History of Leos in Australia
A Leonberger makes a truly remarkable family companion. Renowned for their affinity to children, they have a calm temperament and yet also a lively disposition. This may sound like a contradiction in terms, but in fact Leos are able to cope well in stressful situations and, for a giant breed, have pretty high energy levels.

They are easy to train, though constant repitition may cause them to lose interest. They are not "woofers" which means that they won't cause problems with neighbours in suburbia. Aggression is a serious fault in a Leo, but their sheer size and penetrating stare is enough to make most intruders think twice about entering uninvited.

Like all dogs, large or small, Leos do need a certain amount of training. Some really like to jump up, which, if you have children, is likely to flatten them. Others have a tendency to "mouth" by way of greeting or to seek attention, a most annoying habit! Almost all of them have a sense of fun and mischief. Puppies can sometimes be quite destructive, but they do grow up to be regal, loyal and affectionate companions.

Considered for many years to be a Newfoundland, Pyranean, St.Bernard cross, modern science has disproven this belief. Leos probably do have these breeds in them, along with many other mountain breeds, which probably makes them the most cross- bred pure-bred dogs in existence! This has some obvious advantages as they are also considered to be one of the most "healthful" of all pure breeds. Unlike their other giant cousins, they rarely suffer from hip and elbow dysplasia, have nice tight eyes, no excess folds of skin and tight flews so they don't drool. In recent times there is a growing concern about the incidence of cataracts and responsible breeders not only screen for hip and elbow disease, but will also have their dogs eye tested on a yearly basis.
Other known health issues on the increase, sadly< are hypo-thyroidism, Leonberger Polyneuropathy, heart disease, but the largest cause of death would be Osteosarcoma
It is therefore surprising that whilst the Saint Bernard, Newfoundland, Pyrenean Mountain Dog and Bernese Mountain Dog have all flourished here, Leos remain a virtually unknown breed in Australia, even though they have been in this country for almost 20 years.

Alison Webb, who lived near Darwin in the Northern Territory, imported a bitch, Lapp-Leons Beatrix from Norway in 1989. She was quickly followed in 1990 by Arko's Best Choice av Lykseth, a male. Beatrix produced two litters from which only 5 pups survived and Beatrix herself was killed not long after. Alison managed to obtain another bitch from Av Lykseth in 1992, but as far as I can establish, nothing of these Norwegian lines remain today.

Alison's next two imports came from England, Lovely Lady, (who whelped 8 puppies in quarantine in 1995) and a dog, Shermayne Boushh.

In 1998 I attempted to establish the population of Leos in Australia as I was organising a national Bernese Mountain Dog show and one of our judges, Sonja Gorbould, was also a Leonberger specialist judge. I thought it would be nice to invite our Leo cousins to the festival. Of the pups born in quarantine I discovered that Alison had kept 2 bitches and a dog, a dog had been sold to Marion Graham in NSW, but disappeared one day, thought to have been stolen and has never been found, and a bitch went to WA. All up I found 9 Leos in Australia and 3 of them came to our Bernese Festival. Marion Graham's bitch,Countrylodge Dallas, bred by Alison, won Reserve Best in Show, no mean feat as she had to beat 150 odd Berners along the way. Also attending were Mandy and Peter Schelbach's two English imports, Rossnick Nutty Nora and Jakamak Aristocrat.

Mandy had imported "Nora" in 1993, but it wasn't until 1997 that Aristocrat arrived. She attempted to breed the pair in '98 but sadly Nora proved to be sterile. Also in 1998 Alison bred both her bitches. Apparantly there were 9 pups in one litter and 8 in the other, however I believe only 5 survived. Of these one boy went to Adelaide, another remained in Queensland and died at 7 years old due to a wasp sting in his throat, but I have not been able to establish the whereabouts of the other pups.

Early in 1999, Mandy obtained Alison's two bitches. One died and the other has produced 2 litters to Jakamak Aristrocrat in 1999 (5 pups) and 2000 (3pups).

1999 also saw a sudden influx of imports into Australia. Apart from the arrival of Pridelands First Passion and Mathoakas Walk on Blundstone, Kerrie brought her two Leos, Ariel von Drevas and Chips von der Altenlinde, with her from America to Tasmania and Marion Graham (NSW) imported Vannroy Black Adder from England. Black Adder was killed in November 2001, having only sired one litter in Australia. Also in 2001 Kerrie imported Lukas von der Löwenhohle from Canada and a bitch, Dragongardens Pocohantas from Sweden arrived in March 2002. Also arriving early this year was Apricot Dressed Mother Teresa, imported by C and A Mueller in Queensland. In WA a Dragondardens dog immigrated from Sweden with his family. 2002 saw the arrival of Rabascy Rabascy vd Kleinen Seen from Germany and Dragonsgarden Twice As Nice, along with Rosaceae Trolllius Altissimus arrived in January 2003. And so our tiny gene pool continues to grow
On the 28th January 2006 a formation meeting was held in Melbourne and the Leonberger Club Victoria was born. Unfortunately the original club fell into disaray after those members willing to give of their time to sit on the committee found it increasingly impossible to work with the president who refused to stand down. The Victorian canine Association reccommended that the VLA be wound up and a new club be formed.
Subsequently a new CEO and management committee of the VCA saw the VLA re-instated on a trial basis. Negotiations between the 2 clubs continues.
By the middle of 2007, it became clear that the Victorian Leonberger Association was not going to survive with a record low membership. Both clubs agreed to hold special general meetings with the view to amalgamating both clubs. Only Marshall Pardee, now secretary of the VLA and former president voted against the amalgamation and subsequently sent a very bitter letter of resignation to the new "Leonberger Association of Victoria". The amalgamated club has lost its affiliation status with the Victorian Canine Association for the time being.
Meantime, with the number of Leos slowly increasing in New South Wales, Beth Scobie, tireless campaigner and promoter of Leos in NSW, set about forming a club in that state. The Leonberger Association of NSW is now incorporated and working towards affiliation with Dogs NSW.

Since I have now compiled complete stud books for both Australia and New Zealand, fully linking to the International Leonberger Database, I refer you to: Australian and New Zealand Stud Books which give a complete account of current population and other details for both countries.