First off, thank you!
And training a Leo from a puppy age, in my opinion, isn’t so hard. They’re eager to please if you get them excited enough.
But the hard part(s) is that they can be extremely lazy and if training isn’t kept up until a more mature age when you’re confident they know the commands, your dog will most likely slack off or ignore you completely because they don’t find that they have to follow the order. My Leo tries to walk all over me when she thinks she can get away with it.
I’ve shown my Leo at specialty and local shows, she’s good at the commands I taught her for inside the show ring (which are almost all hand gestures and little vocal commands) but some of the others she’s wobbly at simple because I didn’t keep doing them.
Also, that brings up two very effective training aspects. I use more hand gestures and when I do say a vocal command It’s quiet so I know she’s paying attention to my voice. Though on the other hand, my mother when I was a child and we had multiple German Shepherds, she used almost all vocal commands and made sure the dogs were more afraid to disobey a command than anything. But those are also Shepherds and not Leo’s, which I think take more kindly to softer commands because they do like making their owner happy and won’t try to challenge you to a game of wits.
Lastly, if you start training with treats, make sure it’s one of your Leo’s most favorite things (whether bought of made) or else if they don’t like the treat they know they’re going to get they might not follow through on the command. Mine loves almost all meat and I just boil chicken breasts to rip off and give her bits of and it works perfectly.
I hope this helped you be more prepared when you get your Leo. Good luck!
