Arlington show dog also training to be therapy animal

Published 11:08 pm Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ARLINGTON — Lori Taft’s dog Billy is the top Leonberger in the country.

A 2 1/2-year-old, 166-pound Leonberger, Billy recently won the breed’s national championship at the Leonberger Club of America show in Estes Park, Colo.

Officially named Desperado’s Bronco Billy, he is following in the footsteps of his father, Amos, who won the championship two years ago. Along with Billy and Amos, Taft also owns two females, including Ellie, a Leonberger from Europe, who is Billy’s mother.

Leonbergers are better known in Europe, where the breed is revered as a working class water rescue and service dog much like Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands and Great Pyrenees. In fact, Leonbergers were originally bred from those dogs, Taft said.

Interested in dogs since she was a girl, Taft bought Amos eight years ago and started Desperado Kennels at her rural Arlington home.

Nearly 150 dogs were brought from throughout the country to the national championships early this month.

“Billy won the beauty contest, but he also did well in obedience trials,” Taft said. She suspects that the European judges at the contest liked bigger dogs such as Billy.

“He enjoys the attention he receives in the show ring and loves the applause,” Taft said.

He may be a top dog, but Billy also in training to become a certified therapy dog.

The goal is for Billy to visit hospital and nursing home patients and also be a participant in the Reading with Rover literacy program.

Reading with Rover dogs and their owners volunteer to visit elementary schools, where students read aloud to the dogs. The Rover dogs love the attention and never judge anybody’s reading abilities.

Billy is a real character and a great companion, Taft said. He’s the right kind of dog for Reading with Rover.

“He’ll be perfect for it,” Taft said. “Leonbergers love to listen.”