I think I may have just helped a scammer. Somebody has just emailed me asking me about my breed at first I though it was all genuine so i replied answering these questions (this is the email they sent me):

>Hi I,m going to ask some questions about leonberger's
>Are they good pet's?
>What's the down sides haveing one?
>Do they bark a lot ?
>Do they shed a lot ?
>Are they very obedient ?
>What wanted you to have them ?
>Do there coats smell ?
>How many leonbergers are in the uk do you think ?
>And how many do you think in the uk are healthy ?
>How much does it cost to feed one a week ?
>What's the common health problems do they have ?
>How much exercise do they need a day ?
>What's the average price for one leonberger ?

So naturally, I gave them as much information as I could. I sent the reply (which was lengthy and very detailed), but after sending I noticed the name on the email address was not the same as the signed name on the email I then reread the email and it doesnt appear to written very well? At first I never noticed, I'm a big one for skim reading, it was only when alarm bells went off I checked the email.

It also never occured where they got my email address from. I have a separate one for dog stuff and a separate one for personal stuff, they emailed my personal one? Now I am at a loss of what to do. Should I report it? Who to? There is a big puppy scam going on at the moment, especially in Leos and a group of people are being investigated by fraud people. A while ago, I emailed to an advert of Leo puppies that turned out to be a scam, now I'm thinking this is where they have my email address from, but this is not the same address. The one I emailed a while back was a yahoo address, this is a "horizon" one, is this the same type of thing, anyone can get one? Or is it one to a specific computer/ house address.

I feel terrible now. What have I done?

I had exactly the same email in relation to chow chows.
I didn't reply to the questions but asked who they were and how they had my address. I asked why they wanted to know these things ...were they thinking of buying a chow or was it a survey. I will see if i get a reply. Perhaps they have accessed us through this site. I cannot see how you did any harm by answering the questions anyway

Have had a reply, they are from the Falkland Isles.

>Hi Tanya Thank you for the reply Does it cost a lot to feed a leonberger per week ? Do they get on with other dogs ? So they love water that's great can you get smaller leonberger's do they need lots of regular care ? What would be better a leonberger or tibetan mastiff? Kind Regards

Replied with this:

>Leos arent expensive to keep. The average leo would probably cost about £10 per week to feed.

Leos come in one size, they are a pedigree dog with a breed standard, so any that don't fall within that standard are a fault and not bred from, so a pure leo shouldnt be smaller that. Bitches heights are 65-75cm and dogs are 72-80cm.

They are people dogs and need plenty of attention from humans.

I would have a leo over any other breed, but i understand some people wouldnt have one, I dont know enough about tibetan mastiffs to comment. what county are you from, i may be able to help find a breeder for you

Then they said they arent looking for one, but when they do, they will email me to help look for a breeder, I also mentioned many here wont export a dog. got no reply. gonna leave it at that, feel very uneasy about the whole thing

I don't think scam artists would go to that much effort, perhaps they don't have a good grasp of the language. I ignore
some of these emails but will speak to interested parties on the phone as I can judge them easier. Those emails are time consuming and most breeders websites have this info already.

Don't know whether it was a scam or not. My e-mail address is not my name.  I think they asked some good questions.
Your e-mail programme will have a facility to show full header address, ask help on it, this could give you a clue about who they've sent it to or who it's from - just you/them or loads of people.
If you need to report it you shgould be able to do to your ISP -internet provider - give them the full header as above.  You can add their e-mail address as spam if you wish again depending on what prog you use.

PS - I'd love to read your answers

I have had the same email about Tibetan Mastiffs. I had an email from the same person a while ago asking if I could source a year old TM.
I am unsure, but as he has emailed me several times asking the same questions (which I have already answered) I have declined to reply.

Jeff.

Just another thought - these are similar to the questions on the many sites that can be used to choose a suitable breed. 

I'm pretty sure he has not been on my site as he would get the answers there. I wondered how he got my personal address as I never use it for doggie contacts? Is there some sort of gigantic database for emails? Like an email version of the yellow pages?

Would you remember the name? I'll PM you it, don't want to put it on here... never know who's looking

> same person a while ago asking if I could source a year old TM

Same here. Except it was a Leo not TM.

I just can't understand why someone from Falklands would look for a pet from the UK, not from USA which is closer?

Because the Falklands are British ...

Not sure if your question was to me but i was talking about general dog sites - even KC - if you've a web site yor e-mail could be taken from there.

I had massive trouble a few years ago receiving hundreds of un-solicited' e-mails that appeared to be directed towards, mostly, my sons.  I found out through checking the full header of the sending e-mail adress that these e-mails were sent to a huge variation of my e-mail adress.
I really don't know enough about it all but make sure I have all sorts of anti-virus, spy protection firewalls etc  [no wonder Imy PC's s slow LOL].  If you use internet explorer I'd recommend you check their security site as well.

Re the Falklands - the web is world-wide - so enquiries can come from anywhere - they may be genuine??? -
Wish I could help more

Lol, I realised that, I just thought that for a pet dog, you'd want from closer to home, to save on the expense etc

> Because the Falklands are British ...

That might be the reason. Are they rabies-free? If so then they may be limited to only importing from other rabies-free countries to avoid quarantine, as in Barbados.

mebbe because (afaik)the leos arent yet a fully recognised breed in the usa as opposed to the uk and europe. They may have emailed you as you were(dont know if you still are) advertising your lad as a top stud.They may have thought that having a top stud made you one of the top breeders in this country.

Tanya you've concerned me with one of your replies. It reads as if no leo should be bred from unless perfect

> Leos come in one size, they are a pedigree dog with a breed standard, so any that don't fall within that standard are a fault and not bred from, so a pure leo shouldnt be smaller that. Bitches heights are 65-75cm and dogs are 72-80cm<

are you saying that a leo shouldnt be bred from unless perfect? I've yet to see a perfect leo. With careful breeding there is no reason not to breed from a leo who is over or under standard size if that is their only fault. I have 2 males both over the standard size who I would be honoured to use at stud because they have so many other qualities desired in the breed. As proven by their awards at champ shows from breed specialists(lol).I also had a male who was well within desired size but I would have been shocked if any breeder worth their salt wanted to use him.

your reply smacks of ''throwing the baby out with the bathwater'' a turn of frase often used by one of the most respected leo breeders in this country.

Barbara

No I'm not saying they should be perfect, my boy is far from perfect, yet someone has asked to use him. I was trying to explain to him that they are a recognised breed here with a breed standard and luckily leo breeders tend to stick to these standards fairly rigidly (thankfully). He asked me if they come in a smaller size, from his tone I suspected he meant are there 2 types as he wanted something smaller. I don't really know what he was getting at, and at this stage I was beginning to feel a little uneasy. I dont think there are any leos over there because I have a feeling he'd never seen one in the flesh.

I know there's no such thing as a perfect dog. If we didn't breed a dog because it had a fault we would have no dogs left lol.

He hasn't been on my site. I've checked my traffic and he didnt email my doggie address which is the one available on the site. He emailed me from the address I emailed a scammer from (by mistake) which also made me suspicious as the only people I normally receive emails from this address is close friends and family.

I seem to be getting my wires crossed with everyone tonight on 3 different forums and facebook, maybe its time I went to sleep and slept the drugs off and people would be able to understand me when I type what I mean rather the first words that come into my head lol

I'll try again tomorrow

In our breed dogs have gone to the Falklands.  It could just be the man is shortlisting the breeds he is interested in and asking sensible questions, we can get paranoid about these things

Tanya, I as well as a lot of Leo breeders had emails from Falklands and all came to the same conclusion that it was a scam.  When I receive an email from anyone I say very little as it's so easy for these people to put things in writing.  I always say I prefer to speak to people over the phone and in the case of the Falkland's email I just put it straight into spam as it was obvious it was a scam!
Even people from abroad will happily phone you if they are genuine.  Anyone who would be willing to pay the money to export is probably already known within the breed and not a first time pet owner, so therefore if you do your homework first you could probably easily find out about the enquirer from breeders in their country.
As for Perfect Leo's, sadly they don't exist except in the eyes of some blind owners lol.  Sadly not all faults are visible ones and that is why because of ignorance more dogs with health problems are being used and passing some horrible diseases on within our breed.

When I have been researching what breed of dog I'd like to own next (including leonbergers actually) I have sent similarly worded emails to a number of breeders because there is only so much information you can get from websites/books and you are looking for a number of peoples personal responses to get a feeling for the breed, especially if you can't visit many in the flesh at this time.

I am confused as to why you think these questions would come from a puppy scammer, what advantage/help are they getting from you with your replies apart from good information?  They seem like sensible questions to me, although the use of your private rather than dog related email is odd.  Must admit I have no idea how a puppy scam would work?

I don't phone breeders either because 1. email is free 2. I want to get info from many different breeders to check them out as well as the breed so email is much quicker 3. not in a position to buy yet and haven't set my mind on one breed either yet so don't want to waste their time 4. I don't like using the phone, I forget what I want to ask.

I am confused as to why you think these questions would come from a puppy scammer, what advantage/help are they getting from you with your replies apart from good information?  They seem like sensible questions to me, although the use of your private rather than dog related email is odd.  Must admit I have no idea how a puppy scam would work?

Because when I found an advert I "reported the advert" to the host site stating they knew nothing about the breed. A particular litter was advertised having had their eyes tacked- although it may sometimes be necessary it isn't what you'd call "common" in the breed compared to other of the more common breeds that suffer from it. You never see Leo puppies advertised having had their eyes tacked. If they need tacking, I can't see anybody would put it in an advert? Maybe I'm wrong?
I figured the host site must have emailed the advertisers stating why there advert had been removed- ie because it was felt they didnt know about the breed, amongst other things I mentioned to the host such as price for a KC reg Leo puppy, then about delivery vans etc and how they were on the Isle of Man and we wouldn't be able to get there in time because puppy needed picking up following day etc.

I've had what I call "genuine enquiries" which seem to be worded differently, they normally say something about their circumstances and ask if a Leo would be suitable, rather than just ask questions about Leos if that makes sense?

I have had the same email as jeff about the 1 year old Tibetan Mastiff, how much and when would I be able to transport, as well as price

I just ignore these kind of emails

Lynn