Our Leonberger Bronco or Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle lived a very long life for a Leonberger. Large dogs do not live as long as small dogs and giant breeds such as St. Bernards, Great Danes, and Leonbergers have much shorter life spans. The average life span for Leonbergers is 8 years. Bronco died two weeks short of 13 years. He got a so called, Grey Muzzle Award, from the Leonberger Health Foundation International, and we submitted his DNA to a lab for research. The Leonberger Health Foundation International is an organization that support health related Leonberger-specific research. They fund research on various illnesses common in Leonbergers as well as the longevity of Leonbergers. This research benefit other giant breeds as well.
Dogs are considered senior after they pass 2/3 of their expected lifespan (5.3 years), which means that Bronco technically was a senior for more than 2/3’s of his life. This posts, feature 20 photos from his old age.
Our Leonberger Bronco sitting in the front lawn.In this photo our Leonberger Bronco is eleven years old and standing in front of our hallway. Old age is starting to set in. In this photo he has already had squamous cell carcinoma a toe-skin cancer and he has amputated a couple of toes.Our Leonberger Bronco eleven years old, looking a little bit scruff and getting grey hair.Bronco with our pug Daisy whom he protected with his life. He saved her life by intervening when a lose German Shepherd went after her and he even shared food with her he had stolen from me.Bronco loved our big red sofa. It was great for him but too deep to be comfortable for humans.Bronco and Daisy in the backyard.Bronco is welcoming a new puppy, a mini-Australian Shepherd called Rollo.Rollo loved playing with Bronco. He walked all over him, sat on his head like a hat and dangled in his tail. Bronco was patient.Two buddies in the backyard.Bronco is hungry and is coming to get my attention.Our Leonberger Bronco in Grandpa’s bushes.Our Leonberger Bronco is twelve years old in this photo, a quite respectable age for a Leonberger.Our Leonberger Bronco was a saint. He saved Daisy’s life, he might have saved the life of our Labrador Baylor as well, when he sniffed out an oncoming insulin shock before it happened.A tornado ravaged our neighborhood, smashed our chimney, ruined our roof, and partially damaged our fence. It was not Bronco huffing and puffing. He had just had a toe amputation due to a reoccurrence of squamous cell carcinoma. He has a bandage on his leg, which was protected by a one-gallon zip-lock bag when he is walking outside.Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award has arrived. He received the award for living longer than 12 years, a rare feat for a Leonberger. It is the Leonberger Health Foundation International that give out this award.Our Leonberger Bronco with the, so called, cone of shame. Well, it was a soft cone for comfort and the largest size to match his size. Unfortunately, he swung that cone around sometimes clearing tabletops.Bronco barging into the bathroom with his cone and all. He didn’t like being alone.Old Bronco sitting in the backyard.Our Leonberger Bronco was almost 13 years old in this photo.Among the last photos of Bronco. After this photo he passed away from a heart failure. He always had a heart of gold but even hearts of gold don’t last forever.
Finally, I would like to promote my book about Bronco and Leonbergers. It has a lot of color photos, amusing Leonberger stories, and Leonberger information that has been verified and is also based on personal information.
This is the front cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com location for the book.This is the back cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click on the image to go to the Amazon.se location for the book.These are the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to got to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.
Below is a list of where you can find the book. Click on the links to go to the respective store. However, if your favorite bookstore is not listed below you can search for it using the ISBN or ASIN numbers.
ISBN number for printed edition: 978-0998084954 ASIN number for the e-book edition: B0B5NN32SR
My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics, but I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, an amateur astronomer, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children Jacob, David and Rachel. My blog feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger e Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers
Oh, this post made me cry. I can tell Bronco was a wonderful fellow. I look forward to reading The Life and Times of Le Bronco!
The hubster’s taking the telescope out tonight for Jupiter!
Thank you so much Priscilla. It is so kind of you. Looking at Jupiter should be interesting. I saw last night that is was right above my head at midnight and it almost formed a line in the sky with the moon and Saturn.
How fortunate that Bronco lived well beyond his expected life span! Of course, it’s never long enough, is it? He was a beautiful dog and you can tell how gentle, from the photos with the little ones. 🙂 I have your book on my Kindle now and look forward to reading it. Have a good weekend!
Leonberger Life 
6 replies on “Photos of a Senior Leonberger”
Oh, this post made me cry. I can tell Bronco was a wonderful fellow. I look forward to reading The Life and Times of Le Bronco!
The hubster’s taking the telescope out tonight for Jupiter!
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Thank you so much Priscilla. It is so kind of you. Looking at Jupiter should be interesting. I saw last night that is was right above my head at midnight and it almost formed a line in the sky with the moon and Saturn.
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How fortunate that Bronco lived well beyond his expected life span! Of course, it’s never long enough, is it? He was a beautiful dog and you can tell how gentle, from the photos with the little ones. 🙂 I have your book on my Kindle now and look forward to reading it. Have a good weekend!
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Thank you so much Debbie for your kind words and for getting the book. You are right, he lived long but not long enough for us. We miss him every day.
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All your readers are going to fall in love with Bronco, Thomas. What a wonderful dog.
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Thank you so much Jacqui for your kind words.
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