Pagency Leonbergers

We are Alan & Dianne Page and we share our home and our lives with our 5 beautiful Leonbergers, our Border Collie Ben and our Ragdoll cat Yoda. They all live together in harmony in our home. We live in Great Britain on the North Staffordshire South Cheshire border, surrounded by lovely countryside. The perfect place for leonbergers to live happily. We are a hobby kennel and may have puppies available occasionally. Puppies are born and reared in our home and are well socialised and confident when ready to leave for their forever homes. We strive to keep the Leonberger as it was origionally intended, a beautiful, elegant, majestic and a harmonious Giant of a dog. We were first introduced to the leonberger in 2006 and fell in love with the breed immediately. We had admired Giant breed dogs for many years and have owned dogs all of our lives. For 25 years, we owned Cavalier King Charles spaniels and so this was a very big step for us to take. Our story began with Elsa our first Leonberger. We had been warned by everyone how addictive a breed this is and as the saying goes " One is never enough". We were soon planning our 2nd puppy and had Ozzy less than a year later. At that time we had purchased a villa in Spain and it was built and ready for us to move in to, so in 2007 we travelled with our dogs to our new home in the sun. There we stayed for several months during the winter and returned back to the UK for the summer. Julie Jones ( Bavaruki) had a litter at that time and invited us to go and see them..This was when all our plans and dreams changed almost overnight. Within 24 hours we were collecting our 3rd puppy and cancelling our plans to go back to Spain for the winter. We realised that our direction in life was slowly changing and we were enjoying our time with our dogs so much that we decided to sell our lovely villa. In 2008, Balou arrived in to our lives and he will certainly not be the last to join us. Our hearts and souls are totally commited to these dogs and we now cannot imagine life without them. Winter in the sun just cannot compare to what we share and enjoy with our fabulous Leonbergers.
As responsible pet owners, we cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have a well trained, calm and obedient dog, especially as the leonberger is very big and powerful. We train all our dogs under the Kennel Club Good Citizen Scheme and we make this our first priority. A well trained dog is a happy dog as he will slowly learn that his good manners are rewarded with love and affection and of course, the occasional treat. It helps to form a special bond between owner and dog and it is also very enjoying for all. It takes time, money and commitment to see the training through the Award process, but having a very well behaved and happy dog who is able to socialise with and respect other people and animals is worth all the hard work in the end. Our aim is to have all our dogs trained to the Gold level and so we still have lots of work to do in the near future. Elsa and Ozzy are active Pet's As Therapy volunteers and give so much love to everyone who meets them. They are the perfect size for poorly people who don't have to bend to stroke her and are bed height for some who are only able to look at their face and admire them. For some people who are unable to communicate, just the touch of the soft fur brings a smile to their faces. We also take our puppies on visits at the request of the homes, this creates great excitement for some of the residents and staff alike. As of August 2010 we visit 7 nursing homes in Stoke-0n-Trent and Alan has now also become a volunteer. We also take time out to attend the occasional Exhibiton show and choose them very carefully. Only Two of our dogs enjoy this and so the other ones are happy to stay at home. We are not at all competative and enter only for fun however, it is always good to win a class or get placed. We enjoy the day together meeting other owners and admire all the other dogs We never fail to bring the best dog home with us.
We are Kennel Club Accredited Breeders and comply fully with their code of ethics. We are also happy to follow the code of ethics laid down by the Leonberger Club of Great Britain of which we are members. Where possible, we prefer that our Bitches are not bred from until they have achieved Gold level in the Kennel Club Good Citizen Scheme and they will hold a Temperament Assessment Pass certificate issued by the LCGB. It will always be our priority to breed healthy, happy and well socialised puppies who are confident and ready to meet the world. We research the background and pedigree of a stud dog until confident that there are no known health problems in the lines... Size is also important to us as there is concern that the Leonberger is getting smaller. We do not line breed our dogs and will always outcross to a a sire who has no ancestral links. We also want to contribute to the gene pool here in the UK by bringing in new blood lines from Europe. It is hoped that our efforts will compliment the hard work done by others before us and plan to work together with others to improve the future of the breed. Our next litter of puppies will hopefully be summer 2011. See future litters page for more information