Work with us here for a moment. What do you notice most about the person in the photo below?
Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash
🎶🎶🎶 Ding ding ding 🎶🎶🎶 if you said, “Her eyes.” The mask, of course, gives us little else to notice, but in truth, we are hardwired to notice facial expressions, and eye-contact is the crucial first step in an automatic process called “resonance.” Eyes are a puzzle piece, physical hints that helps us intuit more about the person at whom we’re looking. The mask only accentuates this aspect of a person’s face.
Leonbergers are a “masked” breed, and it says so in the AKC standard: “The breed is distinguished by its black mask…” And later in the standard: “Face is covered with a full black mask that extends from the nose up to and over the eyes. A lesser mask is acceptable, but not desirable.”
It took us a long time to find a photo of a Leonberger without a discernible mask. The best we could do is a photo of the muzzle covered up with snow, and this is good news. It means breeders are adhering to the breed standard:
Why would a mask be important in a working breed? The short answer is that is isn’t – but then again, it is.
The longer answer is that it’s important because as human beings, we tend to “want it all.”
A mask doesn’t impact the ability of most working dogs (though in some breeds that work in certain climates, this isn’t true), but we look at our dogs, and they look back, and a pleasing face keeps us gazing at them. The breed standard states that a Leonberger has a “good-natured, soft, and intelligent expression,” and just as we saw in the photo of the woman, a mask accentuates the eyes, particularly a dark mask even on a youngster:
Leonberger pup by Вероника Преображенс Adobe Stock
In one article about evaluating the breed, it was noted that in a show ring, judges often note important elements of breed type even as the dogs enter their ring: Size, head carriage, a confident demeanor, and a black mask. A black mask doesn’t “make or break” a Leonberger’s type since a “lesser” mask is acceptable, but not desirable. Still, the complete lack of one is a disqualification in a show ring, and in a breed noted for sweet, melting brown eyes, it matters more than we might realize.
As for our subject title? The only way in which a gentle Leonberger resembles a bandit is in stealing one’s heart.
Top photo of a Leonberger by Angela Buser/iStock