Leonberger Contest Winners

Congratulations to Elaine, Jenny, Amanda, Tiffany and Molly. They’ve each been sent a Secret Code for an eStore exclusive Leonberger virtual pet. We wanted to know how the Leonberger got its name! Read the winning entries below:

There was once a Leonberger named Leo and everyone loved his burgers. He had the best burger place in all of Webkinz World. One day at Leo’s burger place he was cooking burgers and a customer walked in and said, “Leo, do you know how the Leonberger got its name?” Leo said, “Well, it all started like this: Way back when my grandpa, who was named Leon, ran the burger place, he noticed that, even though there were many dogs who looked like him in Webkinz World, they had no breed name. My grandpa decided to do something about it. He decided that whatever breed name they chose should remind them of something they all enjoyed. So, one day, he called a meeting to decide their breed name. All the dogs thought and thought. Then, one raised his paw and said, ‘We all like Leon’s burgers, right? Well, how about ‘Leonberger?’ All the dogs yelled, ‘Perfect!’ And that,” said Leo, handing the customer a freshly made burger, “is how us Leonbergers got our name.” – Elaine

Cheesey and her husband never had any children. Her husband had reached his retirement and started to long for heirs to pass his name to. One day, while walking through town, Cheesey saw a contest to name a new breed of dog. This new breed of dog is large, hard working, friendly and loyal. So was her husband, Leon. She had an idea. She could pass on her husband’s name by naming the new breed after him. She entered the contest and a week later she got a call. She had won! She submitted her name for the breed: Leonberger. The owner of the dogs made sign with Leonberger in large letters and hung it in the window above the puppies to be sold for everyone to see. Leon still did not know about this, so Cheesey took him to the sign. Tears of joy welled in Leon’s eyes as he saw the name of this new breed was his name, Leonberger. The breed spread from town to country to the world. Leon Berger smiled because he new his name would never be forgotten. Mrs. Cheesey Berger smiled too. – Jenny

It was August and a man was walking through the woods. Then he noticed something on the ground. He went towards it and found out it was a little puppy that was only a week old! The man realized that it must be a new species of dogs! The man noticed the dogs Zodiac sign must be the Leo because he was born in the beginning of August. The dog was in front of an N shaped tree. Then a cold wind blew over the woods and the dog shivered and made a soft “Berrr” sound. So the young man scooped up the dog and tried to warm him up. At first when the dog was picked up he made started to make a quiet “Gerrr” like any dog would growl to a stranger, but then he stopped growling and snuggled into the mans arms. He wondered what he would name him but then he knew he would name it Leonberger because he was a Leo, he was found next to a N shaped tree, Ber because he said ber when he shivered, and Ger because he said ger when first held. If you put it together it is Leonberger. That’s how it got its name. – Amanda

When Leonberger was a young pup, he was just called Leon by his mom, and Berger by his dad. You see, they had a disagreement on what they wanted to name him, and for the sake of the young pup, the nurse suggested to just name him Leon Berger. Leonberger just hated being called two names. So he went to the forest to try and figure things out. After about ten minutes of wandering the forest, he found Plumpy the hippo! It turned out that Leonberger had submitted a question on the form in the Webkinz Newspaper, and Plumpy herself had read it. Leonberger told Plumpy his story, and Plumpy eventually suggested that Leon Berger just become Leonberger. The two of them ventured to Leonberger’s parents, and eventually, Leonberger was Leonberger. Leonberger eventually worked for Plumpy; after all, he was one of her success stories, and one of the reasons why she was still employed in the Newspaper. – Tiffany

The Leonberger got his name in quite the unusual way. From birth, the Leonberger (originally known simply as Leon) was covered from nose to tail in a sleek black coat. One hot summer afternoon in mid July, the young leon was basking in a deep pile of mud. When he rolled out and shook his body, the light brown colored mud remained stained on his coat. His family was so intrigued that they renamed him Leonburger because he looked the color of a hamburger bun. When they went to change his name on his birth certificate, they mispelled burger and wrote berger instead. Although Leonberger had to get used to his new name, over time he grew to not only love the name, but his new coat as well!! - Molly