We
are Mark & Jennifer Kemmish Richardson. We live in Edgewood, Washington with our
toddler son, Seamus, our Leonbergers and an Aussie. We have 4 acres with a small
lake that we call Tir
na nÓg Bog. All of our dogs are family members that live in the house, go on vacations
with us, and participate in almost every local Leonberger event. We
are active members and volunteers of the Leonberger Club of America and breeding
in accordance with the LCA COE and breeding regulations. Picture is from our wedding in 2001, all the dogs were in
the wedding.
We first discovered Leonbergers one day at an off-leash park in Seattle. This magnificent large dog was just placidly standing in the water enjoying the sunshine and amusing himself while other the other dogs ran wild on the beach. We did not set right out on the correct path though. We spent a long time trying to convince ourselves that Newfoundland's were the breed for us, but found each time we visited that we really did not like the drool. A Newfy breeder suggested if we loved newfs but not the drool that we look for a Leonberger. We then began our search for our own Leo. We brought home Gaia in March of 2000 and a love affair with this breed began. We soon knew we could not have just one Leonberger.
Since bringing home our first Leo in 2000 we have been active members of the Leonberger Club of America. We are a LCA member kennel and breed in accordance with the LCA code of ethics and breeding regulations. We are strong advocates of health testing to provide information vital to the future health of the breed. All our Leonbergers have been tested for OFA hips, elbows, thyroid, eyes are CERF'd, and have their OFA heart screening. An we require that each puppy we breed have their tests completed and submitted the Leonberger Open Health Database.
Jennifer
is currently serving on her fourth term as President of the Leonberger Club of
the Northwest, a BACL examiner, an associate member of the Breeding Committee
and the Show Committee, a voting member of the National Specialty Committee, and
co-chair of the 2006 LCA National Specialty March 21-26 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Mark has done extensive research and reading on the subject of genetics and that
knowledge helps us to make good breeding decisions.
As breeders, we have a strong ethical breeding philosophy. We want to produce magnificent family companions that possess great temperaments, are sound, healthy, and also good representatives of the breed in conformation and type.