My Second Blog Idea

I’ve been thinking about launching a second blog for quite a while. The topic would be facts, or insights that are widely disputed or misunderstood amongst the public, yet important and known to be true. I believe I have identified hundreds of such facts so far. These facts and insights are not seriously disputed amongst the experts and scientists in the relevant fields and the evidence for their veracity is overwhelming. Therefore, verifying the accuracy of these facts and insights should not be difficult, just ask the respective expert community. However, finding the best way to express and explain these facts, determining whether they are important, and verifying that they are widely disbelieved may be more difficult.

One example of such a fact is that the Earth is a lot older than a few thousand years old (6,000 or 10,000 years old). Despite the fact that the scientific community states that Earth is 4.5 billion years old and that humans evolved over millions of years a 2019 Gallup poll, showed that 40% of US adults believe that God created humans in their current form within the last 10,000 years. The evidence from a large variety of scientific fields, biology, geology, paleontology, physics, astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, etc., contradicts young earth creationism whilst the attempts to discredit the old earth narrative have fallen short.

Trilobite fossil Shutter Stock Photo ID: 1323000239 by Alizada Studios

The reason for wanting to do this is not to prove anyone wrong, but because it is interesting, and it provides a growth opportunity for everyone including myself. In the past I believed false facts and I probably still do. Discovering these and learning about why you most likely are wrong could sometimes be unpleasant at the same time as it is an opportunity for growth and an opportunity to better understand the world. I am hoping to make the site interactive. Readers can suggest such facts, politely dispute my assessments, and add evidence. However, I should say I would like to avoid politics.

When I was a teenager, I believed that Earth and the Universe was 6,000 years old, and that evolution was a hoax. I read young earth books that appeared scientific, and which presented a long list of objections to the established scientific narrative. My religious background had something to do with it, but I also thought that I had the scientific facts on my side. I was interested in science, and I got accepted to “Naturvetenskaplig linje”, a Swedish high school program for students with good grades and who showed aptitude for science. This program was like taking lots of AP classes in math/calculus, physics, biology, and chemistry, and it prepared me well for my university level studies in engineering physics and electrical engineering.

In physics I learned about radiometric dating. Sure, that topic had been mentioned in the young creationist books as well, but they had insisted that radiometric dating was unreliable, and they had suggested that radioactive decay rates might have changed. Now I learned why radiometric dating was very reliable, why radioactive decay rates remained constant, about the physical laws involved, not to mention the facts that highly sped up radioactive decay rates would have resulted in not just a very radioactive world, it would have forced changes to physical laws that would have broken the world. In thermodynamics I learned that the claim that the second law of thermodynamics contradicted evolution was based on a very simple, in fact silly, misunderstanding of the second law of thermodynamics.

Ludwig Boltzman’s formula from 1874
Second law of thermodynamics Shutter Stock Vector ID: 2342031619 by Sasha701

From astronomy and astrophysics, I learned that it takes 100,000 years for light to travel from the inside of the sun to its surface. I learned that distances between stars and galaxies were thousands, millions, and even billions of lightyears, yet we could see them. How can we see a galaxy whose light has been traveling for 10 billion years if the Universe is only 10,000 years old? The young earth answer to that was that light might have travelled at a much faster speed in vacuum in the past, neglecting the fact that the speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant that is part of a lot of formulas E= mc2 (energy content of mass), the ratio of the electric and magnetic force, time and space formulas, the size of black holes, Einstein’s gravitational constant (strength of gravity). 10 billion years versus 10,000 years means that the speed of light must have been a million times faster, gravity a trillion trillion (septillion) times weaker, and according to E = mc2 99.99999999% of the Universe’s energy must have vanished.

A black hole is sucking in a planet
Black Hole Stock Photo ID: 2024419973 by Elena11

As time went on every single claim that the young earth creationist had made fell apart. In other words, knowing some science made the young earth narrative not only untenable but silly. To be honest with myself I had to give up the young earth belief system. Naturally, the universe could have been created yesterday, our memories could be implanted, and we could all be dreaming like in the Matrix. Science isn’t 100% certain, but some beliefs are much more plausible than others.

Young earth creationism wasn’t the only time I had been bamboozled. I think because I have a fairly strong science background combined with the facts that I have been bamboozled and I have accepted that reality, and the fact that my interests are so wide makes me a good candidate for launching this type of blog. I would like to present the fact and instead of arguing just give the reader a basic and understandable overview of the evidence with links to reliable sources. The reader can then sort it out for themselves. Again, I am hoping to get some help with suggestions and growing it to eventually thousands of examples/posts. Then I want to select, let’s say, the 100 best ones. Below are some examples of what I am interested in.

  • We know that the world is a lot older than 10,000 years old and yet many dispute that.
  • Evidence for evolution is strong, evidence against it is lacking, something many don’t know or deny.
  • We know that economic externalities are real (market failures), yet market fundamentalists are unaware of this.
  • Someone creating a duplicate account of you on Facebook does not mean you were hacked, yet many make that assumption.
  • Wind power is not a major cause of bird death. Fossil fuels and cats are a lot worse (hundreds of times).
  • We know that homeopathy does not work, yet it is widely used.
  • Global warming is real and is known to be caused by us, yet many deny this.
  • Plastic is not a big environmental problem for the US.
  • Poverty, violence, child mortality has been sharply reduced worldwide to the surprise of many.

My question now is what should I call the blog? Super Facts, Deep Insights, Eye Openers, Transformative Facts, Bamboozle Medicine, Big Memos, ….

25 Photos of Leonbergers with Other Dogs

In the past I’ve made a few posts featuring 25 photos of Leonbergers around a certain theme.

This is another post featuring 25 photos. This time it is photos of Leonbergers in the company of other dogs. Most of the photos are of our late Leonberger Bronco and the dogs he grew up with (our Labrador Baylor, German Shepherd Baby, Japanese Chin Ryu, Pug Daisy, and mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo). However, I have also included photos of other Leonbergers. A few photos from friends and two stock photos. I hope you will like them.

A black-brown German Shephard is playing with a young Leonberger lying on his back.
Baby (German Shepherd) is playing with our four months old Leonberger Bronco.
A young gangly Leonberger with a bandage on his knee is next to a little Chihuahua. The two owners of the little dog are a lady in blue jeans and a lady in white pants. The lady with white pants is also wearing a bandage on her knee.
Our Leonberger Bronco at the dog park at five/six months old. He is wearing a bandage on his knee because he got a condition from growing too fast. The two ladies are the owners of the little dog.
A Leonberger is sniffing a black dog. It is probably a black lab.
Our five/six months old Leonberger is sniffing a dog at the dog park.
Photo of our gangly Leonberger Bronco in the foreground with two Labradors in the background. A white Labrador on the left and a beige Labrador to the right.
Our not yet one year old Leonberger Bronco at the dog park. Bronco has not yet finished growing, he has not yet filled out and he is gangly. Not quite the Leonberger look yet. Our beige-brown Labrador Baylor can be seen in the background.
Photo of our gangly Leonberger Bronco in the foreground with two Labradors in the background. A white Labrador on the left and a beige Labrador to the right.
Again our not yet one year old Leonberger Bronco at the dog park. Baylor in the background.
Photo of our gangly Leonberger Bronco on the left. Our black-brown German Shepherd Baby on the right.
Our not yet one year old Leonberger Bronco at the dog park with our German Shepherd Baby.
Our Labrador Baylor on the left. Our Leonberger Bronco on the right but you can only see his behind.
Our Labrador Baylor behind our Leonberger Bronco at a dog park.
Our Labrador Baylor slightly on the left running towards the camera. He has a gray face from old age. There is another dog to left of him. Our Japanese Chin Ryu is also running towards the camera but slightly more to the right.
Our old Labrador Baylor running behind our Japanese Chin Ryu at a dog park. Bronco is not in this photo, but he was there.
Bronco our Leonberger is shown with a sunray over his head. Baylor our Labrador is on the left.
Bronco our Leonberger once sniffed out an oncoming insulin shock in Baylor and alerted us. Bronco was a hero.
An illustration showing me lying on the street. I am trying to pull up our German Shepherd Baby from a storm drain while holding onto our Leonberger Bronco who is jumping up and down and barking.
Once when Bronco was not so well behaved. He pushed our German Shepherd into a storm drain and I had to get her out while holding onto an agitated Bronco. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
Ten Leonberger puppies sitting on a sofa. They are brown with black face masks.
Ten Leonberger puppies. My guess is that they are about two months old. Shutterstock-ID:561107710 by Akbudak Rimma.
A pug running to the left with a Leonberger following. They are running through a wintry forest.
A Leonberger and a Pug running through the snow. Shutterstock-ID:1659034960 AnetaZabranska.
Two Leonbergers wearing festive hats and glasses.
Digory and Obi, two Leonbergers. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.
Two big Leonbergers next to each other.
Digory and Obi, two Leonbergers. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.
Six Leonbergers sitting in a row and wearing festive hats. A house with a big yard and a pond in the background.
Six Leonbergers from left to right: Caspian (Obi’s nephew), Austin (Obi’s son), Delfi, Obi, Digory, and Rilian (Obi’s son). Photo by Velvy TheLion.
From left to right; our pug Daisy, our Japanese Chin Ryu, and our Leonberger Bronco.
Our Leonberger Bronco with our Japanese Chin Ryu and our pug Daisy.
Two of our dogs in the kitchen. Our pug Daisy on the right and our Leonberger Bronco on the right. Pieces of a gingerbread house on the floor.
Our Leonberger Bronco stole and smashed a gingerbread house. He shared some with his little pug sister Daisy.
From the left to the right: Our Leonberger Bronco, our Japanese Chin Ryu, and our pug Daisy.
Our Leonberger Bronco with our Japanese Chin Ryu and our pug Daisy.
On the left, our Japanese Chin Ryu and our pug Daisy. On the right is our Leonberger Bronco.
Our Leonberger Bronco with our Japanese Chin Ryu and our pug Daisy.
On the left, our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo. They are in a dog bed. On the right is Bronco our Leonberger who is lying on the floor.
Our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo in the little bed and Bronco our Leonberger is lying on the floor.
The photo shows our Leonberger Bronco lying on a big read leather sofa and our beige pug Daisy is leaving.
Our pug Daisy and our Leonberger Bronco is sharing the big red leather sofa, but Daisy decided Bronco took up too much room.
The photo shows our big Leonberger on the left and our little mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo on the right. They are in the backyard. Bronco is sniffing Rollo.
Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.
The photo shows our big Leonberger lying behind our little mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. There is also a dog toy in the photo.
Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.
Photo shows our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo biting our Leonberger Bronco’s tail.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo is playing with Bronco’s tail. Bronco did not like it but tolerated it. Well, when Rollo was swinging in the tail it was a bit much.
The illustration shows our Leonberger Bronco sitting in the middle. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is on the left and our pug Daisy is on the right. Rollo says “They still talk about you”. Bronco answers “Yes I know”
One day Bronco left us, leaving Rollo and Daisy behind. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

An Epic Western Featuring a Female Gunslinger

This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that are books that I want to promote. This is another one of those. I recently read “The Broken And The Foolish” Paperback – by Sara Kjeldsen. It was a book that I loved and therefore want to promote. Naturally I rated it five stars. I should mention that in my review below I am referencing the movie “Once upon a Time in the West”. That is because I saw some similarities between the stories. They are both suspenseful revenge stories and the main characters are both traumatized gunslingers and both stories are epic. However, they are completely different stories otherwise. This story is from a feminine perspective.

Picture of a young woman with a forest in the background.
Front cover of  The Broken And The Foolish. Click here or the picture to visit the Amazon.com page for the paperback version of the book.

Amazon’s description of the book

Some outlaws kill for the rush.

Mary just wants to survive.

Fed up with the saloon life and her abusive boss, Mary flees in the middle of the night to travel the open road, nearly losing her life several times as she encounters bullies, seasoned outlaws, and natural predators. She also meets a few people – and animals – who make their mark on her heart in ways she never imagined.

There were many female outlaws who existed in America’s Old West. This is Mary’s story.

This is my Amazon review of The Broken And The Foolish by Sara Kjeldsen

Once Upon a Time in the West Life Was Cruel To One Woman and She Fought Back Hard

To help her family avoid the cruel fate of starvation Mary takes a job as a so-called saloon girl and so begins her journey into hell. Her boss Max is an evil and cruel man but one day she escapes, and she kills a man in the process. As an outlaw she encounters several evil bullies who try to take advantage of her, and she must kill again. Her life is not only misery. She enjoys the beautiful nature in the Ozarks. Then she discovers that Max has killed her sister and mother just to get back at her and so begins her quest for revenge. The story may seem simple enough so far, but life throws her a few curve balls that I did not expect. There’s romance, betrayal, shoot-outs, and more cruel bullies. It seems like she is not getting any breaks, but she is a survivor and a great gunslinger who knows how to take care of herself.

One section of the book, related to a medicine woman, or so-called witch, might be uncomfortable to some readers, but I thought the implicit commentary on society, religion, philosophy was brilliant and powerful, and it forced me to think about the issue(s) in a way I have not done before. Mary is no angel, but she is not a bad person either. Life was cruel to her, and she did not always make the best decisions trying to survive. She is a killer, and she seeks revenge, but all the men she kills are bad guys, and she makes sense as a desperate and traumatized female outlaw. My thoughts went to Harmonica in “Once Upon a Time in the West”. He was an outlaw and a sad, traumatized, perhaps even pitiful soul whose purpose in life was revenge, and yet he is probably the most iconic character in the history of Wild West movies. I saw a number of parallels between Harmonica and Mary. Max would then correspond to Frank. Don’t get me wrong, it is a totally different story.

This book is suspenseful, dramatic, romantic, emotional, cruel, sad, beautiful, and action packed. It has everything you want in a western, but the main character is a woman. I think you can say it is a feminist perspective. Everyone may not be ready for that, but I thought it was a great book. This book certainly made an impression on me. I highly recommend it.

Photo of Sara Flower Kjeldsen and the text of the Amazon description of the book.
Back cover of  The Broken And The Foolish. Click here or the picture to visit the Amazon.com page for the kindle version of the book.

I am also adding another review of a short story by Sara Kjeldsen that I recently read. It was an intense and fun quick read called Eve and Adam. I rated it five stars. I should mention that I got the story on kindle as part of free one day promotion that she had. I wrote a review, but Amazon is taking its jolly time to post it, so I am not including a link to my review right now. I will update later.

  • Paperback –  September 16, 2015, ISBN-10 : 1517362385, ISBN-13 : 978-1517362386, 72 pages, Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.84 ounces, dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.15 x 9.02 inches, it cost $9.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Kindle – September 17, 2015, ASIN : B015IN12TG, 37 pages. It is currently $3.99 on Amazon.com. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Title, author name and a bunch of balloons on a blue background.
Front cover of  Eve & Adam. Click here or the picture to visit the Amazon.com page for the paperback version of the book.

Amazon’s description of the book

Adam meets Eve, a girl who lives in a cult village, on the afternoon he plans to kill himself. Her whimsical charm pulls him away from his suicidal ideations, but he soon learns that she holds a world of darkness that rivals his own. They long to escape their suppressive backgrounds, but there are people in Adam’s town who already have other plans for him.

Eve & Adam is the story of two young free thinkers and the harmful outcomes of prejudice and hate.

This is my Amazon review of Eve & Adam by Sara Kjeldsen

Two Outcasts from Two Oppressive Worlds

Eve lives in a cult village that she is trying to escape. She is unhappy with the backwards religious beliefs and an arranged marriage she is being forced into. She meets Adam a suicidal young man who finds the intolerance of the people in the town he lives in insufferable. Other than their oppression they don’t seem to have a lot in common. Together they try to escape their respective situations, but this turns out to be quite difficult and dangerous.

I read the kindle version. It was a quick one (or two) hour intense read that made my evening. The dialogue was captivating and enlightening. The story was suspenseful and unpredictable and there was something interesting and unexpected happening on essentially every page. Despite being tragic the story was very enjoyable and entertaining, and when I was done it left me pondering on life and the role of belief systems in our various cultures. I highly recommend this short story.

About the Author

Sara is a Canadian multi-genre author who loves tea and adventures. This is a list of her published books https://saraflower.ca/my-published-books/

A Beautiful Review of my Leonberger Book

Read this review of my book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Bronco was my best friend and I love when someone loves the book about him.

Book Review: “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Lowenhohle”

Two Conservative Leaning Climate Advocates and one Independent

Responding once more to CCL’s (Citizen Climate Lobby) request to start conservations about climate change I am posting about three Conservative/Republican friends who are engaged in climate change solutions. Well, Bob Ingliss, the former Republican Congressman from South Carolina is not a personal friend, but I’ve met him, seen him speak several times, and I am a member of his organization. The other two, Larry Howe and Jack Zimanck are personal friends, and they have blogs (but not on word-press). I am posting this with their permission. If you don’t mind perhaps, you could check out their blogs a little bit (links below).

I should mention that Citizen Climate Lobby is a non-partisan / bipartisan volunteer organization promoting climate solutions. CCL does a lot of things but one of our main focuses is to speak to politicians, which is where “Lobby” comes from. However, we are just regular citizens / constituents. We don’t have money, unlike other lobbyists, not even donuts, but we vote, and we are many (200,000+). RepublicEN is an organization for Republican Environmentalists, and they are also promoting climate solutions.

The photo is of a dial which can be used to decrease or increase CO2 emissions.
CO2 emissions dial. Shutter stock Photo ID: 1928699927 by NicoElNino

Larry Howe

Larry Howe is a retired electrical engineer and engineering manager and a lifelong conservative. He embraces free market climate solutions, and he volunteers for republicEn.org and Citizens Climate Lobby Conservative Caucus. After initially being skeptical about climate change, he took a deep dive into the topic/science. He came to realize that he needed to accept the science, and the fact that global warming is happening and that the cause is us. You can read about his climate journey here. This is the link to his home page .

Extract from Larry Howe’s Post My bottom line on Climate Policy

Life before harnessing energy from the combustion of fossil fuels was cold, dark, and short. We owe many of the benefits of our wonderful modern way of life to harnessing energy from burning fossil fuels. However, we now know that the accumulated CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels poses a grave threat to our well-being.

Human society has dumped trillions of tons of excess heat-trapping CO2 in the atmosphere over the last 100+ years by combusting hydrocarbons for energy. That excess CO2 doesn’t just go away. Each year about half of what is emitted adds to the atmospheric concentration which then persists for hundreds to thousands of years. The rest is redistributed from the atmosphere to the land and ocean which are reaching limits of what they can further sequester. CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have increased 50% in the last 100+ years trapping more and more heat. We shouldn’t continue doing it…….

Larry how in his solar energy shirt. It says “Solar Power. Renewable Clean Energy. No Wars. No Drills. No Spills."
This is Larry Howe, a retired electrical engineer and manager. He is a lifelong conservative/republican who promotes climate solutions.

Jack Zimanck

Jack Zimanck is a retired business leader and consultant who is exploring how businesses can be part of the solution to climate change and environmental problems. He is not associated with any particular political ideology. This is what he says in his latest blog post Sustainable Growth | Challenges and Opportunities. The institution of business may be our most powerful force for positive change

Businesses of various types provide the food, shelter, water, energy, and sanitation that allows more people to live safe, comfortable lives than ever before. Business provides the entertainment, transportation, and technology we enjoy each day. In reality, business is the economic framework that enables life in the 21st century.

Yet, it is important to understand that this constant stream of goods, service, and benefits has also brought unintended consequences and challenges to our ability to sustain this remarkable bounty for current and future generations…..to read more click on the link above. This is the link to his blogs main page.

This is a photo of Jack Zimanck.in front of his bookshelf.
Jack Zimanck, retired business leader and business consultant focusing on how businesses can help solve the climate crises and other environmental problems.

Bob Ingliss

Bob Ingliss, a former Republican Congressman from South Carolina won his district in 1994 and 1996 by 70%. His interest in climate change began after he asked his 11-year-old son if he would vote for him, and he said no because his stance on climate change was bad. So, Bob Ingliss studied the subject, and he came to change his mind. He realized it was a real problem that we humans had caused, and he announced his new stance on the topic publicly. His son was happy. However, despite a 93.5% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and his endorsements from the NRA Political Victory Fund and National Right to Life Committee he lost his primary election in 2010. Republican primary voters felt that he had moderated his views. Bob Ingliss went onto found RepblicEN and the ECORight. You can read more about him here.

Bob Ingliss congressional portrait. He is shown in a black suit and a golden tie.
Former Congressman Bob Ingliss. From Wikipedia public domain.

Related Posts By Me

The Climate Journeys of Thomas and Larry

Banned on Amazon the Book Review That Recounted One Inconvenient Truth Too Many

Reviewing The Climate Casino by William D. Nordhaus

Citizen Climate Lobby is Calling to Action

Speaking to Politicians About Climate Change or Any Other Issue

Please go ahead and click on and read a little bit of Larry’s and Jack’s blogs.

The Origins of the Leonberger Dog

coat of arms of the town of Leonberg. A black lion like figure on a yellow background
The coat of arms of the town of Leonberg, Germany, was allegedly the inspiration for the first breeder of the Leonberger, Heinrich Essig.

The Leonberger breed was originally created by Heinrich Essig (1808–87) in the German town of Leonberg, in what was then the kingdom of Württemberg. According to legend, Essig bred the dog to resemble the lion in the town’s coat of arms. Indeed, as you can see in the image above, the lion in the coat of arms doesn’t look like a real lion, so you could say that the Leonberger looks the way it does because Germans were bad at drawing lions back then. All joking aside, though, Leonbergers do bear some resemblance to lions and maybe even bears. In any case, they are beautiful dogs.

A town square surrounded by buildings. There is a statue in the middle.
The town square in the city of Leonberg. Shutter Stock Photo ID: 1689829297 by Martin Dutkiewicz.

When people would stop me and ask me questions about the kind of dog Bronco was, I would say he was a Leonberger, a cross between a Saint Bernard, a Newfoundland, and a Great Pyrenees and that the breed was created by the mayor of the German town of Leonberg. But, as the economist Tyler Cowen said, “Be suspicious of simple stories.” As it turns out, the story I kept telling was a simplification and not entirely true. History is more complicated. I was unintentionally spreading misinformation about Leonbergers.

A Leonberger puppy wearing a red silk scarf.
Our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle at 3 months old.

Simple and interesting stories are easy to remember, easy to believe, and easy to propagate. But first, Heinrich Essig was never the mayor of Leonberg. He was a prominent citizen of the town, and he was a successful businessman, farmer, innkeeper, horse and dog trader, large dog enthusiast, dog breeder, and town councilman, but he was never the mayor.

A big Leonberger splayed across a big wide red leather sofa.
Our Leonberger Bronco sleeping on our big red leather sofa.

Essig claimed to have created the Leonberger in the 1830s by crossing a female Landseer Newfoundland with a male long-haired Saint Bernard from the Great Saint Bernard Hospice, a monastery in Switzerland. He continued crossing the Landseer Newfoundland and the Saint Bernard over four generations, then he crossed his Newfoundland Saint Bernard mix with a Pyrenean wolfhound not, as is often asserted, with a Great Pyrenees (called a Pyrenean Mountain dog in Europe). He then crossed that dog with the Saint Bernard again. In 1846, he was finally ready to announce and register his “lion of a dog.” A few years later, Leonbergers were officially introduced to the public at the Munich Oktoberfest.

Our Leonberger is standing on the large red leather sofa giving me a kiss.
Me and our Leonberger Bronco when he was young.

However, the story is more complicated than that. There’s no specific breed named Pyrenean wolfhound today, so Essig could have used a Great Pyrenees or a Pyrenean mastiff . In addition, later in the nineteenth century, Leonbergers were used to breed the long-haired Saint Bernard dog, and this likely saved the Saint Bernard dog from extinction. At one point, too, Leonbergers were deliberately mixed with Newfoundland dogs to strengthen the Newfoundland breed. In other words, breeding happened in both directions, and the characteristics of the large breeds were in constant flux. The dogs, including Leonbergers and Saint Bernards didn’t look like they do today, either. Essig’s Leonbergers were multicolored, mostly white, and lacked the black mask that is so important to the breed now. What has not changed is the essence of what Essig was aiming for: a large but moderately proportioned dog that is friendly and loving and a great companion.

Saint Bernard Dog wearing a cognac barrel. The Alps in the background.
A modern Saint Bernard Dog. Shutter Stock Photo ID: 1713912484 by fred12.

Ultimately, the origins of the Leonberger, as well as the Saint Bernard and the other large breeds from this region, are complex and shrouded in mystery. In addition, some of Essig’s claims have been disputed. Breed standards wouldn’t be codified until the end of the nineteenth century. It should also be noted that it was Essig’s niece Marie who to a large extent bred and cared for the dogs.

Black or dark brown New Foundland Dog with a colorful autumn forest in the background.
Modern New Foundland Dog. Shutter Stock Photo ID: 1925281937 by Marsan.

Essig was selling his Leonberger dogs as luxury items to the wealthy. He was also a marketing genius and was able to get the attention of European nobility and royalty. The czar of Russia, Emperor Napoleon II, Otto von Bismarck, the king of Belgium, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Emperor Maximilian I, the Prince of Wales, King Umberto of Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and the mikado of Japan were among those who owned Leonbergers. Not everyone was happy about this. Some people viewed the Leonberger as a fashionable knockoff of the Saint Bernard that could hinder that breed’s development.

Photo of a Leonberger standing in the snow. There is a wintry forest in the background.
Modern Leonberger. Shutter Stock Photo ID:705193912 by Anna Krivitskaya.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the discipline of cynology, or the scientific study of dogs, emerged. Cynologists pushed for breed classification and systematic breeding practices, and breed standards were created. But Essig and others viewed dog breeding as an art rather than a science, and this led to a conflict with the cynologists. Heinrich Schumacher, for example, was a breeder who strove to create a clearly identifiable Saint Bernard type. He was upheld by the cynologists as a paragon, in contrast to Heinrich Essig to the detriment of the Leonberger.

Face of a Leonberger looking into the camera.
Face of modern Leonberger. Shutter Stock Photo ID: 193024763 by Csanad Kiss.

After Essig’s death, in 1887, other people more willing to please the cynologists continued breeding Leonbergers. By that time, the dogs looked for the most part like Leonbergers do today. Then, in 1895, Albert Kull created the Leonberger’s first breed standard. It would go through several revisions in 1901, 1926, 1938, 1951, 1955, and 1972—until finally, in 1996, the FCI approved version was established. The Kennel Club in the UK and the American Kennel Club also have their own breed standards. However, most of them are similar to Albert Kull’s 1895 version. The first Leonberger club was formed 1891 in Berlin: two more were created in 1895, then two more were formed in 1901. The most prominent was the Internationaler Klub für Leonberger Hunde, of which Albert Kull was the first president.

For additional information see :

The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger by Thomas Wikman.

Madeline Lusby, Leonberger: A Comprehensive Owner’s Guide (Allenhurst, NJ: Kennel Club Books, 2005).

Caroline Bliss-Isberg, Leonberger: A Comprehensive Guide to the Lion King of Breeds (Sea Cliff , NY: Revodana Publishing, 2017), 23, 41, 45, 48–49.

Speaking to Politicians About Climate Change or Any Other Issue

I’ve mentioned in other posts that I am a volunteer for a non-partisan organization called Citizen Climate Lobby, CCL for short. The name is maybe misleading insofar as we are not “normal” lobbyists, just volunteers, without money, who are trying to get politicians interested in climate change related legislation. We do many things, but one thing we do is meeting with congressmen, house representatives as well as senators, state legislators, including state representatives and state senators, and mayors and city council members, as well as corporations, organizations, and grass roots, that’s regular folks. Naturally we discuss different things with a US senator compared to a city council member. We discuss national legislation with a US Senator and local pollution issues with a city council member.

The photo is of a dial which can be used to decrease or increase CO2 emissions
CO2 emissions dial. Shutter stock Photo ID: 1928699927 by NicoElNino

CCL has been successful

Overall, I think CCL has been quite successful. We are well known in congress, we have a good reputation, and people tend to want to meet with us. We have been instrumental in passing legislation and in 2016 a Climate Solutions Caucus was created in the house by one Republican congressman and one Democrat congressman. It was CCL that was behind this and who brought the two congressmen together. The first two years the caucus had an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. Before the election in 2018 there were 40 Democrats and 40 Republicans on the caucus. After the election many of the typically moderate Republicans in the climate caucus lost and the numbers are no longer equal. I can add that I am the CCL liaison for Senator Ted Cruz office.

40 people with Senator Ted Cruz
Senator Ted Cruz TXJR with Citizens Climate Lobby in 2017. The senator is standing immediately to the right of the American flag, and I am standing immediately to the left of the American flag. My wife and daughter are also there.

Be Organized and Polite

I think the reason that CCL has been successful is that the CCL volunteers are trained to be polite, to listen and ask questions. Politicians and their staff are flooded by angry, rude and toxic messages from opiniated people on both sides of an issue, and they have delete-buttons and trashcans for that. Protesting, screaming, insulting, threatening, showing your feelings, is not as effective as some people think. When you push people, they will push back or ignore you. You need to win people over, not alienate them.

We’ve had a few accidents when some volunteers lost their temper but otherwise, when someone acts dismissive or hostile to your message you still try to find common ground, or you can ask if you can get back to them with research articles or other information from reliable sources. You don’t argue and you definitely do not get angry. In addition, you need to listen, ask them why they believe what they believe, and write it down for future purposes. You also need to be well informed. If you don’t know something, promise to get back them, research it, and then give them the information by email once you have it. Keep all communication to the point and easy to understand. Don’t ramble. Respect their time. You have one issue. They have a hundred and one.

Seven CCL volunteers with Senator Ted Cruz
This photo is from the CCL meeting with Ted Cruz office June 2023. I set up the meeting, but I was not there because my son was getting married at the same time.

How to Set Up a Meeting

To set up meetings with congress, call/write to the scheduler the first time around about 2-4 weeks ahead of when you want to meet with them. If you already have the emails or phone numbers of a staff member then use that. Don’t just walk in and don’t try to schedule too far ahead. Keep the request simple, short and humble but clear, and don’t expect an immediate response. Suggest a time but be open to other times. Don’t start spamming them if they don’t reply. Give it a few days and then email them again or call them. Refer to / include your previous email to remind them that you have already tried to request a meeting. It is a little easier to get a meeting with a council member than a US senator.

A woman on a phone with a laptop
Photo by Ivan Samkov on Pexels.com

The Meeting

The most common is that you will meet with one or more staff members. Don’t expect to meet the congressman, not the first time. If you are meeting with a state representative or a city council member you have a better chance of getting to speak to your representative. Don’t bring too few and not too many people. Five or six people is a recommended group size. Try to have at least one constituent in the group. A constituent is someone who lives in the congressman’s district or the city council member’s district. Ask how much time you have. At a congressional office you typically have half an hour. Respect that time. It is best to ask for two things. First, what you really want. That’s the “primary ask”. Then an easier version of the “primary ask” or an alternative. That’s called the “secondary ask”. The reason is that psychology has shown that if they are against the “primary ask” and have to say no, they’ll try to please you by saying yes to the secondary ask. Thank them for meeting with you before and after the meeting.

Six people in a meeting room
Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

Avoid Asking for More Tax

Be aware that requests that require the politician to spend money or raise taxes are more difficult for them to accept. The climate legislation that Senator Ted Cruz voted yes on, the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which was about supporting farmers and forest landowners doing things sustainably, required very little government assistance. Once when I sent an email to my Dallas city council member (a libertarian), whom I already knew, I asked him to replace diesel buses with EV buses. It was a Sunday. His immediate reply (within 5 minutes) to me was along the lines: Hi Thomas. The EV buses cost money and since I promised not to raise taxes, I’ve got to cut something else. I am at city hall right now working on the budget. Could you please come down to city hall and help me find which item to cut. I am having a really hard time with this. I thought that once you find the item to cut for me maybe you could volunteer to take the blame for cutting it.

A bit snarky maybe, but I got his sarcastic tone, and I dropped the subject. I told him “Never mind”. I should mention that he voted yes on another issue that we had asked of him, despite him at first telling us no. However, that issue required no tax money. I can also add that a few years later Dallas got EV buses.

A line of buses
Photo by Jan van der Wolf on Pexels.com

I hope this advice will be helpful to you when you want to talk to your representatives about your issue(s). Ask me any questions.

The Interview

There are so many bad dog owners out there. There are owners who mistreat their dogs. There are owners who return their dogs to shelters or worse owners who abandoned their dogs. There are owners who get rid of their dogs when they become old, less fun, more difficult to take care of and have expensive veterinary bills. So many dog owners should never have been allowed to become dog owners. Imagine if prospective dog owners had to go through an interview and sign a contract protecting the dog’s well being before they are allowed to buy a dog. Another problem is substandard breeders and puppy mills.

An old Leonberger dog is lying on the sidewalk.
Bronco our Leonberger was very old in this photo. Almost 13 years old and he had health problems.

The Leonberger Club of America (LCA) and the Leonberger community have taken control of both of these problems. The Leonberger Club of America keeps a list of breeders who follow approved breeding practices (there are inspections), treat the dogs well, and have pledged to take back the dog in the event an owner is unable to care for the dog. The breeder will also stay in contact with the new owners, mentor them, and help them with training and care. I am pretty certain there are no Leonberger puppy mills.

From left to right : A Leonberger in the snow, another Leonberger looking into the camera, our 3 months old Leonberger puppy Bronco, our Leonberger Bronco in a green bush, our Leonberger Bronco sitting in my wife’s lap, he is 167lbs, our Leonberger Bronco in the green grass, our old Leonberger Bronco lying in the green grass.
Leonberger photos. All photos are of Bronco except the two on the far left are from Shutterstock ID:705193912 and ID:46221958.

As a prospective owner you are required to go through an interview with the breeder and to sign a contract. For example, as an owner you are required to return the dog to the breeder if you are unable to care for the dog or transfer the dog to another approved owner in a manner that is endorsed by LCA. If you break the rules, you are never allowed to own a Leonberger again. Caring for a Leonberger is a serious commitment and you can feel it. Leonbergers are dogs that are larger than life. But maybe all dogs are larger than life.

A 167lbs Leonberger sitting in my wife Claudia’s lap. She is disappearing.
Our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle in my wife Claudia’s lap.

Below is the transcript of the online interview that my wife Claudia did with our breeder Julie Schaffert. I’ve posted this before here. However, that post is one my earliest posts, and this is my attempted improvement.

Kennel von der Löwenhöhle Questionnaire Questions are in bold :

Why do you want a Leonberger?

We have a dog book, and while looking at dogs we came across the Leonberger, a gorgeous dog from Germany. We also had the opportunity to meet some Leonbergers, a mother and her puppies, which were wonderful. We have read that Leonbergers are great with children and good guard dogs, which is something we’d like. We have two dogs, but we have not raised them as puppies. We have never had a puppy and would like to have one.

What do you like about the Leonberger and what do you know about its characteristics? Do you prefer male or female? Why?

They are very beautiful and love to swim. We have a huge pool, and my children love to spend their summers swimming. Leonbergers also make wonderful pets and are good guard dogs, and best of all they don’t drool. We don’t prefer a male or a female dog.

Are you aware this is at least a ten-year commitment?

Yes. We have two other dogs, and of course we are aware that they live up to ten years—hopefully more.

Do you have any other pets? Have you had any experience raising a giant-breed puppy?

We have a Lab and a German shepherd. We have two dwarf hamsters, Moldova and Montenegro. My son also keeps a baby ball python in a cage in his room (UGGH). As I said before, we have never owned a puppy, but we met some Leonberger puppies from a breeder who resides in Houston.

Where will your dog be kept—indoors or outdoors? Backyard or kennel?

Our dog would be kept mostly indoors. (We live in Texas, and it would get too hot outside.) At night we take all our dogs for walks and for occasional swims during the year. When the dog is still a puppy, we would keep it in a puppy playpen and take it out every half hour to go to the bathroom (until obedience training). We do have a fenced backyard the puppy can play in, and we have a dog run with a dog door so the dogs can come and go as they please.

Is your yard fenced?

Yes. Our yard has a seven-foot-high solid wood fence all the way around

How many hours will you be out of the house? Where will your Leonberger be while you are gone?

I am a stay-at-home mom, and we would almost always have someone in the house, such as our housekeeper, children, and family. If we are gone for a long periods of time, we have a dog sitter who comes to our house to take care of our dogs.

Do you have children? If so, what are their ages?

We have three kids, ages thirteen, ten, and eight. Two boys and one girl (in that order).

Describe a typical day at your house now. How do you think it will change once the puppy arrives?

On a typical day, the kids go to school, and I like to take a long walk. I go through some paperwork, I prepare dinner, then everyone comes home. On weekends, my younger kids have sports, but my oldest kid stays home (he plays during the week).

I would be with the dog most of the day and would do my shopping while the housekeeper is there. I do not plan on leaving the puppy for any long period of time. I’m sure that having the puppy will be like having another child. We have been told that the puppy will be quite rambunctious for the first three years of its life.

Have you observed any obedience classes in your area? It is very important that Leonberger puppies start obedience classes by sixteen weeks of age. Would you attend such classes?

We have not observed any obedience classes yet. However, we are interested in the International K9 training facility in Dallas and would absolutely attend these classes.

Von der Löwenhöhle puppies start their crate training at our kennel. Will you continue this training? If not, why not?

Yes, we would continue crate training at our home. We will follow your advice and that of our veterinarians in regard to further training.

What plans do you have for your Leonberger—e.g., showing, breeding, obedience, family companion, therapy? If you plan to show or breed, what experience, if any, have you had?

Our major purpose for wanting a Leonberger is to have a family companion.

Please add any other information you feel will help us pick out a puppy for you.

We would like a dog that will fit in well with our family.

On the left is a Leonberger puppy wearing a red scarf. On the right our old Leonberger Bronco lying in the grass and looking into the camera.
Our Leonberger Bronco three months old and almost 13 years old.

The end result was that we were allowed to buy Bronco. We did not follow through with the crate training as we promised because Bronco was whining at night when he was in the crate. So, we let him sleep between us in our bed. A few months later he started pushing me out of bed with his paws. I don’t like sleeping on the floor, so we had to put an end to that. We got him a big dog bed and he accepted that.

What do you think about having dog owners being approved and signing a contract ?

Timeless Poems Rooted in Life Experience

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that I want to promote. Here is another book I would like to promote, Ariel’s Song : Published Poems, 1987 – 2023 by Dawn Pisturino. This is a wonderful book featuring beautiful poetry growing out of personal experiences and written over a time span of more than 3 decades. I bought the paperback version from an online bookstore called Lulu.com but I wrote a review for it on Amazon. The information below is for Amazon.

  • Paperback – Publisher : Horse Mesa Press (March 12, 2024), ASIN : B0CZT68B2J, ISBN-13: ISBN-13 : 979-8218387860, 132 pages, Item Weight : 6.6 ounces, Dimensions : 6 x 0.28 x 9 inches, it cost  $13.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Kindle –  Publisher : Horse Mesa Press; 1st edition (March 5, 2024), ASIN : B0CWP2MLPZ, it costs $8.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
The front cover features a small country road going through a forest with colorful autumn trees. In addition, the book title and the authors name are shown on a yellow background.
Front cover of Ariel’s Song : Published Poems, 1987 – 2023 by Dawn Pisturino. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback.

Amazon’s description of the book

Ariel’s Song is a collection of intensely personal poems written between 1987 and 2023 that features various styles and themes, from twisted limericks that make you laugh to traditional sonnets that make you think and feel the world around you. There is something for everyone to enjoy: dark poems, love poems, nature poems, funny poems, poems about death and grief, poems about abuse and heartache, children’s poems, and experimental poems.

Click here to see my review on Amazon

Beautiful Poems from the Heart

I bought the paperback version of this recently published book from a different store. It is a collection of selected poems written over three decades. Most of the poems have been published on poetry websites or literary magazines. There are limericks, poems with rhymes, poems without rhymes, short poems, long poems, dark poems, love poems, nature poems, funny poems, and poems that make you think, etc. But all of them are beautiful and deeply personal. They are often emotional. There are 65 poems and a few that really spoke to me were Ariel’s Song, Legacy, The Sleeping Beauty, Psychology, First Snow, and Baudelaire.

Some of my favorite poems were beautiful, rhythmic, dreamy, moving, and delightful. Other poems were dark but poignant, soulful, and touching. The poems expressed different sides of life, happiness, and sadness, which makes for a multifaceted beautiful reading experience. Reading this book was a wonderful experience and you will reread the poems several times because of their beauty. I highly recommend this book of poems.

The back cover features a photo of Dawn Pisturino, imprint logo, and a brief description of the book.
Back cover of Ariel’s Song : Published Poems, 1987 – 2023 by Dawn Pisturino. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the Kindle version.

About the Author

Dawn Pisturino is a retired nurse in Arizona whose international publishing credits include poems, short stories, and articles. Her poetry has appeared in several anthologies, most recently in Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, and the 2023 Arizona Literary Magazine.

She is a Mystery Writers of America, Arizona Authors Association, and PEN America member. Her first poetry book, Ariel’s Song: Published Poems, 1987 – 2023, debuted to positive reviews.