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.
In this blog I will be writing about a truly amazing dog breed, the Leonberger, as well as funny stories about our Leonberger. We got our Leonberger Bronco or Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle in September of 2007. He was born in Canada on July 3rd, 2007. He was a truly amazing dog, loving, kind, unafraid, courageous, and protective. He was a great swimmer, he had an amazing sense of smell, and he had great hearing and yet he was insensitive to noise.
He saved our Pug’s life and perhaps our Labrador’s life by sniffing out an impending health emergency before it happened. He scared off a trespasser who was terrorizing my wife and other women in the neighborhood at night. In addition, he was funny, which is why I have 100+ amusing stories about him. Above all he was funny, very funny, and therefore a major focus of this blog are the stories.
The average life span for Leonbergers is 8-9 years. The lifespan of giant breeds tends to be shorter. However, Bronco lived until he was two weeks short of 13. He received an award for longevity the “Grey Muzzle Award” and we sent his DNA to two labs for research. I began learning about the Leonberger breed by reading books and various on-line resources and the information I found was fascinating. Leonbergers have a very interesting and dramatic history, they are a remarkable giant breed, double coated, webbed feet, excellent swimmers, family friendly, strong, and they love people. They have certain health issues that it is good to be aware of. So that is the second focus of this blog. I will be sharing interesting information about Leonbergers, and I hope to invite Leonberger experts to my blog to share their expertise.
I am also working on a book filled with Bronco stories as well as Leonberger information, such as breed standard, history, and how to care for and train a Leonberger, and how to get a Leonberger (Americans always check LCA). That is a coming feature. I will keep you posted.
Leonberger Life 