We are Amy Garabedian and Nick Brown, a wife and husband breeder team. Our first Leonberger, Home Sweet Home’s Aja Marie, joined our home in 2003 and our life has been forever improved since. Good Life Leonbergers was established in 2006 with the birth of our A litter, with Aja Marie as the dam.Over the years, we have shared our home with breeding females and Leos who were simply the best companions we could have ever hoped for.
Our philosophy has always been to breed for health, temperament, and beautiful structure. We bred seven litters between 2006-2015, many of those puppies being therapy dogs, exceptional companions, and yes, champions. We have fostered enduring friendships with many of our Leonberger puppy owners and consider them to be part of our extended family.
Since 2008, we have owned our own dog training business, so when a litter comes, we are able to take an extended break from work to focus entirely on the raising of puppies in our home. There is nothing like spending time teaching these puppies to help grow into confident youngsters ready to take on the wider world.
We don’t tend to show our dogs widely, but to have an eye to the underlying structure which dog shows are supposed to reward. More than that, to not just watch how our dogs move, but also how they tackle mental challenges, and to take the time and effort to do thorough health testing.
Our breeding program paused in 2015 because a female we had brought into our home and hoped to breed was not up to those health standards, through no fault of her breeder. It broke our heart, because in all other respects, she was a beautiful dog who exemplified the Leonberger spirit. But sometimes breeding decisions are not easy.
We have a deep love for therapy work with our dogs, and temperament is a foundational part not only of what makes a Leonberger a Leonberger, but a therapy dog able to do their job. Our breeding decisions and how we raise our puppies are influenced heavily by a desire for a stable, gentle temperament.
We have both served on the board of regional and national level Leonberger club organizations, including the Great Lakes Leonberger Club and Leonberger Club of America. We co-chaired the Leonberger National Specialty in Frankenmuth, Michigan in 2015. Amy is a registered Breeder of Merit with the AKC. We both have a deep commitment to the future of the Leonberger breed.
We believe breeding dogs is a great responsibility, not to be taken lightly. Leos truly are special dogs, as anyone who has shared their home with one knows. We are breeders who strive to make the choices to further the overall health and stability of our breed, whom we love so deeply.