4 S8 



CHAPTER LXV. 



THE LEONBERG. 



THIS varijt/ of German dog, or rather commixture of various varieties which has been 

 produced in Germany, has undoubtedly received more attention from the press than its 

 merits entitle it to. We were at one time of the opinion that the Leonberg should not be 

 noticed in any book upon dogs, but our views subsequently underwent a change, and we 

 consequently introduce it, though more as a warning to purchasers than from any desire to 

 laud the breed. 



As a matter of fact, the Leonbergs which we have seen are little more or less than poor 

 specimens of the St. Bernard breed, as they resemble the latter, though they lack their character. 

 It is, moreover, an undoubted fact that dogs with Leonberg blood in their veins have been 

 awarded prizes in St. Bernard classes, but this only goes to prove our conviction that the 

 breed, as a pure one, is apocryphal, and can only base its merits on its approach in a greater 

 or less degree to the St. Bernard, from whom it is descended. As stated above, the Leonberg 

 has been greatly benefited by judicious puffing, and these friendly notices have not only been 

 confined to this side of the Atlantic. As a case in point, the St. John's (Newfoundland) 

 correspondent of the Boston Traveller wrote under date of August zoth, 1878, that 



"Last year a German friend of mine, Herr T. A. Verkruzen, a distinguished conchologist, 

 brought here a a present three fine young dogs of the Leonberg breed, now pronounced to be 

 the finest in the world, superior even to our own." 



That is to say, to the Newfoundland, of whose blood the Leonberg partakes in addition to the 

 St. Bernard and other breeds. The ingenuous correspondent of the Boston Traveller concluded 

 his remarks on the Leonberg by stating that "they grow to be thirty to thirty-six inches in 

 height, and are frequently over one hundred pounds in weight." This latter remark does not show 

 its Writer to be possessed of great canine knowledge, as for a dog of over thirty inches high one 

 hundred pounds would not be a great weight, or even a reasonable one. However, his letter 

 proves the existence of an effort to unfairly push this breed to the detriment of its 

 progenitors. 



Unfortunately for the Leonberg, Herr von Schmiedeberg, editor of the German sporting 

 papers, Der Hund and Der Waidmann, wrote on November 25th, 1878, as follows : 



" A few months ago, two articles appeared in the Live Stock Journal under the the heading 

 of "A New Breed of Dogs." Originally, I had seen these advertisements in the Boston Traveller, 

 into which they had probably found their way through the management of a German who is 

 interested in the sale of the new breed. The principal part of his eulogy is a translation of 

 circulars sent round by Mr. Essig, the man who invented the name Leonberg Dog, I, therefore, 

 consider myself perfectly justified in calling the articles an advertisement. Only in the 

 opinion of their breeder, and a few low dealers, they are a valuable breed ; that is, every 

 large dog they want to sell, is called a Leonberg. There is no reader of this paper who is 



