▁dog , ▁the ▁Leon berger ' s ▁temper ament ▁is ▁one ▁of ▁its ▁most ▁important ▁and ▁distingu ishing ▁characteristics . ▁Well ▁social ized ▁and ▁trained , ▁the ▁Leon berger ▁is ▁self - ass ured , ▁ins ens itive ▁to ▁noise , ▁sub miss ive ▁to ▁family ▁members , ▁friendly ▁toward ▁children , ▁well ▁composed ▁with ▁pass ers by , ▁and ▁self - dis cipl ined ▁when ▁oblig ing ▁its ▁family ▁or ▁property ▁with ▁protection . ▁Rob ust , ▁loyal , ▁intellig ent , ▁play ful , ▁and ▁kindly , ▁they ▁can ▁thus ▁be ▁taken ▁anywhere ▁without ▁difficulty ▁and ▁adjust ▁easily ▁to ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁circumstances , ▁including ▁the ▁introduction ▁of ▁other ▁dogs . ▁Pro per ▁control ▁and ▁early ▁social ization ▁and ▁training ▁are ▁essential , ▁as ▁this ▁is ▁a ▁giant ▁bre ed . ▁ ▁Health ▁Leon berg ers ▁are ▁strong , ▁generally ▁health y ▁dogs . ▁H ip ▁d ys pl asia , ▁which ▁dev ast ates ▁many ▁large ▁bre eds , ▁is ▁largely ▁controlled ▁because ▁of ▁the ▁effort ▁of ▁many ▁bre ed ers ▁who ▁act ively ▁screen ▁their ▁Leon berg ers ▁using ▁X - ray s ▁evaluated ▁by ▁the ▁Orth op edic ▁Foundation ▁for ▁Anim als ▁and ▁leave ▁d ys pl astic ▁spec im ens ▁out ▁of ▁the ▁gene ▁pool , ▁thereby ▁reducing ▁the ▁risk ▁of ▁b one / joint ▁problems . ▁For ▁over ▁ 2 0 ▁years , ▁bre ed ers ▁belonging ▁to ▁the ▁Leon berger ▁Club ▁of ▁America , ▁which ▁issued ▁pedig rees ▁for ▁the ▁Leon berger ▁bre ed ▁in