Max says, "When I was 6 month old, some bad people told my owner that
a Leo was too slow and would never win agility races against Rottweillers,
Hovawarts and other dogs. I was very upset, and a few months later, my
owner made this picture for a local newspaper, to show to everyone what
a Leo was able to do, even in beauty shows and in Agility races!"
Max is a well-honored Leo, as his photos show! His owner, Bruno Tournabien, has this to say:
In 1995, I didn't know anything about Leonbergers. One day, my wife and I walked on a beach near Honfleur (Normandie), and we saw a group of five Leonbergers. We immediately falled in love with this race. Some months later, on winter sports near Chamonix, we have seen two Leonbergers wich were trained to help montain rescue. It was too much ! we wanted ONE immediately !
The french club sent us to Mr & Mrs Metzger who love Leonbergers and are very nice. That's the way we got Max !
Max was born on February 17, 1996. The breeders suggested that we register Max for the french Leonberger club national beauty show. It was the fist time we heard of such a thing, but we decided to try. Max was designed as the fourth most beautiful Leonberger in babyshow. We were very proud of him, but we also realized that Max was rother dominant with other male dogs, that he did not obey very well and that... he was already strong, even for me ! So we decided to practice in a obedience club. In october 1996, we joined a club in Lisieux. At first, Max learned obedience. He does not realy enjoyed it, but little by little, he managed to obey. But, in this club, there were also a few dogs who practiced Agility. We have tried and Max has loved it. Soon after, he managed to do everything in agility courses, but the weave poles. One evening, I tried with a croquette and he DID it !
In september 1997, Max was registered for his first competition. In march 98, some friends and I have built our own club, the 6Pat Club, and on 98, june 21, Max got his international agility certificate.
I must now try to explain you some rules of Agility in France.
There is only one big organization for dogs in France, which is called SCC (Société Centrale Canine). This organization rules everything about dogs in France, so it rules also Agility. Personally, I think it's not so good, because each dog sport, wich has each very different kinds of owners, is ruled by the same people.
We practice agility under the ICF rules. You can have an good idea of our rules by visiting the site of our obedience club, or this belgian site: Agility Sport Canin (sorry, it's in french!)
There is something different in France : in international rules, there is only two groups of dogs : the "mini" and the "standard". So our Leos have no chances in international competition. In France, we have four groups of dogs from "A" (very little) to "D" (very big), so that every dog has a chance to win a competition.
A beginner dog must get 3 "excellent" mentions in 3 different competitions under almost 2 different juges to get it's certificate. Every good result gives points, and a certain number of points is necessary to qualify for regional championships. The best dogs of each group (A to D) in regional championships are qualified to the France Championship Final, in june at Longchamp, near Paris. Max is already qualified for the regional championship and I hope we will be qualified for the final.
Max has his own home page,
with more pictures of him doing agility - and other things!
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