Leonberger University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland In the 1830s, Heinrich Essig, a dog breeder and seller and mayor of the town of Leonberg near Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, claimed to have created the Leonberger by crossing a female Landseer Newfoundland with a "barry" male from the Great St. Bernard Hospice and Monastery (which would later create the Saint Bernard breed). Later, according to Essig, a Pyrenean Mountain Dog was added, resulting in very large dogs with the long, white coats that were the fashion for the time, and pleasant temperament. The first dogs registered as Leonbergers were born in 1846 and
Breed type (dog) very ancient or modern in origin. "Modern breeds of dogs" are refinements of older dog types, bred so that all closely resemble each other, and documented in a stud book kept by a breed club or major dog registry. A "purebred dog" is a dog of a documented modern dog breed that has been selectively bred to emphasize "breed type" for the sport of competitive conformation dog showing. The word "type" may be incorrectly used instead of "style" to refer to an identifiable 'style of appearance' or 'working style characteristic' of a particular kennel or "dogs of a well established