LEOGEN - THE LEONBERGER GENETIC DIVERSITY PROJECT
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Noora Ahokas - fell in love with the breed as a young girl in the early nineties. She had her first Leonberger when she was 12 years old and the dream of breeding them one day followed soon after.  After 18 years with the breed in 2010 she finally bred her first litter and currently breeds Leonbergers under Cleon kennel name. 
       Her second Leonberger suffered from both LPN and Analfurunculosis and since then, health of the breed has been has always been a great interest of hers. She is part of the health working group of International Leonberger Union, a group which helps to educate and promote the health related subjects within the breed community.
      Noora also runs Leonberger get togethers in East Anglia UK, where owners and dogs get to socialise and those interested in the breed can meet them in real life.
      Originally Noora comes from Finland but has lived in UK for most of her adult life. 
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Sharon Springel   -has owned and loved Leonbergers since 1997. She bred her first litter under her Lionscourt Affix in 2003. She has campaigned her Leonbergers at the highest level in both Britain and across Europe and dogs from the Lionscourt kennel have won championship titles in the UK, Sweden and America. She is a frequent visitor to the annual shows in both Cluny and Leonberg and has judged Leonbergers in both Britain and America.
       She was a member of the main committee of the Leonberger Club of Great Britain for 10 years and chaired their health committee for 12 years. In 2011 she published an international survey on fertility in Leonbergers on behalf of the International Leonberger Union, and was subsequently a founding member of the first health committee of the International Leonberger Union. In 2016, she released a video production commissioned by the ILU entitled “Safeguarding Genetic Diversity in the Leonberger Breed”, which has since been rereleased at least a half a dozen times in four different languages. Since 2017, Sharon has been the UK Kennel Club’s Breed Health Coordinator for the Leonberger. She was invited to join the board of directors of the Leonberger Health Foundation International in 2018. She is a past recipient of the Leonberger Club of America’s  Waltraut Zieher Award as well as the Club Italiano Leonberger’s Millennial Award.
       Sharon shares her home with 6 Leonbergers (along with a husband and three cats), and currently has co-ownership arrangements with 3 more. She participates in a wide range of activities with her dogs including exhibiting them at dog shows, doing water rescue training and enjoying therapy visits to residential care homes. But most of all, they keep her sofas warm, her home safe, and her heart full with love. 
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Sanna Roste-Torniainen  - saw a Leonberger for the first time when she was 12 years old. A school teacher had a Leo with her at a school walking event. The next many years were filled with getting information about the breed and going to dog shows to get closely acquainted with the breed and breeders/dog owners. It wasn’t possible for her to get a dog as a child because of her moms’ allergy. After 15 years of getting information and going to dog shows she finally got her first own Leo in 2008.
      Since then, love for the breed has been growing even more. She has had 6 Leos, now two males giving the Leo-love. Unfortunately, she has lost two Leos to osteosarcoma, one to hemangiosarcoma and one to laryngeal paralysis which came as a side effect from LEMP. That is why she is very keen on getting the breed healthier and longer living.
      Sanna has been the president of the Leonberger Club of Finland since 2018, before that a board member. She is also part of the health working group of the International Leonberger Union.
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Kaj Lindstedt   - has owned and loved Leonbergers since 1998.
 Kaj and his wife also bred three litters in the early 2000’s.
 He has been an active member from the start in the Finnish Leonberger Club – he started out as a rookie in the Breeding Committee and as a board member in the Club board holding positions as secretary for both. He was the President for the Club for 10 years until 2018 and is now the secretary of the Breeding Committee.
        In his work in the Breeding Committee, he was part of the group creating the Breed-specific breeding strategies (JTO), in which breed clubs set focal points for the breeding of their dog breeds as well as present recommendations for desirable characteristics in breeding dogs in order to make future generations as healthy as possible. Breeding strategies are inspected and approved by the Finnish Kennel Club's Scientific Committee.
        In addition to being involved in the Breed Club he was also for 10 years a member of the Finnish Kennel Club General Council. Currently he is a member of the Finnish Kennel Club Future Committee. He is also the Chairman for the Helsinki All Breed’s Summer Show.
         Currently he and his wife have two Leonberger males – first time ever without a female dog in the house.  
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Anna Letko - grew up around many different animals. She first encountered Leonbergers in early childhood when her parents searched for a dog who would be able to guard their house but also be friendly with young children. After visiting a local breeder, the whole family instantly fell in love with these gentle giants and owned at least one ever since. Anna became interested in everything Leo-related and maintained close ties to the breed throughout her life. She went on to study Animal Husbandry and Biotechnology at the Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic), which led to the first contact with the world of science and genetics, as well as a long-term involvement with the Leonberger studies led by Universities of Bern (Switzerland) and Minnesota (USA). After completing her PhD in Computational Biology at the Institute of Genetics (University of Bern), she now works as a researcher in molecular genetics and bioinformatics with professional focus on inherited canine neurological diseases, although also interested in multiple other traits and disorders in various species.
      In 2019, Anna was awarded the Albert-Heim-Stiftung Recognition Award for exceptional work in the area of cynological research. The recognized study also involved Leonbergers and led to a development of a genetic test for leukoencephalomyelopathy (LEMP) available worldwide in hope of preventing further breeding of dogs with this severe disease. In addition to other Leonberger-centered disorder studies (polyneuropathy-LPN, osteosarcoma, glaucoma, renal dysplasia…), Anna also used extensive genealogical and genomic resources to scientifically describe the population structure and diversity of Leonbergers, creating an objective basis for future breeding decisions. Anna’s long-term goal is to continue and nurture good relationships between international scientists and dog breeders, which should lead to further fruitful collaborations and significant improvements of the breed in the spirit of “breeding for health, not for looks”.
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Daniela Lutz - her first family dog Emely moved in in 2001 and was a Leonberger-mix dog. Through her, Daniela got to know and love the breed. In 2008 Selma came to live with her and she became interested in the Leonberger Club, dog shows and breeding. Anita Treichler, President of the Swiss Leonberger Club, showed her the way to Leonberger research at the University of Bern. In her first degree she had studied biology and graduated in microbiology.
In the meantime 4 litters were born in her home in Bern. For some years she has been President of the Swiss Leonberger Club and now also Vice President of the International Leonberger Union. Two offspring from her own breeding, a Gos d'Atura, and two cats live with her and her husband.
 
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​Peter Lewis and Sheila Johns are relative newcomers to Leonbergers.  They first encountered the breed while on holiday near Annecy, France in 2016.  They then spent several months investigating this lovely breed, with the help of Sharon Springel, before taking home their first puppy in June 2017.  “Tallie” (named after Talloires, France where they were staying when they first met the Leonberger), was a lovely, calm bitch and a fantastic introduction to both Leonbergers and dog-owning.  Sadly, Tallie did not reach her third birthday, having developed an ovarian tumour that then ruptured.  This experience provoked an increased interest in the health of this special breed, inspired in part at least, by Sharon’s enthusiasm to pursue improved health outcomes for Leonbergers.
We now have Melyn, a three year old bitch, who enjoys water-rescue training and carting as well as walks in the Forest of Dean, where we live.
Peter has been Treasurer of the Leonberger Club of Great Britain since 2019 and he will undertake a similar role for LEOGEN when the necessary constitutional paperwork has been completed.  Sheila, a lawyer, will undertake secretarial duties.
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Juulia Nemlander  grew up with Leonbergers as the first Leo came into her family when she was one-year-old. 
My first own Leonberger was born in 2004. I currently have 3 Leonbergers living in my home.
Our hobbies with my dogs include search and rescue, tracking, water rescue and dog shows. I am also a member of the board in the Leonberger Club of Finland (since 2020) and youth coordinator of the Finnish Kennel Club in Etelä-Hämeen district.
I have been fortunate to join the Irtokarvan kennel name and family (breeding since 1994) with Arja Liiri and to learn from many "old" breeders both at national and international level.
 I hope that the continuity of the breed will be long and that future generations will be able to enjoy living with the breed. This is why I want to be involved in the LEOGEN project - to ensure that we have a thriving population of dogs for many years to come.
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Jane Wilson has owned Leonbergers since November 1996 and bred Leonbergers in the UK since 2001 under the affix of JANTONELY. 
 My aim was always to try and diversify the limited gene pool we were working with within the UK as much as possible. This led to importing different bloodlines into the UK from Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden and France. 
 Health, along with temperament, has also been at the forefront of my mind because, as we know, many of our Leo puppies go into family homes with children, as pets. To this end I worked with an animal behaviourist and learned a vast amount of interesting and essential facts about dog behaviour. 
Sadly, due to personal issues, I no longer breed my beloved Leonbergers, my heart dogs. However, the passion I have for the breed will never wane. Therefore, I am extremely happy to have been asked to help support the new families, with their puppies, within the LEOGEN Genetic Management Program.