street or at the vet recognize the breed? 3. The Leonberger Club of America recently won BEST BOOTH IN SHOW at AKC’s Meet The Breeds® event. This takes a great deal of cooperation between fanciers. Do you find fellow Leo lovers to be cooperative when it comes to breeding, show- ing and helping fellow breeders to place pups? 4. What is the most surprising aspect of the breed’s personality? 5. How does living with a large dog jive with the current trend to downsize human housing? 6. At what age do you choose a show prospect? 7. What is your favorite dog show memory? 8. Is there anything else you’d like to share about the breed? Please elaborate. GINNY BARTHOLOMAY Ginny Bartholomay is an active LCA breeder and AKC exhibi- tor. Since, 2007, she has bred or finished 16 AKC Champions and Grand Champions. She and her husband share their home with 11 Leos. I live in Montana. When I am not with the dogs I am riding horses or doing something outside such as hiking, fishing, kayaking or, in winter, cross country skiing. Huggable and lovable but also a formidable foe, the Leo has gained a great group of fans. Do people on the street or at the vet recognize the breed? I don’t know why you describe Leos as a “for- midable foe”. As a rule, Leonbergers have a friendly demeanor. While Leos are still on the “rare” side, I have found that more peo- ple know what a Leonberger is than they did five years ago. Do I find fellow Leo lovers to be cooperative when it comes to breeding, showing, and helping fellow breeders to place pups? Yes, the Leonberger community at large is really one large family. And, like most families, we may not always agree but in a pinch we are there to offer assistance and support for one another. I have seen it repeatedly in our club. The willingness of our members to help someone in need is remarkable. What is the most surprising aspect of the breed’s personality? The empathy the breed possesses. How does living with a large dog jive with the current trend to downsize human housing? For a large dog, I find they don’t take up a lot of space. What they do need is exercise so that is more impor- tant than the size of the human’s house. At what age do I choose a show prospect? I make the decision on a show prospect at about eight weeks. In most cases I have been watching the puppy since birth and have photographed it from four weeks on so I have a pretty good idea of who will be my show pick. My favorite dog show memory? Winning the 2005 National with me handling my girl, Forevergreen’s Keepsake. Some people have the misconception that Leonbergers are guard dogs—they aren’t. The breed was not bred for a specific working purpose. It was supposed to be an “every man” dog, elegant enough for royalty yet sturdy enough to do farm work. Leonbergers are ver- satile workers and will do almost anything their owners are up for doing. Because of their empathetic nature many of them are well suited for doing some kind of therapy work.
We first discovered Leonberg- ers in 1995 and have been active members of the Leonberger Club of America (LCA) ever since. Since that time, we have had the privilege of making Leonberger friends all around the world and have attended almost all of our annual Leonberger Club of America national specialties. Over the past years, I have served as the President of the Frontier Leonberger Club, an
Associate Member of the LCA Breeding Committee, a Regional Representative for Leonberger Rescue, assisted with several of our LCA National Specialties, worked with the LCA Health Commit- tee, and chaired the LCA Web Committee. I am also an approved LCA Breeding Acceptability Check List (BACL) examiner, and enjoy mentoring individuals new to the breed in the areas of conformation and breed structure. I am a breed presenter for the LCA Judges Committee and work with other club members to educate interested AKC judges about our breed standard. We breed on occasion in order to ensure adequate socialization and individual attention for each puppy. Breeding Leonbergers is strictly a hobby for us, done with the sole intention of producing healthy, good-tempered, structurally correct Leonbergers who will hopefully go on to provide their new owners with as much love and companionship as our dogs have given us. We are located in the north Texas area, approximately 25 min- utes north of Dallas, Texas. Outside of my Leonbergers, I spend my time working with children as Head of School for a K-12 public charter school and supporting our local county homeless shelter. Do people on the street or at the vet recognize the breed? People do occasionally recognize the breed, certainly more so now than in the past. Do I find fellow Leo lovers to be cooperative when it comes to breeding, showing and helping fellow breeders to place pups? The Leonberger community of owners and breeders is a small and close- knit one, both within the United States and abroad. Leo lovers tend to be laid-back, friendly and very willing to support one another. What is the most surprising aspect of the breed’s personality? Leonbergers absolutely adore their family members and must be an integral part of their families in order to mentally and socially thrive. This is a very intelligent breed, and if bored or left to their own devices, Leonbergers can become destructive. How does living with a large dog jive with the current trend to downsize human housing? It is definitely possible to have a Leon- berger in a smaller setting, so long as sufficient daily exercise is provided. What Leonbergers care about most is being with their people, regardless of location. At what age do I choose a show prospect? I typically identify show prospects by the age of eight weeks, after having observed them closely from birth onwards. One of my favorite dog show memories is owner-handling one of my females to a National Specialty Best in Show win.
326 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , S EPTEMBER 2019
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