Issue 5 - Coat & Body Care

Take the time to read the following - even if you are a savvy dog owner, some of this may not have come to mind and/or are good reminders. Please note that many suggestions are Leo specific!

Care - coats/brushing - nails - ears - teeth

Leonberger Coats are "wash and wear". It is a good idea to brush him at least once a week - it will be quality time for you and him and he will get used to being messed with. Trouble spots that mat easily is the feathers behind the ears, the pants, and tail. Keeping up with these areas is a whole lot easier than dealing with huge mats!
In Spring and Fall is 'blowing coat' time and I usually take several hours to comb through their whole coat to get most of the loose hair in one sitting then brush him every other day for a couple of weeks until all the dead hear is out.
My Leos love to be brushed, so this will be a fun time.
The nails have to be trimmed on a regular basis (this might be a struggle and has to be done from the time he gets home to you - just do it often and take just a little edge off, so it will not hurt) If you do not get him used to this early, you might not be able to do it when he is grown up! I also dremel my dogs' nails. It is best to get them to use to the vibration early too. Start by doing just one nail at a time for a few days, then maybe two at a time…and so on. Before you know it they will be tolerating it fine. Then you can resort to doing it once every couple of weeks.
Ears also have to be checked and possibly cleaned weekly for excessive wax or oncoming infections especially if the environment is humid or the puppy swims regularly.
Dental care is important also. Only use toothpaste that is canine appropriate!!
Puppies that are bored will sometimes be very destructive (I have heard of a breeder that sold one puppy that dismantled a whole couch and took the stuffing out in the backyard so it looked like it had snowed several inches when the owner had to stay hours longer at work than usual). To avoid things like this it is good to give the pup something to chew on and have him confined in an area where he cannot do too much damage.