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Bronco's Adventures

Rollo From Baby Jail to Four Years Old

Today it is Rollo’s 4th birthday. Our late Leonberger Bronco welcomed him into our family when Rollo was just a 9-week-old puppy. Rollo is a mini-Australian Shepherd. They became very good friends and Bronco was very patient with the rambunctious puppy who climbed all over him and played with his tail, even hung in it. Well, we no longer have Bronco, but we have Rollo and his 14-year-old pug sister.

This is a photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. It is his birthday so he has a birthday hat on. Rollo did not like the hat, so he took it off right away.
Rollo did not like the hat, so he took it off right away.
Photo of our pug Daisy left and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo (right). It is Rollo’s 4th birthday.
Rollo and Daisy. It is Rollo’s 4th birthday.
Edited photo of Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd. He has a hat on, a steak, and candles. It is Rollo’s 4th birthday.
Rollo’s 4th birthday.
Photo of Bronco our Leonberger welcoming Rollo to our house. Bronco is very big. Rollo is very small.
Bronco our Leonberger welcoming Rollo to our house.
Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo when he was just a puppy.
When Rollo was just a puppy.
This is another photo from when Rollo was just a puppy.
Another photo from when Rollo was just a puppy.
Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd playing with a ball.
Rollo playing with a ball.

Next, I am including a little snippet from the book. This snippet is about Rollo.

Rollo often pushed his luck with Bronco—climbing all over him, sitting on him, and stealing his possessions. Bronco was very patient and protective of little Rollo, but we were afraid he would lose patience with him one day when we were not present. Therefore, we put Rollo in a playpen whenever we left the house.

Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo playing with our Leonberger Bronco’s tail. When he was a puppy he even hung and swung in it. Naturally, we stopped it as soon as we saw it.
Rollo often played with our Leonberger Bronco’s tail. When he was a puppy he even hung and swung in it. Naturally, we stopped it as soon as we saw it.

The playpen had a door that swung open and could be locked. Soon he learned to go through the door on his own when we asked him to. We would say, “Rollo, playpen,” and he would march right in. We made sure that the playpen contained water and toys and that the door was locked behind him. Of course, we didn’t leave him there too long. Experts recommend a maximum of two hours when the puppy is two months old and a maximum of three hours when the puppy is three months old. Even when Rollo was older than that, we never left him in the playpen longer than four hours.

Rollo’s relationship with his playpen was interesting. When Daisy tried to walk in, Rollo would get angry. The playpen was Rollo’s, and no one else could enter. It was his little house within a house. Sometimes he would walk in even if we didn’t ask him to, and he would just sit there for a while, as if he needed some alone time.

Photo of Rollo in his playpen called Baby-Jail. When Rollo was in his playpen, we were sure he would be safe in case Bronco decided he had had enough of his younger sibling’s antics. To read more about Rollo click on the photo.
This is the baby jail. When Rollo was in his playpen, we were sure he would be safe in case Bronco decided he had had enough of his younger sibling’s antics. To read more about Rollo click on the photo.

Our son David’s girlfriend, Meranda, came up with a great name for Rollo’s playpen: baby jail. So that’s what we called it, and Rollo seemed to like it. When we told Rollo, “Rollo, baby jail,” he would march right in, just as he did when we called it a playpen. Even though he didn’t seem to mind it, he was always eager to come back out when we got home. He would stand on his hind legs, jump up and down, and bark. Then we would rush to greet him and lift him out of his baby jail.

To read more about Rollo click here.

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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.

The image shows the front cover of my book "The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle". Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger. The cover is beige and brown and it has the face of an old Leonberger in the middle. Author is Thomas Wikman. Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com paperback location for the book.
The front cover of my 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 a photo of 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.
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.
This is an image showing the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to got to the Barnes and Noble 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

By thomasstigwikman

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

27 replies on “Rollo From Baby Jail to Four Years Old”

Thank you very much Leighton. You are right, Rollo is charming but he thinks he rules the house. Yes I put funny dog stories in book (all color photos and illustrations) as well as information on how to care for Leonbergers and other large dogs.

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Thank you so much. Yes you are right Bronco our Leonberger was a gentle giant. I can’t believe Rollo walked all over him like a carpet and even sat on his head like a hat and dangled in his tail. I should stress I saw these things happened but always stopped it right away, which is why Bronco barked at me when Rollo went too far, to alert me, for me to remove him, that pesky little rascal.

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We used a crate in the beginning but none of our dogs liked the crate. The playpen worked better, but I know that is probably not recommended. Bronco, the Leonberger, was whining all night when he was in the crate. Once we took him out he wanted to sleep in our bed and we let him. It worked in the beginning but when he got big he pushed me off the bed every night. We couldn’t fit all three of us. Letting him sleep in our bed was not a good idea. Finally we got him to sleep in his own bed. Well, we all do mistakes. Now we are at it again letting Rollo and the pug (Daisy) sleep in our bed. They are small but it is probably still not a good idea. Anyway, thank you very much Debbie.

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Every dog we ever had slept in bed with us, but the largest was only 50 lbs. 🙂 I am not a fan of crates and only used one briefly with our current dog, who is a rescue. We found we didn’t need it fairly quickly and now she’s on the bed as well. I think this is a natural thing for dog lovers. 😀

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Thank you Alex. Yes both Daisy and Bronco were more accepting of a birthday hat. Rollo just knocked it off as soon as I put it on. He was not happy about the hat. I tried to get a better picture than the one I used but it was useless, and I did want to have a fight with him over a hat on his birthday. Therefore, the photo isn’t the best.

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You are a wonderful, loving dog companion, Thomas. I have Bronco’s book on my Kindle. am putting off reading it because I know it will be great and it is so hard to find great books. But, I have a deadline–when we do our joint post.

Sigh.

Liked by 1 person

Thank you so much Jacqui for your kind words. I am looking forward to February 13. I see that the third book in the series will come out on KIndle this Thursday. I can read on kindle but I prefer a paper version. Will there be a paperback version too?

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