Oct 1, 2007

I Wish I Could Have Thought of This

Meet Douglas's dog. He's of the leonberger breed, and is a resident of Sweden. He enjoys beaches and fishing.

Here's an interesting tidbit: the leonberger was established in 1846, in Leonberg, Germany. They are the result of crossbreeding the Newfoundland, St. Bernard, and Great Pyrenees Mountain dog. I must admit, I am very jealous that someone thought of doing that first--to take three of the largest canines known to man and breed them into a super dog. I wish I could shake
Heinrich Essing's hand (the breeder--but that would be weird, since he is dead).

I imagine you'd have to have some pretty sizable facilities to accommodate that kind of breeding regimen.

Thanks for the photo, Douglas of Sweden. I'm always impressed when a pet owner is secure enough to submit their beloved beast to Ugly Overload.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

My mother has 4 of these dogs. They are the sweetest and most beautiful animals! Google the breed---this pic does not do the breed justice.

Nebulous Grey said...

Hopefully I'll get to see one of these soon. They sound amazing! Big dogs make me melt. This guy definitely got a smile outta me. :)

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful mug! Beautiful coastline, too. Handsomest ugly dog ever!

Arachnophile said...

Leonbs are such GREAT dogs. I've been lucky enough to snorgle more than my fair share of them.

Another interesting factoid about them is that the org. breeder also wanted to make them look as lion-like as possible because lions were part of his family crest.

If you see one walking down the street you'll def. see what he was going for. :D

*SNORGLES WHETT DOGGEH*

Anonymous said...

...by the way...he is now 178 pounds, pure muscle!
//Douglas (owner)

Denita TwoDragons said...

Awww, he looks so happeh!! I love big dogs with big hearts!

--TwoDragons

Anonymous said...

I love the weird cross-pollination we get with Cute Overload.

Jack Ruttan said...

Apparently from the image at your link, the dog usually has two heads, and three front legs. Good for guarding those legendary treasures, or the Mouth of Hell.

Arachnophile said...

LOL Jack - points for Greek Mythology reference. :p ;)

I always thought that Cerberus got a bad-rap. I'm willing to bet that he was just a big, slobbery luv-mush like most large breeds. Number of heads notwithstanding.

Anonymous said...

BTW, the original breeder's name was Essig (which means vinegar in German), not Essing. Nice picture nevertheless.

Jack Ruttan said...

Cerberus would be a handful. How could you play fetch? Maybe with a triple-forked twig.

Anonymous said...

As long as you didn't throw two sticks in opposite directions...

Jack Ruttan said...

Oooh! That would hurt!

Denita TwoDragons said...

I just realized what the dog kinda looks like: A Wookiee taking a swim!

And yes, guilty as charged--I visit both C.O. and Ug.O. and I'm not ashamed to admit it. *grin*

--TwoDragons

Anonymous said...

Two Dragons, you're not alone... And apparently Meg Frost has been known to lurk here too.

Arachnophile said...

There are a few of us CuteFugees here. ;)

Denita TwoDragons said...

Well as they say, Man Cannot Live On Cute Alone... And anyways, UgO provides that much-needed contrast, without resorting to raunchy shock photos or the like. He champions the cause of the "So Ugly it's Cute" minority.

Well, most of the time, at least. I can do without botflies and candiru fish. But even they have their place in the world. Just...nowhere near me. ;-)

--TwoDragons

Arachnophile said...

Heh, I lub you guys. ;)

Happy Canadain Thanksgiving everyboy!

I'm grateful for the UG!

Christina Acker said...

Awww... I bet he's a sweetie. It does kind of look like he just washed ashore after having his eyes eaten out by an octopus.

Raging Wombat said...

You all are too kind!

Arachnophile said...

Pfft!

I spelled the name of my homeland wrong. I do not deserve your kindness!!

*cyber-SEPAKU* ack