This blog feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar.
Another 25 Leonberger Photos and Illustrations
My blog is primarily about Leonbergers, an unusual and fascinating dog breed that is known for its size, affectionate nature, and intelligence. I know a lot about Leonbergers because we were lucky enough to live with one for thirteen years. His name was Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle—but we called him “Bronco” for short. I also wrote a book about Leonbergers and about Bronco’s many adventures : The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. If you are on a desktop computer you’ll see the book on the right, and if you are on a phone you have to scroll to the bottom of the page. You can also click here.
This post features 25 photos and illustrations. Most of the photos are of our Leonberger Bronco, a few are photos by friends and the illustrations were created by Naomi Rosenblatt. If you want to see another set of 25 Leonberger photos click here. If you want to see Leonberger puppy photos, then click here.
Our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.Bronco our Leonberger is swimming in White Rock Lake.Bronco is standing in the water in White Rock Lake.A Canadian Leonberger called Mak with my book. Photo by Debbie Ireland.Our Leonberger Bronco is sleeping on our big leather sofa.Bronco with our Pug Daisy. They were sharing the sofa until Daisy decided to move.Bronco is pulling our daughter along the ground as she is desperately trying to hold on to him. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Illustration showing Bronco running down the street while wearing a cast. He was not supposed to bump the cast. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Our Leonberger Bronco with two small dogs, our Japanese Shin Ryu and our pug Daisy.It is Bronco’s birthday.Digory and Obi two Leonbergers. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.Digory Jen O’Keefe’s Leonberger. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.Swimming time for Digory Jen O’Keefe’s Leonberger. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.Digory got bone cancer, had an amputation, and this photo is two years later. He lived long for a Leonberger with this condition. Here is with a Leonberger friend. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.Bronco our Leonberger is standing in front of our hallway. He is pretty old in this photo.Bronco in our front yard.Bronco saved our pug’s life. He is a saint.Bronco lived very long for a Leonberger. The typical lifespan is 8-9 years. The Leonberger Health Foundation International gives out a grey-muzzle award to Leonbergers who has lived 12 years or longer. Here Bronco is receiving his grey-muzzle award.The Grey Muzzle Award.Bronco and our pug Daisy.Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.A tornado ravaged our neighborhood. Several of our neighbor’s houses were destroyed. Our house stood but the chimney, roof, attic, garage, and fence were severely damaged. It was a tough time for Bronco. He had just had a toe amputation due to cancer; he had ulcerous sores on his foot, then came the tornado and less than a week later he had a heart failure. He is not in good shape in this picture.Bronco is walking around the house with his giant soft cone and pulling things off tables.One of the last photos of Bronco.We will always remember Bronco. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, 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. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.
View all posts by thomasstigwikman
47 thoughts on “Another 25 Leonberger Photos and Illustrations”
Adorable! And their warm personalities shone through, isn’t it:)
Thank you so much Kymber for your kind words. You are right, Bronco was an exceptional friend. A few years ago when I had just started taking French classes we were practicing answering the question “who is your best friend” and I answered “my best friend is my dog Bronco” (but in French) and some in the class were laughing. However, it was actually true.
Thank you so much Damyanti. Yes, Naomi was a great illustrator. She charged a reasonable price, she was fast, and easy to work with. That cast took quite a bit of a beating as he was running down the street. Claudia (my wife) did not think he needed a leash with that heavy cast. It seemed like he could barely move. That’s how he got lose. At the veterinary surgical center, they said everything looked good. Apparently, there were no signs of bumping.
Thank you so much Jacqui. Yes I agree I like that picture too. We try to celebrate all our dogs birthdays with a cone. Rollo (our mini-Australian Shepherd) is the only one who keeps knocking it off. He doesn’t like it.
Some lovely photos of Bronco throughout his life… Poor Lad, going through his toe operation then facing a tornado too… I love the one of Bronco and Daisy side by side… Lovely… <3
Thank you so much Sue. Yes, October 2019 was a very tough month for Bronco. A toe amputation in the beginning of the week, two big ulcerous sores one week later, another week or week and a half on October 20, a tornado ravaged the neighborhood leaving us with $50,000.00 worth of damage and an unpassable neighborhood with nothing but debris and destroyed houses. Two days without being able to leave the house, four days without power or cellular network connection. All this affected him too because we had no air conditioning, no lights, we could not go for walks, etc. Then a week after that, he had his first heart failure. He eventually recovered but that was not a good month. I refer to it as Black October in my book.
Lovely photos of Bronco and the other dogs. 🙂 How unfortunate that he lost a toe, then you all suffered through a tornado! The sketch at the end is achingly poignant.
Thank you so much Debbie. Bronco lost four toes over a period of five years. He got a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma on his toenails. The strange thing is that they were all unrelated and not metastasis. He became quite familiar with the veterinary surgical center where we did the amputations, and he learned the procedure. When we went there, the first he did was to walk over to the scale to weigh himself without us telling him to do so.
Yes that is very cool. We wanted to visit the town of Leonberg, but it is a big trip. Maybe one day we could go. I would love to see photos from there.
Thank you so much Carol. Actually, dog food is not expensive and Leonbergers don’t eat that much, not much more than a human, unless you leave expensive food out. If you leave the Thanksgiving turkey out, they can easily eat all of that. Bronco ate five pounds of roast beef that we had prepared for a dinner party. It took him just a few seconds. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, the carrots, and the dip, so that’s what we and the guests had. But other than accidents like that, he was not that expensive.
Adorable! And their warm personalities shone through, isn’t it:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
*shine
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Patricia. Yes I believe you can see their warm personalities in their eyes and faces, so kind and trusting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing your walk down memory lane.❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you so much Priscilla. I love going down memory lane and if others like to see it too even better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thomas, I could look at your photos all day long. 🙂 Bronco was an exceptional friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Kymber for your kind words. You are right, Bronco was an exceptional friend. A few years ago when I had just started taking French classes we were practicing answering the question “who is your best friend” and I answered “my best friend is my dog Bronco” (but in French) and some in the class were laughing. However, it was actually true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What beautiful pictures, Thomas! The illustrations are so humorous, and Bronco’s energy (despite the cast) is unmistakable. Gorgeous dogs!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Damyanti. Yes, Naomi was a great illustrator. She charged a reasonable price, she was fast, and easy to work with. That cast took quite a bit of a beating as he was running down the street. Claudia (my wife) did not think he needed a leash with that heavy cast. It seemed like he could barely move. That’s how he got lose. At the veterinary surgical center, they said everything looked good. Apparently, there were no signs of bumping.
LikeLike
All great pictures. The one of Bronco in his cone is such a keeper.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Jacqui. Yes I agree I like that picture too. We try to celebrate all our dogs birthdays with a cone. Rollo (our mini-Australian Shepherd) is the only one who keeps knocking it off. He doesn’t like it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some lovely photos of Bronco throughout his life… Poor Lad, going through his toe operation then facing a tornado too… I love the one of Bronco and Daisy side by side… Lovely… <3
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Sue. Yes, October 2019 was a very tough month for Bronco. A toe amputation in the beginning of the week, two big ulcerous sores one week later, another week or week and a half on October 20, a tornado ravaged the neighborhood leaving us with $50,000.00 worth of damage and an unpassable neighborhood with nothing but debris and destroyed houses. Two days without being able to leave the house, four days without power or cellular network connection. All this affected him too because we had no air conditioning, no lights, we could not go for walks, etc. Then a week after that, he had his first heart failure. He eventually recovered but that was not a good month. I refer to it as Black October in my book.
LikeLike
Beautiful pictures, Thomas! Really enjoyed all of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Kaushal
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely photos of Bronco and the other dogs. 🙂 How unfortunate that he lost a toe, then you all suffered through a tornado! The sketch at the end is achingly poignant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Debbie. Bronco lost four toes over a period of five years. He got a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma on his toenails. The strange thing is that they were all unrelated and not metastasis. He became quite familiar with the veterinary surgical center where we did the amputations, and he learned the procedure. When we went there, the first he did was to walk over to the scale to weigh himself without us telling him to do so.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s amazing! Bronco was obviously very smart.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Debbie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bronco was the cutest little puppy!!! What a fluff ball. Absolutely adorable!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for your very kind words chihuahuagirl3
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re very welcome! But Bronco deserved it. He was adorable!! 🩷
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. It is very nice of you to say.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing the great photos. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Bronco through your posts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you David for your very kind words
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is crazcy, i am living near to Leonberg (25 km away). This town gave the name of this dogs 🙂
Best Regards
Bernhard
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes that is very cool. We wanted to visit the town of Leonberg, but it is a big trip. Maybe one day we could go. I would love to see photos from there.
LikeLike
Great photos! But boy your food bills must be exorbitant!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Carol. Actually, dog food is not expensive and Leonbergers don’t eat that much, not much more than a human, unless you leave expensive food out. If you leave the Thanksgiving turkey out, they can easily eat all of that. Bronco ate five pounds of roast beef that we had prepared for a dinner party. It took him just a few seconds. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, the carrots, and the dip, so that’s what we and the guests had. But other than accidents like that, he was not that expensive.
LikeLike
Oh, that is really funny but not very practical for your dinner guests. What a feasts Bronco had!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well at least the dog ate well
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Thomas, these are all stunning pictures. The one of the dog in the water with the shadow is especially beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Roberta
LikeLike
My pleasure
LikeLiked by 1 person