Leonberger's origin is German, more exactely from Leonberg where Mr Essig town concillor crossed breeds of molossian dogs, as we think he wanted to obtain a lion-like dog. The lion is the animal pictured in the Leonberger coat of arms. After several attempts he succeeded in getting this wonderful crossbreed: he crossed a black and white Newfoundland with a Grand Saint Bernards later a Pyrenean Mountain Dog was added.
The first dogs called Leonberger was born in 1846, at a dog-show in M.every body recognized that the most beautiful dog at the show was a tawny lion-like dog. Only a short time later, many of these dogs were sold as status symbols all over the world, a lot of famous people like Napoleon III, Garibaldi, Wagner became very proud of their Leonberger. In both World Wars and in the needy post war times, the number of breeding stock reduced dramatically. Fortunately there were some breed exteemer who succeeded in preserving these beautiful dogs with their tenaciousness. Today Leonberger is very diffused in a lot of european countries, unfortunately not in Italy.