The multi-European genetic rescue of the mighty Leonberger 💪

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]What good news it is that the British Kennel Club are endorsing the genetic rescue of the Leonberger. Beautiful dog, but with some terrible, terrible health problems. Let's discuss.

[00:00:21]>> [music] >> The Leonberger is a German dog developed in the mid-1800s by the mayor of Leonberg near Stuttgart, someone called Heinrich Essig. It is claimed that he created the Leonberger by crossing a female Landseer Newfoundland with a St. Bernard. And then, later generations, the Great Pyrenees was added. The first dogs registered as Leonbergers were born in 1846.

[00:00:55]And legend has it that these dogs were bred to be a homage to the lion in the town crest of Leonberg. What we have got now is a beautiful dog, but who has suffered greatly through genetic diversity loss. Indeed, it started only five Leonbergers survived World War I.

[00:01:20]They were bred, but then World War II came along, and again, almost all Leonbergers were lost. During the two World Wars, they were actually used to pull ammunition carts, and some of them lost their lives in the war. Two people, Karl Stadelmann and Otto Josenhans, are credited as being the breed's saviors, bringing them back from almost extinction.

[00:01:48]And all modern Leonbergers today can trace their ancestry back to eight dogs, just eight dogs that survived World War II. But with such a massive loss of genetic diversity, if this breed is to continue healthily, an outcross project was needed. And this is where the Leonberger project was born. This is the Leonberger genetic diversity project.

[00:02:19]This is the genetic rescue of the Leonberger. A small group of real enthusiasts are intent on adding to the next chapter of the Leonberger story.

[00:02:31]Their hope is that the Leonberger genetic diversity project will help ensure that Leonbergers continue healthily for many years to come. Their claim is they don't give some serious thought to the genetic diversity of the Leonberger, this wonderful dog will just come to an abrupt and disastrous end.

[00:02:54]It's about introducing more genetic diversity into the Leonberger, much like has been done with the Norwegian Lundehund, which I did a video about recently, and is currently being done with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and a bunch of other breeds as well. So this website, and I'll leave a link to it in the description box, was put together to document the journey. Why now? In January of 2020, Dr. Anna Letko and associates released a study.

[00:03:30]Genomic diversity and population structure of the Leonberger dog breed.

[00:03:35]And they say, "The breed has predispositions to neurodegenerative disorders and cancer, which is likely due in large part to limited genetic diversity. However, to date, there is no scientific literature on the overall genomic architecture of this breed.

[00:03:53]So, pedigree analysis identified 22 founder animals and revealed an apparent popular sire effect. Oh, the good old popular sire effect. Talked about it on this channel. The average pedigree based inbreeding coefficient of 0.29 and average kinship of 0.31 shows a dramatic loss of genetic diversity. The observed average lifespan decreased over time from 9.4 years in 1989 to 7.7 years in 2004.

[00:04:25]That's heartbreaking.

[00:04:27]Heartbreaking. Now, they're a large dog and we know that big dogs don't live long, but that's 7.7 years. That's crazy.

[00:04:37]Global health survey confirmed a high prevalence of cancer and neurological disorders. Analysis of SNP-based runs of homozygosity identified over 125,000 runs of homozygosity. Do you hear me?

[00:04:51]So, genetically these dogs are more related to each other than full siblings. It's just nuts. Okay, maintaining the current level of genetic diversity will only be possible through in-farm selection decisions, especially by including more dogs in breeding programs, avoiding repeated matings and the use of popular sires, minimizing co-ancestry among selected parents. But, when you've only got a very narrow gene pool to start with, it's difficult. So, the first step, it will involve years of careful breeding to get the desired outcomes. And all these efforts will be null and void if we didn't have the backing of international breeder and owner community, as well as the established registry bodies, the Kennel Club. Why?

[00:05:38]Because at the end of the Leonberger project, we need to be able to register the progeny so that future Leonberger breeders may use them in their own breeding programs if they choose to.

[00:05:49]Hence, our very first step in this process meant that we needed to write a proposal to generate Kennel Club support for this project.

[00:05:57]So, they chose to start with the British Kennel Club because it's well respected amongst its fellow institutions worldwide. This process alone is not as easy as it sounds. There are several levels of deciding committees and boards within the Kennel Club structure, and our proposal needed to go through each.

[00:06:14]They countered with many questions and suggestions which we responded to, and at the meeting of July of 2022, the full Board of Directors of the Kennel Club gave their approval for the venture to go ahead.

[00:06:29]The next step.

[00:06:32]Finally, a litter, the Leo Gen A litter, and this is them.

[00:06:39]Born in the UK on Sunday, the 27th of July, 2025.

[00:06:45]So, don't know why it took them 3 years from approval the British Kennel Club to actually producing a litter, but six beautiful, healthy puppies, three males and three females through a natural birth. Their proud parents are a Leonberger dam, Lion's Court Queen Capilano, known as Lani, and Guidewell Talented Tiggy, a sire from the world-famous Guide Dogs for the Blind Association breeding program.

[00:07:13]So, Lani is the daughter of both British and international championship Leonberger lines, and then Guidewell Talented Tiggy comes from strong lines of long-lived, unbiddable working guide dogs. So, brains and beauty.

[00:07:30]He is 87.5% golden retriever and 12.5% Labrador.

[00:07:38]So, we got litter at a week old, litter at 2 weeks old, 3 weeks four weeks old.

[00:07:43]Oh, look at them. Look at them.

[00:07:47]They are so cute. And they look like Leonburgers.

[00:07:51]They do look like Leonburgers.

[00:07:54]So, I found this litter on the Kennel Club website. This is the British Kennel Club.

[00:08:01]Lion's Court Queen Kapiolani.

[00:08:04]Here she is.

[00:08:06]I've already three clear on the necessary checks.

[00:08:10]Fantastic hip scores for a large dog.

[00:08:13]So, all the necessary health checks done.

[00:08:17]And there's her litter. It's her second litter.

[00:08:21]27th of July, 2025. Other parent, Guidewell Talented Tiggy. Now, he is a cross. He's not a pedigree Golden Retriever. He's 12.5% Labrador, but he's on the activity register. So, the Kennel Club have accepted this crossbreed father. He's there.

[00:08:42]And they've been put on the development register. So, for the moment, this litter, and presumably their progeny when the time comes, they will be on the development register.

[00:08:56]But, this is going to take years. And then, we've got another litter that was born in Finland. This is the B litter.

[00:09:05]Born on the 12th of August, 2025.

[00:09:08]Eight beautiful puppies, four males, four females, natural birth. The proud parents are the Continental type Landseer dam, All Paws Doll Summer in the City, or Millie, and a Leonberger sire. So, this is a Landseer New Foundland. Very grateful to have the opportunity to bring Millie into the Lea Gen project from the starting point. Along with her delightful character, she brings an infusion of fresh genetics, including new maternal mitochondrial DNA. It's very likely to be unique to our modern Leonberger lines.

[00:09:41]No.

[00:09:46]Wow. So, DNA profiling from Embark and Furrygen show that as well as being clear of nearly 300 harmful genetic conditions, these puppies will have a very high probability of bringing fresh immune system diversity into our project. We will be following each puppy closely as they grow and develop and all ongoing and relevant health tests will be shared as we progress. Applications of interest as guardian homes for Leonberger puppies have been received and are currently being interviewed for suitability. So, I assume that both of these litters now, cuz as they were born last summer, will have been in homes and it will be fascinating to follow the next steps. So, presumably these dogs will be backcrossed to Leonbergers, presumably.

[00:10:37]And these ones in the UK will be able to follow those on the Kennel Club website.

[00:10:43]When one of these puppies has a litter in the future, we'll be able to follow those.

[00:10:48]Interesting. So, well done British Kennel Club and let's see more of this.

[00:10:53]I think this is really, really useful.

[00:10:56]Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

[00:10:58]I'll see you in the next video.