Rollo is Seven Years Old Today

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is turning seven years old today (October 12, 2025). This evening, we sang to him, in English, Swedish and French, and he got a pupcake (cupcake specifically for dogs) and piece of filet mignon. Later today (October 12) he will get celebrated again and have more pupcakes.

To celebrate Rollo’s birthday, I am posting 20 photos I took of Rollo today, or rather earlier this evening (October 11), as well as photos from the recent past, and also photos that are a year or older. Some of the older photos are with our late Leonberger Bronco. The first six photos I took today. If you’ve been following my blog for some time, you may have seen some of the older photos already.

Washing Rollo

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is looking into the camera. He is wet.
Before the festivities Rollo needed a bath. He is getting washed in the sink. He was not happy.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd is looking into the camera as he is sitting in the sink getting washed. He is wet and not happy.
When are you going to be done with this washing stuff?

Birthday Photos of Rollo

Our daughter is putting a blue birthday hat on our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.
The birthday hat is coming on. He does not like the hat, so it did not stay on long.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd has his paws on the table and he is wearing a blue birthday hat.
We are getting the pup-cake ready, and we are going to sing Happy birthday in several languages. Rollo very much appreciates us singing to him in multiple languages, but mostly he appreciates the pupcake. A pupcake is a cupcake made especially for dogs. We humans had cupcakes.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is standing with his paws on the table, and he is looking to the right. He is wearing a blue birthday hat.
Rollo is ready.
Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd being fed a pupcake.
Finally Rollo gets his pupcake

Recent Photos of Rollo

Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd being sitting on a leather sofa and looking at a pupcake.
Rollo and a pupcake on a table.
Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd sitting on the floor in front of a Rolo candy.
Rollo and a Rolo candy. Rollo was not named after the candy bar Rolo as often incorrectly assumed. Rollo was named after the Viking king who sacked Paris. You can say he was on a roll.
Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd lying among the covers on our bed.
Rollo likes to sleep in our beds
Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd being a bit wet
Rollo is wet, not from being washed today but from rain on another occasion.

Older Photos of Rollo

A mini-Australian Shepherd wearing a blue party hat. He is not looking happy.
This is an old photo from his fourth birthday. He is unhappy with the hat.
On the left there is a big Leonberger dog bending his head down to sniff a small mini-Australian Shepherd lying on the grass.
Rollo almost six years ago. He had just arrived at our house. Our Leonberger Bronco is welcoming Rollo.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd is lying on the grass and looking into the camera.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy.
A mini-Australian Shepherd puppy lying on a blanket and looking into the camera.
Close up of Rollo as a puppy.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy peeking out behind a red sofa and looking straight into the camera.
Rollo peeking out behind the sofa.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy biting an orange volleyball.
Rollo playing with a volleyball.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd biting a Leonberger’s tail
Rollo frequently bit our Leonberger Bronco’s tail, and he even swung in it like a swing. He climbed all over Bronco. Bronco was very patient with him.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd looking into the camera. He is next to a chewed-up shoe.
When Rollo was young, he loved chewing shoes. Here the artist is posing with his art.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd and a Pug and young woman in between them petting them both.
Our daughter with our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo and Pug Daisy.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd sitting in a stroller.
Sometimes there are scary sounds and Rollo wanted to sit in the stroller we bought for our Pug Daisy. We have not been using that stroller since Daisy passed.

To see the blog post from Rollo’s sixth birthday click here and Rollo’s fifth birthday click here.

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Author: thomasstigwikman

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.

66 thoughts on “Rollo is Seven Years Old Today”

    1. Thank you so much Robbie. He does not like the hat unlike Daisy and Bronco who did not mind hats. The hat is only for the photo. Yes he was really small as a puppy. He is still smaller than a “normal” Australian Shepherd, but he thinks he is big (which is not great).

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  15. Haha! My favorite photo was of Rollo eyeing his pupcake. That reminds me of the same look my labs used to have with their ball—total focus. I wonder if any dogs enjoy a bath. We’ve never owned one that did.

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    1. That is a good question. However, our Leonberger Bronco loved water, swimming, and even baths. I think our Labrador didn’t mind baths too much either, and our Pug did not protest, but she did not protest anything. However, the rest of them weren’t too happy about baths. I’ve heard cats like them even less, but we don’t have cats due to my allergy.

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        1. Yes I think you just brought up an interesting point. We’ve always washed Bronco outside using the kids kiddie pool and it was not very confining. We also took him to the groomer sometimes. I just asked my wife if she remember making Bronco go into the bathtub, and we did once, and he hated it. We’ve used bathtubs or sinks for most of our other dogs.

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  16. Happy Birthday to Rollo! 🎉🎈🧁 He is such a cutie and I love all your photos, Thomas. 💖 Also that you throw birthday parties for your dogs, complete with singing, hats and pupcakes. What a wonderful dog family you all are! 🐾🐾

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  17. Happy birthday to Rollo, Thomas! The photos are beyond adorable. He is so cute, and those puppy pictures melted my heart. And Oh, those eyes! And seeing Bronco made me teary. I love the festivities and the pupcakes. All of your dogs have been and are lucky to have your family as theirs! 🎉🎉

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    1. Thank you so much Carla. No Rollo does not like baths, but he tolerates them. Our big Leonberger dog enjoyed baths but I realized that was because we bathed him outside using the kiddie pool. The one time we used the bathtub he did not like it.

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