Duchess is a Leonberger and she is 9 months. Leonbergers are a combination of newfoundland, St Bernard and Pyrenees. They were bred to look like lions, no other reason!
Face of a lion
So the lovely temperament just happened?
Yeah, they have the newfie temperament. The town, in Germany, was called Leonberg and decided they wanted a seal, and they wanted a dog to match it. The boys get huge, even bigger than she will, and they have huge manes.
Thats such an interesting story of origin. And I can’t believe she’s not done growing yet. She’s so big now and she used to be so small!
I know. Until she was about 60 pounds I could carry her like a toddler--my sister would make fun of me. But she used to be afraid of stairs so I carried her up and down stairs, and my sister said “she’s bigger than my 4 year old!"
Duchess as a puppy
That is the difficulty with some puppies that will be big dogs...they get used to all sorts of help we give them as a puppy then suddenly they’re 90 pounds and you can’t lift them anymore!
Right, its like: Nope! That ended!
But she’s so great now. What classes did you take at It’s PAWSible!?
I took basic obedience and puppy class, they were awesome. And i’ll probably take another class come fall--because when it’s dark out early, it’s so hard to do stuff with dogs. I don’t live on a good street for walking or anything. Wag-It Games looks good, just something to get her mentally stimulated. I look at them all the time and I”ll definitely be signing her up.
Gentle giant
What’s your favorite characteristic about her personality?
She’s just really sweet. And also the mellowness--I love when she’s excited and we can play, but it’s also nice to just come home and she just wants to cuddle on the couch. She’s perfect. If I want to go out and be active she can keep up with me, and on days when it’s raining and I want to stay inside, that also works for her.
Whats your favorite aspect about It’s PAWSible! Day Camp?
She is always so excited to get there and when she gets home she is just in that perfectly sedated state! And you guys are awesome, with the photo uploading and her seeing other dogs. And a lot of my friends dogs did not go to camp, and they always tell me they have problems with socialization; they have behavioral issues. Duchess is just so good with people and dogs.
