THE CHOICE | englishleon

LIFE WITH AN XXL DOG

Choosing to share your life with a dog is a wonderful experience that enriches the heart and the human spirit, but first you need some practical information.
The Leonberger is like plush, funny teddy bear, but I would say some things to all people who want a large size dog without knowing exactly what is.
If you think it is like a doll that stays where you leave it...well then you're mistaken.
It 's necessary to keep clear in mind that once grown our Leo will have a considerable size .
An adult Leonberger will be able to see what we have on the table without even extending his neck.
Males can easily reach 70-75 kg, female about 10 kg less, but anyway great dimensions.
That sweet little fluffy bear that you bring home, will grow with an incredible speed and will soon have an extraordinary vitality, a special ability to combine neverending disasters, chewing everything that comes near those nice shark teeth.
You must have a very strong patience.
You should teach your children the order for their games, books and notebooks (which is nice for you too...), because nothing is safe with the "puppy tornado around.

By their nature, the Leonberger loves water very very much.

They love all forms of water, even a bucket of water forgotten outside can be a funny game.

Two of my dogs, even adults, enjoy emptying the waterbowl up to ten times a day.

There’s nothing to do but an endless supply of patience.

However, if the bucket has some detergent left from washing the floor, then the game can turn in a very dangerous game

......another innate gift of our friend is gardening, but they do in their own style.

Everyting comes near their little shark mouths is good for playing: prunings and holes in the ground, so if you’re fans of the perfect gardens, or you dream a garden like those ones in the gardening magazines........well...uhm...... maybe you are not yet ready for a puppy at home.

That's why my basic question is always the same: will you give him/her the permission to stay inside your house?

If the answer is NO, then I say "just forget the general idea of a dog".

All dogs are pack animals, and for those one with only a dog, the pack is the human family, his family, his reference is us.

No dog of any breed, should be confined alone in the garden, and if your opinion about dogs inside houses is “but they loose hair !!” then I suggest you to buy those beautiful garden gnomes: they're not dirty, they don’t shed hair and you don't need to educate them.
Less effort and less expenses.
All dogs need physical and psychological human proximity.

We are their favorite playmates.

We are the eyes that they seek when they wake up in the morning.

Leave them alone in a garden, even if it’s huge and full of games for him, it will be a big suffering and stress, because he feels rejected by his own pack and will suffer so much because he couldn’t understand why he was rejected.

Our puppy will be an exuberant dog, who will often strained the nerves of all family members, but if you know how to educate him/her properly, without violent ways, and with a boundless patience, then you’ll have a lot of satisfaction because a trained dog is everywhere welcome.

Our dog loves us greatly, although often this love is expressed in a very personal manner: paws marks on new changed dress, a lick in the face when we’re ready to go out, our favorite shoes reduced to shreds and restored to our feet like a precious gift.It is useless to get angry if the trouble has already been done.

That’s why I'll keep on scaring you, because I want you to understand how conscious, deep and intense is your desire to have a dog in your life

From 13 kg in 45 days.......

......up to 78 kg in 18 months !!

SOMETIMES I SAY NO !!!

So.....why should I answer NO if someone ask me for a Leo puppy?

If a breeder is honest and really loves his dogs, a good breeder knows also when to say NO in front of certain situations.

Some people came here for a visit and see puppies.

The intention was to reserve one puppy, but they went back home with the advice to leave the idea of the dog , all kind of dog.

I believe that a honest breeder MUST SAY NO, when people are unfit to a dog’s health itself, its future and of its well-being.

It would be much better to be informed first on the characteristics of the breed that you want to take: a Leonberger is very different from a Poodle, from a Siberian Husky, from a German Sheperd....

Their needs are very different for education, hygienic requirements and grooming.

With the giant dogs will be very difficult to find a hotel that accepts them for the holidays, we should calculate a space in the car for him and …. well ....it's not so easy as it seems.We must think very carefully, before we say we want a big dog.

Sometimes I had to say NO even to good, kind, and polite people who unfortunately had not the slightest idea of what it means "living with a dog", and just after talking with us, they realized that they really were not fit to have a dog, any kind of dog.

You don’t take a dog because "it is fashionable."

We will not take a dog because on the books you read "this breed is perfect for a family".....every dog is perfet for every family !
But you need to educate him/her, and this takes time, money and patience!
The perfect dog.......simply does not exist, or better is a super well trained dog, particular breeds and years of long long work behind : the perfect puppy it's simply science-fiction or liar words of liar breeders: every puppy of every breed, can be a terrible pain in the ass (oohh yess....that's reality!)
Another sentence that comes to my nerves is :" We want a puppy for our boy/girl, so they grow up together!!"

NOTHING MORE WRONG !!!!!

Human babies grows at a very slow rate in comparison to the dog, and after few months you will have a dog big as a bear, and your human baby just 2 inches more than before.....and you have to dedicate time to both...
A child who is less than 10-12 years old can not provide to dog's needs in any way, and "They are always together"" could be ok with proper precautions and rules ... but : "We want a puppy for our boy/girl" never has my positive answer.

FINALLY.....

….So finally........whyshould I say that love is not enough ?
Because it's true :unfortunately NO….it’s not enough…..
Having a dog means SACRIFICES, in time and in money, the dog must be brought to the veterinary regulary and treated if there is a need.

The cost of the puppy it's just the beginning.

The dogs get sick, dogs get older, just like us, and we have the moral duty to treat them, just like we do with with a son that still doesn’t work and is not economically independent.

Dogs will never be independent from us.

The dog eats, and for its future health, we must move to a feed of medium to high quality.

Spend more means spending for the better.

The super offer "twenty euro twenty kilos" is not more than pressed sawdust in nutritional quality level.

Think about the cost of vaccinations, prophylaxis for parasites, any other things can happen: ALL things to think about BEFORE TO HAVE A PUPPY!.

My final advice is INFORM YOU !!
GO TO VISIT SOME SERIOUS BREEDERS, to see the dogs ( nice photos on FB are NEVER enough!!) .....read all you can find about the breed you like, and read it carefully, and if you are just absolute newbies, try to know someone who has the dog you want, try to know this dog personally and speak with the owner, it's very different to speak with someone who really lives with the dog, than see wonderful photo of perfect super dog in a book......

Finally, if you're sure about what you really want, and you're not scared after what I wrote here....have a long, healthy happy and wonderful life with your puppy dog!!!

We will be ALWAYS HERE to help you and advise you for anything, do not be afraid to call us at any time, any time, and not only when the puppy is young, but at all stages of his life, because when that little baby bear goes out of our door, in our hearts will remain "ours" , and there is nothing that makes us happier than seeing him or her growing well, become a healthy and equilibrated adult, and hear that his family is really happy.

These are our REAL GREAT satisfactions !!.