Leonberger Grooming

About the Leonberger

A Leonberger is a giant working dog with a medium to long double coat: a water resistant outer coat over a dense undercoat, with a pronounced mane around the neck and chest on males, feathering on the legs and a heavily plumed tail.

The routine is the Newfoundland and Great Pyrenees routine, with the same absolute rule against clipping and the same two enormous seasonal coat blows. What makes the Leonberger its own page is the mane, which is the heaviest concentration of coat on the dog and sits exactly where a collar goes.

Like most giants it is also short lived, seven to nine years, which changes what the weekly session is for.

The mane, and the collar underneath it

The mane is the thickest coat on the dog, running around the neck and over the chest and shoulders, and it is far more pronounced on males.

It is also where almost all the matting happens, for a simple mechanical reason: it is the deepest coat, it is where a collar or harness sits and rubs, and it is the hardest place to brush to the skin.

Work it in sections with a long pinned slicker and an undercoat rake, lifting the coat and brushing down to the skin rather than sweeping over the surface. Then prove it with a comb.

Take the collar off and check underneath it every week. A collar on a maned dog compresses the coat and felts it into a band that the owner never sees, and by the time it is obvious the mat is sitting against skin.

Behind and under the ears is the other guaranteed failure point, then the armpits, the britches, the tail plume and the feathering behind the front legs.

Every two or three days for the whole dog, and expect a proper session to take an hour on a coat this size.

The seasonal blow, and the volume

Leonbergers shed moderately year round and then blow the undercoat twice a year, usually spring and autumn, over several weeks.

The quantity is what people are unprepared for. A dog of this size holds an extraordinary amount of undercoat and it comes out in sheets and pads.

Daily raking through the blow, and a bath with a high velocity blow out at the start of it. On a giant coat, a professional dryer is not a convenience, it is the only practical way to shift that much undercoat, and it shortens the whole process by weeks.

Book that appointment ahead. Salons that can take giant breeds are fewer and they fill up in shedding season.

Outside the blows, weekly to twice weekly is enough for the body coat, with the mane getting more attention.

A blow that does not happen, or hair coming out patchily outside the season, is worth a veterinary conversation, since thyroid disease is not rare in the breed and shows in the coat first.

Water, webbed feet and drying

Leonbergers were bred as water rescue dogs, they have webbed feet, and most of them will get into any water available.

The coat is water resistant rather than waterproof, and once a dense undercoat is wet it holds a great deal of water and gives it up slowly. A giant dog put away damp grows yeast and hot spots at the skin, particularly at the chest, the armpits, the belly and under the mane.

So drying is the real work after any swim or bath. Towel hard, then use a dryer, and get to the skin rather than the surface.

The webbing between the toes traps grit and debris and can develop sore, inflamed skin, so check between the toes and keep the hair there trimmed level with the pad.

Bathe every eight to ten weeks, and comb the whole dog out before the bath without exception. Water tightens a mat, so a felted coat that is bathed cannot then be brushed out humanely.

Rinse thoroughly. Shampoo residue trapped in a dense undercoat irritates skin you cannot see.

A giant, a short life, and what the brush is really doing

At up to a hundred and seventy pounds, logistics are half the problem. Confirm a salon can physically handle the dog and has a table or ramp rated for it, or use a mobile groomer.

Ask for a non slip surface, breaks, and as much work done lying down as possible. Standing for a three hour appointment is genuinely hard on a giant frame, and this breed has a high rate of hip and elbow problems.

Leonbergers live seven to nine years and have notable rates of bone cancer and an inherited neurological condition affecting the hind legs. That makes the weekly hands-on session a physical examination that happens to remove hair.

Feel down each limb for new firm swellings, watch for a dog whose back legs are weakening, dragging or knuckling over, and feel for ribs rather than judging weight under a coat this thick.

Bloat is a risk on a deep chested giant, so do not feed a large meal around an appointment, and know that unproductive retching with a swollen abdomen is an emergency.

Handle from puppyhood. A dog this size that has not learned to be groomed is not going to learn at four years old.

What to tell your groomer

Confirm before booking that they can handle the size, and ask about a table, a ramp or floor work.

Ask for a deshedding groom with a full undercoat rake and a high velocity dry. Never a clip.

Point out the mane, under the collar, and behind the ears as the places that mat at the skin.

Say the dog must be combed out before the bath and dried to the skin afterwards.

Ask for a non slip surface, breaks and work done lying down, and mention any joint or hind leg weakness.

Say not to feed the dog around the appointment, and ask them to report any new lump on a limb.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Leonberger