As breeders, Mark & I have a strong ethical breeding philosophy. We want to produce magnificent family companions that possess great temperaments, are sound, healthy, and also good representatives of the breed in type and conformation. We raise our puppies in our living room with lots of love, attention, and early obedience training.
We have been breeding Leonbergers for over 20 years, but we breed infrequently. We have spent many hours learning about breeding and whelping, I was a Breeding Acceptability Checklist examiner for the LCA, served on the LCA breeding and show committees, and as the Leonberger Club of the Northwest President for 4 years. We are active members and volunteers of the Leonberger Club of America and breeding in accordance with the LCA COE and breeding regulations.
We only breed dogs with sound and unflappable temperaments. Some of a puppy’s temperament is genetically inherited, the rest is highly affected by a puppy’s early experiences. We raise our puppies in our home and expose them to various objects, noises, and people of all ages in the formative early weeks. We also do early training in the whelping box and teach the puppies to sit for food or attention as soon as their eyes are open. To aid in house training when you take a puppy home, we litter box train the puppies while in the whelping box. To help ensure the puppy will become a confident well-adjusted adult, it is imperative that you continue constant socialization with other people, objects, children, noises, and dogs during the first four months of a puppy’s life, and thereafter. We require that all families who take a Tir na nOg puppy home continue with weekly socialization and enroll in obedience classes before 4 months of age and take at least two series of classes.
Temperament is of great importance to us. This breed is known for wonderful temperaments, it is an absolute necessity as these dogs will be a part of your family. Leos need to be able to get along well with people, children, and other dogs. They also need to be comfortable in crowds and around noises.For each breeding we research the structure, health, temperament, and type of the dogs involved, their siblings, and ancestors. It is our goal to make decisions that will improve the breed and produce offspring that come as close as possible to following the standard and being the ideal Leonberger. No dog is perfect, but we do everything we can to minimize and improve
Tir na nÓg Leonbergers
Life, Love, and Leonbergers