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.
Category: The Adventures of Bronco and Dog Friends
This category is for posts featuring the many crazy and funny stories (100+) that Bronco our Leonberger gave us.
Bronco our Leonberger at three months oldBronco and me. Bronco about one years old.Bronco in Claudia’s lap, a little bigger, and chubbier (but he lost weight)Bronco about nine years old. He had just had a toe amputation.Bronco closing in on 13 years old at the end of his life
With permission from Brend Saito (see comment), in this post I am sharing something she shared on Facebook in memory of her golden retriever, Odie, who passed away in May 2021 at the age of 12. The author is unknown.
“A dog asked :
“Tell me, human, why’d you record me? ”
The human replied, “You were so little and cute then and I couldn’t resist”
“But I ate your flowers, peed on your carpet and broke the expensive vase and all your clothes are full of hair from me… never thought about giving me away? ”
Again the man replied:
“I was also upset at first and had more work to do, but then when you sat down on my lap as usual, everything was fine… you don’t give your children to the orphanage because they once are mischievous. ”
The dog looked attentively at his owner and asked:
“But look, now I’m very old and I have my problems too… I cost a lot of money because you go to the vet with me more often and I need special food… I’m not as agile as I was 10 years ago… and i don’t smell like a baby anymore”
The mistress swallowed briefly and struggled with tears for a moment when she then answered:
“My love, you will ALWAYS be my baby, you have enriched my life and given me countless beautiful moments, now you are old and not quite healthy but that doesn’t change how much I love you.
You have always been there for me, comforted me when I was sad and made me laugh, you are my most precious treasure. And I wish we can spend more time together.
I will continue to do my best to make your life beautiful.
I will do everything for you my little darling.. ”
The dog gently placed its paws on his wife’s cheek and licked.
The sun shone in his eyes that shone like opals.
Satisfaction.
H a p p y.
L O V E
Perfection.
Harmony.
Anyone who has and loves dogs understands without words….
Bronco is in the middle, Rollo left, Daisy right. We still have Rollo and Daisy. We will never stop talking about Bronco. Illustration Naomi Rosenblatt.
Leash laws – Unless your pet is in a designated off-leash area, he or she has to be on a lead at all times. That’s the law in Dallas, Texas and in many other places. Dogs must be on a leash when outside except for, for example, dog parks. It doesn’t matter how good and obedient the owner thinks his dog is, it does not matter if the owner thinks he’s got perfect control over his dog. It is the law for a reason. Accidents happen, of course, and our dogs escaped on a few occasions. However, we all need to make an effort.
In my Leonberger book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” I describe three dog fights resulting from off leash dogs, but we experienced many more, dozens, and it is ugly.
Our Leonberger Bronco (Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle) grew up with several dogs, one of them being our Pug Daisy, which we still have. Bronco and Daisy were good friends and on one occasion Bronco saved Daisy from an attacking lose German Shepherd. We’ve owned a very well-behaved German Shepherd, our Baby, they are good dogs, but this one was young and aggressive.
Our Pug Daisy with our Leonberger Bronco
Bronco stepped in between the German Shepherd and Daisy and got bitten in the leg in the process. Leonbergers are about double as strong as German Shepherds and almost double as massive and they have more powerful jaws. However, Bronco was old and had just had surgery in the leg in which he was bit, so it was certainly a sacrifice on his part. I was mad and I ran after the German Shepherd and tried kicking him and between mine and Bronco’s efforts he ran off. I cursed at the owner of the German Shepherd for letting him run lose in a public space. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but in the end Daisy, our innocent sweet Pug, was alive. What a day that was.
Photo of Daisy that I took a few minutes ago. She is alive today, thanks to Bronco. She is 14 ½ years old.Bronco our saint who saved Daisy.
Another spontaneous dogfight happened before we got Bronco, when two dogs attacked our Labrador Baylor, who later would welcome Bronco into the family.
Baylor our sweet Labrador. He was a rescue.
Baylor was a sweet dog but could defend himself when he needed to. One time, as he and I were walking down a long straight road in the neighborhood, I turned around and saw two dogs running out of an alleyway around half a mile behind us. Right behind them came a woman, and she was running as well. The dogs were racing toward us and barking, and the woman behind the dogs was screaming at them. It was obvious that they had snuck out of a house and were ignoring their owner. For a moment I thought that maybe we should be running as well, but I decided against it. I would not be able to outrun the dogs, even though Baylor could, and letting him loose would be a bad idea. I decided to keep calm and continue walking.
A few seconds later I turned around to look again. The dogs were coming closer. I could see their glistening teeth and their faces full of rage as they charged toward us. The woman behind them was going as fast as she could, but she couldn’t keep up. Both dogs were around the size of Baylor. One of them looked like a pit bull, and the other looked like a golden retriever. I braced for the worst, and Baylor and I positioned ourselves for a fight.
Then the dog who looked like a golden retriever stopped and sat down. He seemed to be less aggressive. But the pit bull came right at us as if he wanted to kill us. There was a violent clash. Baylor fought back valiantly, and he was able to control the situation, despite being on a leash. (Well, I gave him all the leeway I could.) There were loud growls and snarls and sharp white teeth snapping and biting.
The woman finally arrived. Her face was red, and she was sweating profusely. It didn’t look like she was in good shape, and she had just sprinted half a mile without stopping. Breathing heavily, she grabbed her aggressive dog and apologized. I didn’t respond, even though I felt sorry for her. I knew the whole thing was probably an accident, but after that experience I couldn’t spare much sympathy for her. Luckily, there were no serious injuries.
After it was all over, I felt proud of Baylor for defending himself so well. He was a lot stronger and feistier than I expected, yet he was a very friendly and loving Labrador. If you want to read about the time when our German Shepherd Baby defended Bronco when he was a puppy, click here.
Facebook recently reminded me of our late Leonberger Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award. He got it three years ago. He was 12 years and 8 months old at the time. The Grey Muzzle Award is an award given by the Leonberger Health Foundation International (LHFI) for longevity. Leonbergers, and other giant breeds, don’t live very long. LHFI bestow the award on any Leonberger who has reached the age of twelve. The Grey Muzzle Award is also given to breeders, because they are partially responsible for the dogs’ longevity. This is a special award and it made us very happy that Bronco got it.
The day we received Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award. It is a beautiful memory. He was 12 years and 8 months old at the time.
We got the award a little bit late because we applied for it a little bit late, but when we got it we were very happy. When Bronco passed away from a heart failure four months later, we submitted his DNA to LHFI for research.
The grey muzzle award diplomaBronco’s Grey Muzzle Award
The Leonbergers receiving the Grey Muzzle Award are the canine equivalents of centenarians—humans who are at least one hundred years old. You don’t have to have your Leonberger registered with the LCA or AKC to apply for the award—it’s open to all purebred Leonbergers around the world. You can also apply if your dog is deceased, as long as he lived past the age of twelve. If you have a twelve-year-old Leonberger, simply fill out a form on the LHFI website or send an email to lhfgreymuzzle@gmail.com.
LHFI will ask for some information, including the registered name and call name of the dog; the breeder’s name, kennel name, address, and email; the dam’s registered name; the sire’s registered name; the owner’s name, address, and email; the birth date of the dog; and whether the dog is alive or dead. If the latter, they will want to know the cause of death. In addition, they would like you to write a one-paragraph tribute to the dog and send two (preferably high-resolution) photos—one head shot and one favorite photo.
My book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger” feature 58 photos and 16 illustrations, all in color. The illustrations were made by Naomi Rosenblatt. Some of the stories in my book I think are funny, exciting, or touching but like it is for most people, the best moments you don’t record with photos or video. You miss them. Some of the stories in my book I believe would have gone viral if they had been recorded, but they weren’t, and that’s why I needed someone who knew how to create an illustration of the events (without charging too much). I don’t know how to draw so I couldn’t do it. I think she did a good job.
This is my 100th post since I started my Leoberger blog back in March 2022. I think showing the 16 illustrations made by Naomi Rosenblatt is a good 100th post. I also included links to stories related to the illustrations of the event if I’ve made a blog post about it, usually in the form of an excerpt from my book. To read the stories related to the illustrations that does not have a link, you’ll have to get my book. Anyway, I’ll hope you will enjoy the illustrations below.
My wife was harassed by a peeping Tom at night. In fact, he was harassing women all over the neighborhood. I hired private detectives to catch him but to no avail. Can you guess who solved the problem? To read about it click here or here.
Peeping Tom by our bedroom windowBronco saving the neighborhood.Oops! What happens when a Leonberger doesn’t listen to you? See the book for the story.
Leonbergers have an excellent sense of smell. Our Leonberger Bronco sniffed out and found our run away hamsters on a number of occasions. He had a hamster search and rescue operation going, On one occasion his special superpower became somewhat embarrassing. Please don’t tell anyone. The victims still don’t know what happened. Click here or here to find out what happened.
Don’t worry he didn’t eat the hamsters. He most likely saved them.Wouldn’t you be somewhat distressed if a big dog put you in his mouth? Hamster CPR was needed but the hamsters were just fine. Again, please don’t tell the owners of the hamsters.
Bronco’s attack on the laptop made the Best Buy Geek Squad technicians’ day. It was something e had never seen before. You shouldn’t ignore your dog while playing computers games, it’s upsetting and what if he crushes or eats your computer. To read about it click here.
That’s the best story I’ve ever heard. With a good story the warranty will always apply. Remember that!
I can’t believe Bronco did this to me. Pushing our German Shepherd into the storm drain while barking and acting like crazy because he saw a dog across the street. The man lifted up his dog and fled down the street and left me with a mess. To read this crazy story click here.
Our German Shepherd Baby in the storm drain. Me trying to handle the situation. After this Baby decided that I had to walk her separately from Bronco. She loved Bronco very much, but I guess she had some misgivings after this event.Rabbits are fun to chase, aren’t they? Some people think watching such games is hilarious.Our Labrador left us tragically and unexpectantly. Evidence that we humans our cruel.Sometimes not thinking things through is cruel. Watch your emotions. We could have done better for our brave German Shepherd Baby.Sometimes Bronco gave you a reason to run as fast as you could.One time Bronco had to wear a full leg cast that could not be bumped. Well, he turned into a cast wearing monster chasing people and dogs around the neighborhood. Never mind not bumping the cast.Run for your life, yes run for your life dear. On the rare occasions that Bronco was not well behaved it was better to flee.Our smart little angel was unlucky with cancer and I was not there for him.Bronco lived a very long life for a Leonberger. Giant breeds don’t live long. The Leonberger Health Foundation International is trying to fix that. Bronco’s longevity is an inspiration for all Leonbergers and giant breeds around the world. Hopefully his DNA sample will be of some help.The paw prints that dogs leave in your heart are eternal.
Our Leonberger Bronco (Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle) had an issue with recurring squamous cell carcinoma in his toes requiring surgery. Each time Bronco had toe surgery, he needed to wear a so-called cone of shame to prevent him from licking the site of the amputation. In the beginning, we used a standard hard plastic see-through cone. They are very practical and work well, but they don’t seem comfortable. Then we tried a Comfy Cone and a pillow cone. A Comfy Cone is shaped like a standard cone of shame, but it’s made of a soft material that’s comfortable to lean your head on. A pillow cone is an inflatable ring-shaped pillow that you put around a dog’s neck. In terms of comfort, this was probably the best solution. But in Bronco’s case, it wasn’t practical. He was just too big, and he could reach around even the largest size available. For him the best solution was the Comfy Cone.
The Comfy Cone came in the extra-large size that Bronco needed. However, the large size of the cone came with its own issues. As Bronco walked around the house his very large Comfy Cone was swinging back and forth knocking things over. Another problem was that the big swinging cone scared the living day lights out of our mini-Australian Shepherd. To him Bronco probably looked like a Dilophosaurus or Triceratops with a giant frill. However, they loved each other. See Rollo lick Bronco’s face in the picture below.
When Bronco wore his Comfy Cone, he sometimes accidentally cleared the coffee table as he walked by.
Bronco was getting old, and he was having issues with his toes, and I believe that is why he also became a bit clingy. He often followed me around the house, and he did not want to be alone. When I went to the bathroom, I closed the door on him, and he waited for me outside the bathroom. I took the photo below after opening the bathroom door and he just barged in, cone and all.
Bronco barging into the bathroom with cone and all after I opened the bathroom door.Our mini-Australian Shepherd licking Bronco’s face. They loved each other.
Finally, in this post I also would like to highlight the Dawn of Humanity series written by Jacqui Murray. This captivating series is about the adventures of a group of pre-historic humans who live 1.8 million years. The books also include a pre-historic canine called Ump. He is affectionate, loyal, brave, and big, just like our Bronco was, which was another endearing aspect of these books. I highly recommend this series. Below I am posting some information about the series.
The coyote (Canis latrans) is a close relative of the wolf (Canis lupus) and the dog (Canis lupus familiaris). Coyotes live in every US state except Hawaii. It is estimated that there are between one million and ten million coyotes. Coyotes kill a lot of cats and dogs as well as livestock including 135,000 sheep per year (see this link). A lot of coyotes roam the neighborhoods in Dallas. I see them all the time and I’ve had close encounters with them while walking the dogs. Recently a two-year-old in Dallas was injured by a coyote attack (see the video below).
This means that dog owners need to pay attention to the coyotes. Don’t leave small dogs and cats outside if you don’t have a fence that coyotes cannot get through. When walking small dogs, you may want to bring maze or bear spray with you. I admit, I don’t, but it is an option worth thinking about.
Photo of a coyote taken on our younger son’s class trip to YellowstoneIf you want to see wildlife photos from the Yellowstone/Grand Teton class trip click on the image. I was there too. It is a website that I created a long time ago. The trip was led by the math teacher (Frank Jordan).
This informational video was created by a local news organization after the coyote attack on the two-year-old boy. DFW stands for Dallas Forth Worth.
Below I am including an excerpt from my book about a close coyote encounter while walking the dogs.
Our neighborhood is generously populated with coyotes as well as rabbits. Bronco (our Leonberger) used to bark at them, so they never got close to us. I assume they were afraid of him, but they certainly weren’t afraid of Daisy (Pug) or Ryu (Japanese Chin).
One day I saw a coyote coming around the corner at the end of our street as I was walking Daisy and Ryu. He saw us and proceeded straight toward us without hesitation and with no sign of fear. He wasn’t running, but coyotes have long legs, and he was sort of trotting along and moving pretty fast. I wasn’t worried for myself—an adult human can easily handle a lone coyote. I was worried for Daisy and Ryu. I didn’t want them to be the coyote’s dinner.
As the coyote came closer, I stopped and stared at him. When he was around fifteen feet away, he stopped and stared back at me. Ryu and Daisy were staring at the coyote, too. I could see that they were frightened, but they didn’t bark.
Meanwhile, I was calculating how best I could fight the animal. It wasn’t practical to lift both dogs in my arms and try to fight at the same time. So I had to let the dogs stay on the ground.
Before I could strategize further, though, the coyote continued on his way and disappeared behind some houses farther down the road.
Coyotes are pretty common almost everywhere in the United States, so if you need another reason to avoid letting your cats and small dogs run loose, remind yourself of this story.
I don’t think there are any pet strollers that could accommodate a grown Leonberger, but there are certainly pet strollers that accommodate pugs and mini-Australian shepherds. We bought a stroller, for our old pug Daisy. She’s got arthritis and in addition she easily get tired. Our mini-Australian shepherd Rollo frequently wants to sit in the stroller too but not because he is tired, its because he heard a strange sound and feels safer in the stroller.
Left: Wolf who is not sitting in a stroller. Right: Rollo sitting in Daisy’s stroller.
This morning our stroller broke. The front wheel suddenly caved, and the stroller took a nosedive with Daisy in it. Daisy slid from the back of the stroller to the front but luckily, she did not fall out. She was fine. Rollo, who was watching the misadventure, was not fine. Seeing the stroller capsizing with Daisy in it really scared him and he let out a scream, eeeeek!
Daisy in her stroller at a time when the stroller was in better shape
I left the broken stroller on the sidewalk and walked home with the dogs, carrying Daisy part of the way. After I dropped off the dogs, I took my car and returned to where I left the stroller to pick it up. However, it was gone. Who would steal a broken stroller? I had been gone for maybe 15 minutes. I had also left a bag of dog feces in the stroller basket. I always pick up after my dogs. So, I don’t think the stroller thief got a good deal.
Daisy and Rollo both like to sit in the stroller, but the stroller is really for Daisy.
Our Labrador Baylor was a stealthy, opportunist and quick food thief. Food tended to disappear around him as if it never was there. Our German Shepherd on the other hand never stole food and took it upon herself to guard the entrance to the kitchen to the chagrin of Baylor. If she could have spoken, she would have said “you shall not pass”.
Baylor and Baby
Our Leonberger Bronco was our biggest dog, and he could eat a lot. Once we had prepared a big plate with five pounds of roast beef for a dinner party. Bronco finished those five pounds of roast beef with astonishing speed. I saw him do it, but I was not quick enough to stop him. Luckily, he thoughtfully left us the carrots, the broccoli and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. All our dogs were, and are, great dogs, but many dogs have this vice, food theft. I should say that Bronco often willingly shared his loot with other dogs. He was not selfish. Below I am including a few excerpts from my book concerning food theft.
Labrador food theft stories
Photo of our Labrador Baylor
In addition to his hatred for mailmen, Baylor had one more vice, and that was stealing food. He was always hungry, and he was pretty good at culinary theft. On one occasion, I was standing in the kitchen holding a sandwich in my hand. Suddenly the sandwich disappeared from my fingers as if it had been teleported. I didn’t feel a thing—no pull, no touch, no wet nose. It just vanished. I turned around, and behind me stood Baylor, swallowing something. He looked at me, wagging his tail. Was he innocent? Did Captain Kirk beam my sandwich to another dimension? How could I be mad at him when I didn’t have proof?
On another occasion, Baylor jumped up on top of the kitchen table using a chair as a step stool and cleared it of the desserts that Claudia’s grandmother had brought for the kids and the family. That’s how I learned that she had a swear-word vocabulary—and that it was substantial. Fortunately, the kids weren’t nearby. On yet another occasion, Baylor emptied a tray of baklava that had been sitting on the kitchen counter.
His most notable food raid was probably when he stole the Thanksgiving turkey and ran off with it. We salvaged most of it, but knowing that Baylor had been all over it, we decided not to eat what he left us. It wasn’t very appetizing.
Leonberger food theft stories
Our Leonberger Bronco is ready for dinner
I believe dogs have empathy, and sometimes they want to share, at least Bronco did. There was a time when we were in our home eating take-out food and Bronco stole one of our dinners, including meat, vegetables, and a baked potato. He started eating the meat, then he glanced at Daisy, who was sitting in the middle of the floor looking sad. Immediately he took the baked potato in his mouth and carried it over to her and dropped it right at her feet. I was going to get mad at him for stealing, but when I saw his kindhearted and unselfish act, I let it be.
On another occasion, Rachel made a gingerbread house and left it on the kitchen counter. I had forgotten to lock the kitchen gate, and the photograph above shows what greeted me when I got home. Guess who ate half the gingerbread house. I should say that Bronco shared some with Daisy. He was always very generous.
Bronco and our Pug Daisy sharing a gingerbread house
On yet another occasion, Bronco got hold of a box of chocolates in the shape of small gnomes. Each gnome was filled with liquor—some with gin, some with vodka, some with whiskey, and some with rum. It was a gift from Rachel, who had just come back from a visit to China. She had bought the present for us at the airport in Hong Kong. But Bronco ate the entire thing—tinfoil wrappers, chocolate, liquor, and all. We were afraid he might get very sick, and we carefully monitored him, ready to rush him to the emergency clinic if necessary. Fortunately, nothing happened, except he threw up a little bit of tinfoil. I guess he had a stomach of steel.
So, for this Thanksgiving watch your dogs so they don’t run off with your Turkey
October 2019 was a dark time for us and especially for our Leonberger Bronco. At the beginning of October, he had to amputate a toe due to a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, then he developed large ulcerous sores that would not heal, perhaps related to the surgery. Then on October 20 an EF3 Tornado ravaged our neighborhood. Our chimney was smashed, our roof was damaged, and we needed a new roof, a new fence, garage door, wiring in the attic and a new grill and outdoor furniture. However, compared to many of our neighbors we were lucky. As you can see below our neighbor was not as lucky.
The damage to my neighbor’s house after the tornado of October 2019 was devastating. Her roof lay across the street.
We had no power for almost a week and due to the rubble it was very difficult to leave the house. We had no internet, no air conditioning, and it was hot. Perhaps because of this situation Bronco had a heart failure a week after the tornado, and it was bad. We thought that was the end of our 12-year-old Leonberger. However, as you will see in the extract below from my book, Bronco recovered miraculously. He still had eight more wonderful months to give us.
Bronco, who was not at his best in this picture, rests next to our tornado damaged fence. We put a plastic bag around his bandage when he went outside.
We don’t know if the heat had anything to do with it, but about a week after the tornado, Bronco developed congestive heart failure.
As a result, he could no longer walk. The veterinary cardiologist at the surgical center told us that Bronco was not in good shape, but we all agreed that we should give him a chance to recover.
We bought Help ’Em Up harnesses for him, but more often we used a smaller sling to help him stand up. We also treated his heart with various medications. Since our veterinarian’s office had been destroyed by the tornado, we took him to the veterinary surgical center (where he had his toe amputated) for bandage changes. After a few visits, the technicians suggested that we do it at home to save time and money. More important, it would be easier on Bronco. So they gave us instructions, and we started doing it at home.
But changing Bronco’s bandages wasn’t as easy as just rolling out some gauze and tape. First we had to clean the sores with chlorhexidine, an antiseptic solution. Then we had to apply a healing ointment, such as manuka honey or QuickDerm. This involved spreading it on an Adaptic pad (breathable and nonstick), then wrapping the pad with a Telfa pad (or gauze pad). After that came the soft bandage, then the outer bandage, then something sticky to hold it all together. The latter was necessary because bandages easily slip off dog hair.
I did most of the bandage changes, but Claudia and the children helped, and even Rollo, (our Australian Shepherd), helped. He was very curious: he stood by and watched everything I did as if he were checking to see that I didn’t forget anything. He loved Bronco’s bandage changes and seemed to think that they were very interesting. It was never a problem—except for the time he drank the chlorhexidine.
Rollo helps change one of Bronco’s bandages.
We called our veterinarian’s office, and the technicians told us that the chlorhexidine was probably not harmful to Rollo. Chlorhexidine is a type of salt, and unless it’s ingested in large quantities, it’s nontoxic—unlike peroxide.
During this period, we gave Bronco a lot of attention. We slept next to him at night and petted him a lot. He needed help to get up, and we were ready to do that at any time. Sometimes he just wanted to walk around. Sometimes he wanted water, and sometimes he wanted to go out in the backyard to pee or just lie in the grass.
In the beginning it was Claudia who did most of the caretaking. But I took early retirement in November, and I started taking over the night duty. Bronco came to expect constant company, which was okay with us, even though at times it was very tiring. For example, if I was petting him and stopped doing so, he would whine or bark and essentially order me to continue.
At the same time, taking care of him was an amazing experience for me. Bronco usually slept on his dog bed next to the sofa, and I slept on the sofa next to him. When he wanted something, he sat up and looked at me. He did not make a sound. I would wake up, probably because I could feel him staring at me. I would open my eyes, and there would be Bronco’s big beautiful face looking down at me, his gentle expression asking for help. I would get up and help him with whatever he needed.
Bronco was able to communicate what he wanted just by looking at me. It felt like I could understand what he was thinking and feeling even though he couldn’t speak. It almost felt as if he were becoming an extension of me, or maybe the other way around, I was becoming an extension of him. We were two very close buddies who understood each other. They say that a dog is man’s best friend, but for us it was not just a cute cliché. We were best friends.
The veterinarians advised us not to take Bronco out for walks until he was in better condition. But one day he lay at the front door, scratching it and whining. I could clearly see that he wanted to go out. So I took him on a very slow walk. We walked, then he rested; he sniffed his surroundings, and I brought water for him to drink. Along the way we met a woman who looked him and said, “What a beautiful dog.” You can see in the photo below, taken during that walk, that he was old and tired, but he was still beautiful.
You can see how happy Bronco was to be outside, even as his health was not the best.
This warmed my heart. The woman asked what kind of dog he was, and she appeared to be really interested and impressed. It was the first time Bronco had been out walking in perhaps a month, and after all we’d been through, I have to admit I needed the experience, and Bronco did, too. After that, we started taking short walks every now and then, and when we were finished, Claudia would pick us up in the car.
After a while, Bronco was able to get around on his own and even go to the bathroom on his own, and his sore got closer to healing. In fact, he recovered almost miraculously. We were extremely happy about this, and it made everyone’s lives easier.
We had been planning a big family vacation for several months, which Claudia and I had considered canceling. It was a one-week cruise along the Mississippi River, and it was scheduled for December of 2019. Because of Bronco’s improvement, we decided to go. But we had learned our lesson: while we were gone, a friend of ours lived in our house and watched our dogs. We showed her how to change Bronco’s bandage, and that arrangement worked out well.
Bronco had a tough October followed by a difficult but successful recovery. Taking into account his other health scares, including heatstroke and the freak accident with the metal rod when he was young, our veterinarian told us that Bronco must have nine lives, like a cat.
Our Leonberger Bronco (Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle) barked at mailmen but he did not hate them. He got along well with them when he met them. His sibling Baylor the Labrador was a different story. Even though Baylor was a friendly and sweet dog he was not friendly towards mailmen. Baylor stood in the window, he saw the mailman come, mess with our mailbox, and as Baylor barked frenetically, the mailman fled in his white squarish looking get a way car with blue letters. It happened every day! Baylor might have thought that he saved our lives every day.
Close up photo of Baylor our Labrador
I have an interesting fun fact about one of the prominent characters in the Leonberger community, Robert Beutelspacher. He was the Zuchtbuchführer (breed registrar) and later President of the DCLH (Deutsche Club für Leonberger Hunde), and was the one got the meticulous recording of Leonbergers started. Robert Beutelspacher was also a mailman and he had to deal with attacking dogs in his line of work. Hopefully no Leonbergers. He helped advertise a spray that harmlessly deterred attacking dogs, a pioneering product.
Baylor (Labrador, or Labrador mix) and Baby (German Shepherd).Bronco, three months old at the time the photo above was taken. He wouldn’t sit still with Baylor and Baby, so he got his own photo.
Below is a snippet from my book. Baylor went after a mailman, and it could have ended in disaster.
Well . . . Baylor wasn’t always friendly. There was one exception to his affability: the mailman, his only enemy. Baylor must have considered the daily act of putting mail in our mailbox a sign of aggression. Every time the mailman came, Baylor barked loudly and threateningly. Perhaps he thought he was saving us from grave potential danger.
One day while the mailman’s truck was stopped in front of our mailbox, I opened the front door—I don’t remember why. Like a bolt out of the blue, Baylor ran through the opening and charged the truck. I did not expect this to happen at all. The window of the truck was open, and, to my astonishment, Baylor jumped inside. I expected certain disaster to unfold before my eyes—injuries, expensive lawsuits, prison: maybe we would be banned from receiving mail ever again. This time it wasn’t the pit-bull-owning woman who was ashamed: it was I. (note: this is referring to another unrelated incident when we were attacked by an unleashed dog).
In a panic, I dashed toward the truck. But just as fast as he had jumped into it, Baylor jumped back out. He looked confused. He slowly walked back toward me, completely calm, and I realized that there was no one in the truck. Then I saw the mailman standing at my next-door neighbor’s house ringing the doorbell. Baylor hadn’t noticed him, and he hadn’t noticed Baylor. I quickly and carefully approached Baylor, grabbed his collar, and took him inside. No one but I had seen what had happened. No one but I knew how close we were to disaster.
I learned a lesson that day that I will never forget. I also developed an immense respect for letter carriers and the sacrifice they make every day to bring us mail.
