Leonberger Life

Fascinating and Beautiful Overview Of Four Provinces in Romania

This is a Leonberger blog and most books that I review are Leonberger books but sometimes I present and review other kinds of books that I love and that I want to promote. Today I would like to present a great book on Romania called Dreamland: Banat, Crisana, Maramures, Transylvania, 100-WORD STORIES, Folklore and History, written by Patricia Furstenberg. I found this book to be very interesting and fascinating. It comes in a paperback edition, hardcover, and a Kindle edition and I read the paperback edition.

Paperback – June 10, 2022, ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8835263172, 214 pages, Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces, dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.51 x 9 inches, it is currently $27.00 on Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Hardcover – June 25, 2022, ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8838116918, 215 pages, Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces, dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.68 x 9 inches, it is currently $15.24 on Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Kindle – June 9, 2022, ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B3QXD6GQ, 241 pages. It is currently $2.99 on Amazon.com (free with kindle unlimited). Click here to order it from Amazon.com.

Front cover of the paperback version of the book Dreamland. It shows a forest in the dark with text Dreamland in white and the author's name: Patricia Furstenberg. — This is my scan of the front cover of the paperback version of the book Dreamland. Click on the photo to go to the Amazon location for the paperback version of the book.

This is a truly fascinating book on four of the of the ten provinces of Romania, Banat, Crisana, Maramures and Transylvania. It features 117 100-word stories drawn from legends, folklore and history. I visited Transylvania in 2008 and this book reminded me of the many magical experiences we had there. Some of the photos in the book reminded me of the places we visited, including a photo of Dracula’s birthplace encompassing a little hotel where we stayed. When I saw the photo, I was reminded that I sat on one of the chairs in the picture and I shared my food with a stray dog. You can read about my travel story here.

This is Amazon’s description of the book.

For her books on Romania and her blog promoting Romania, Patricia Furstenberg was included in Top 100 Romanians from Everywhere Category Art 2023, Top 100 Români de Pretutindeni, by Repatriot, as featured in Newsweek Romania.

Discover the untold tales that shaped history and folklore in DREAMLAND through well-crafted 100-word stories: A Captivating Read, Delightful and Fascinating, A Magical Tour Through Romania’s History and Folklore.

Journey into the aftermath of a giant’s forbidden love, the chilling fate of a maiden turned to stone, the mystery surrounding the lost Dacian treasure, or the true reasons behind the terror inspired by Vlad the Impaler. Uncover hidden truths and well-guarded secrets behind these legendary stories of “happily ever after,” chilling origins, elusive warriors, and the enigmatic figures that have shaped Transylvania for millennia.

Dreamland reveals the epic narratives and whimsical photography behind the legends we thought we knew, inviting you to dive deeper into a world where history meets myth.

My Amazon Five Star Review of Dreamland: Banat, Crisana, Maramures, Transylvania, 100-WORD STORIES, Folklore and History

A Magical Historical Tour of Four Romanian Provinces

This is a truly fascinating and beautifully written book on four of the of the ten provinces of Romania, Banat, Crisana, Maramures and Transylvania. I would say that about half of the book is about Transylvania and half on the other three smaller provinces.

The book features 117 100-word long lyrical stories and poems. The 100-word stories are concise and written in a rich and expressive manner. These stories are based on legends and folklore about dragons, witches, giants, mythical creatures, kings, as well as local culture and historical events. Following each 100-word story were explanations of the historical context as well as nearly 90 gorgeous color photographs. Out of curiosity I counted the words in a few of them because I was curious as to whether they really were exactly 100 words, and the ones I counted were. I don’t think it is important that they are 100 words. However, the fact that the author was able to do it is kind of impressive.

The historical events depicted include the building of fortresses, fortified churches and cities, invasions, Roman and Ottoman invasions, the taking of slaves, kings, warlords and heroes and of course Vlad Tepes III or Vlad Draculea (Dracula). In the back there is a map showing the geographic location of each entry.

In 2008 I visited Transylvania with my son and his water polo team. The coach, Mihai, was from Transylvania and he took us on an incredible Dracula themed guided tour of Transylvania and some other parts of Romania (I was one of two chaperons). Therefore, I recognized many of the places described including Sighisoara, Brasov, Sibiu, Prejmer, Balea Lac, Rasnov, the Fagaras mountains, the Transfagarasan road, Biertan, Bran castle, and the Black Church in Brasov. It was an amazing feeling to read about these places and see the photos, which were much better than mine. It brought back many good memories. Romania is a fascinating country with a very rich history.

This book is very well written, the 100-word stories are interesting and impressive, the accompanying explanations informative, and the book is well organized. It is a true gem and I highly recommend it to anyone planning to visit Romania and to anyone interested in Romania.

This is a photo of the back cover of the book Dreamland. It features a description of the book and the author and includes a photo of the author. — This is a photo of the back cover of the book Dreamland. Click on the photo to go to the Amazon location for the kindle version of the book.

About the Author

Amazon Bestseller and Award Winning writer Patricia Furstenberg is the author of JOYFUL TROUBLE, SILENT HEROES: When Love and Values Are Worth Fighting for (chosen One in Five Books Everyone Should Read in Their Lifetime), and new releases DREAMLAND and TRANSYLVANIA’S HISTORY A to Z. With a medical degree behind her, Patricia writes about unconditional love and war, while her keen interest for history and dogs brought her writing, through a perfect loop, to her native Romania, Patricia being the creator of #Im4Ro hashtag, sharing positive stories.

Her latest books, “Dreamland” and “Transylvania’s History A to Z” are “a wonderful combination of stories, photos, history, and legends”, “a novel idea and a captivating read”.

Robotics Research

Someone suggested that I write a little bit about my background in Robotics and the fact that I did a PhD in Robotics (Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics). My thesis involved the emulation of basic animal behavior such as reflexes and fixed action patterns, as well as tree-search based artificial intelligence. I used neural networks in other contexts, but not for my PhD research. It also involved quite a bit of non-linear robot system control and the study of chaotic systems. I implemented my research on many kinds of robots but the robot I used the most was the 7-degrees of freedom Robotics Research Corporation Robot pictured below.

Seven jointed metallic robot surrounded by objects — Robotics Research Corporation Robot

It looks messy in the picture, and I should probably explain. I had hung a few boxes from the ceiling and placed a coatrack in front of the robot. There is also another robot just outside the picture to the left. I placed a sonar sensor, or perhaps more correctly eco-location equipment on the tip of the robot. I used the sonar/eco-location to create a 3D map of the robot’s surroundings. Since the sonar-sensor could not see everything at once I used the arm of the robot to search and investigate the surroundings, including discovering that the boxes were open on one side. The motion of the robot was guided by the sonar and was not directly programmed by me. The robot was able to avoid colliding with the objects, including the other robot as it was moving. I moved objects around and added clothes and hats to the coatrack to make it harder. It looked like an animal figuring out what was around it. This was in 1993.

A diagram showing the possible joint rotations of the RRC robot — The 7 possible joint rotations (degrees of freedom) of the RRC robot.

Maybe I should explain what 7-degrees of freedom mean. One degree of freedom could be a rotation (around a joint) or a translation. To arbitrarily position an object in space you need at least three degrees of freedom. To arbitrarily orient an object in space you need an additional three degrees of freedom. So, to arbitrarily position and orient a tool in space you need at least six degrees of freedom. Industrial robots frequently have six degrees of freedom. However, if you also want the robot arm to avoid collisions with objects in its space you need an additional degree of freedom. That’s why I needed a 7-degrees of freedom robot.

In the picture below an arc welding robot PW-10 is moving around unaware of its surroundings. The RRC robot detects that the PW-10 is in its space and perhaps approaching and quickly gets out of the way. Reflex control in action.

PW-10 Arc Welding Robot to the left. RRC robot on the right trying to avoid collision.

Robotics can be Math heavy (Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus)

Part of the job of creating the control system is to create the kinematics, dynamics, and perhaps inverse kinematics, for the robot, and this is math heavy. Lots of algebra, calculus and trigonometry. I have included the Jacobian matrixes for the first four degrees of freedom for the RRC robot below. Just to illustrate how math heavy it is, and this is just four degrees of freedom. Note, doing this was not part of my research. It was just a basic mandatory task to get the robot to move predictably before you even get started.

I should say that as soon as I finished my PhD, I was offered a job at JPL in Los Angeles to work on an 11-degree of freedom robot that was supposed to be on the International Space Station. However, the government cut the funding for the project, so I never got to do it. Instead, I took a job with ABB Robotics. I did not get to do the math for the 11-degree robot but one of my first tasks at ABB Robotics in Wisconsin was to create the kinematic matrixes for more than 20 ABB robots.

Algebra is indeed a good skill in many professions. A lot of engineers, scientists, mathematicians, IT professionals use algebra in their work, and algebra teaches you how to think logically and methodically. Therefore, schools should teach it. Which is why I don’t find this common joke funny “Another Day Has Passed And I Didn’t Use Algebra Once”. I don’t find “Another Day Has Passed And I Didn’t Play An Musical Instrument Once” funny either but somehow I think the problem with the joke is more obvious to some people in the latter case.

4X4 matrix filled with trigonometry — Robotics can be math heavy (four dimensional Jacobian for RRC robot).

Equations corresponding to two terms — Robotics can be math heavy (four dimensional Jacobian for RRC robot continued).

Equations for four additional terms — Robotics can be math heavy (four dimensional Jacobian for RRC robot continued).

Additonal 14 terms — Robotics can be math heavy (four dimensional Jacobian for RRC robot continued).

Another 30+ terms — Robotics can be math heavy (four dimensional Jacobian for RRC robot).

Note, not all factors are explained or shown so to see the complete equation you have to open the link in the first paragraph.

Santa Lucia and The Nobel Prize Too

Today, December 13, is Saint Lucy’s Day (Santa Lucia in Swedish) in Sweden. On this day girls or young women dress up in white robes and the chosen St. Lucy places a crown of candles or lights in her hair, The other girls/women are referred to as “Tärnor”. Boys dress up in white robes and wear white cones on their heads. Some of the boys dress up as gnomes. Then they march through the streets or inside buildings. They sing songs and hand out Lucia buns, gingerbread cookies and other goodies. They typically do this early in the morning while it is still dark. If the Lucia group is inside, you typically turn off the lights to create the right ambiance.

St. Lucy dressed in a white robe with a red belt and with lights in her hair. With her she has a lot of Tärnor (dressed in white robes) and stjärngossar (dressed in white robes with white cones on their heads) — Lucia celebration: By Claudia Gründer – Claudia Gründer, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3221537

This evening my daughter surprised me by baking the traditional saffron buns, so called Lusse Bullar or Lucia Buns in English. She prepared a Swedish meatball dinner and dressed up as St. Lucia. I had completely forgotten about St. Lucy, so it was a surprise. She did not want her picture online, so I am including online photos of St. Lucia.

A row of girls and boys dressed in white robes. The boys have cones on their heads. — A Lucia procession. Fredrik Magnusson, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

St. Lucy in a white robe with lights in her hair followed by boys and girls in whote robes. — Lucia procession at award ceremony. Holger Motzkau 2010, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-3.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Two plates of Lucia buns (Lusse bullar), each with two raisins. — The Lucia buns my daughter baked. (My photo of course)

One of the Lucia Buns my daughter baked. It is yellow because it contains saffron. — One of the Lucia Buns my daughter baked.

Meatball dinner that my daughter prepared. There are rice, meatballs and a brown sauce on a plate. — Meatball dinner that my daughter prepared.

St. Lucy takes place during the Nobel Week. The Nobel award ceremony happen on December 10. It should be noted that we often speak of the Nobel Prize, but there are six Nobel Prizes. The prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economics, are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Peace prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

Anyway, On December 13 a St. Lucy parade visit and sometimes surprise the Nobel Prize winners in Stockholm who are staying for a few days (they stay at the Grand Hotel). In the past, these surprises did not always work out well, as the St. Lucy group of white dressed women sometimes frightened laurates from East Asia. In East Asia white dressed women are often thought of as ghosts (yūrei and onryō). Think of Samara Morgan in the Ring movies. Therefore, they modified how the Lucia train (as it is called) marches through the hotel. For example, they no longer show up in people’s rooms unannounced.

As a little piece of interesting information this is a list of this year’s Nobel Prize winners.

Physics: Pierre Agostini; Ferenc Krausz; Anne L’Huillier – “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.”
Chemistry: Moungi Bawendi; Louis E. Brus; Alexey Ekimov – “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.”
Physiology or Medicine: Katalin Karikó; Drew Weissman – “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”
Literature: Jon Fosse – for “his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”.
Economics: Claudia Goldin – “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes”.
Peace Prize: Narges Mohammadi – “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.

Reminder Of The Leonberger Health Foundation International

Today I received the Leonberger Health Foundation International (LHFI) Calendar for 2024 and I was reminded of this wonderful organization. LHFI supports medical research that improves the health and lives of Leonbergers as well as other large dog breeds, potentially even humans. They have raised nearly half a million dollars for research into conditions that affect canine health, including osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, glaucoma, cardiac diseases, thyroid diseases, and neurological disorders. Its research also supports healthful longevity and aging as well as population diversity. They have had several successes, for example the eradication of Addision’s disease among Leonbergers.

Front page of the LHFI Calendar showing a mountaneous landscape and a Leonberger — Front page of the Leonberger Health Foundation International 2024 Calendar

The Leonberger Health Foundation International (LHFI) was founded in 2000 by Waltraut Zieher and other members of the LCA’s health, education, and research committee to “facilitate the solicitation and distribution of donations given to support health related breed-specific research.” The LHFI also administers a program that collects DNA samples from Leonbergers to share with universities and research institutions.

January page of LHFI Calendar showing two Leonbergers in snow — January page of the Leonberger Health Foundation International 2024 Calendar

All purebred dogs are more or less inbred, which comes with inherent health risks. That is especially true for large breeds. However, Leonbergers, especially those bred in North America, are fortunate compared to other large breeds. The Leonberger breed standard does not call for traits that can be detrimental to health. The precise and restrictive breeding regulations of the Leonberger Club of America (LCA) and other Leonberger clubs, and the work of the Leonberger Health Foundation International or LHFI, have resulted in Leonbergers being relatively free of inherited illnesses compared to other large dog breeds in America. For more information see Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, “Guide to Congenital and Heritable Disorders in Dogs,”

June page of the the LHFI Calendar shows a Leonberger on a canoe. — June page of the the Leonberger Health Foundation International 2024 Calendar

One happy event for our family was when Bronco received his Grey Muzzle Award, which is an award given for longevity by LHFI. LHFI bestows the award on any Leonberger who has reached the age of twelve. These Leonbergers are the canine equivalents of centenarians, humans who are at least one hundred years old. The Grey Muzzle Award is also given to breeders, because they are partially responsible for the dogs’ longevity. The Grey Muzzle Award was certainly a happy event in Wikman family. 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.

The Grey Muzzle Award from the Leonberger Health Foundation International contains a photo of our Leonberger Bronco's face and the text

The Grey Muzzle Award
For Leonbergers Longevity is Presented with Gratitude By
The Leonberger Health Foundation International To

Bronco
For Offering Hope and Potential For Longer Lives for Leonbergers — The Grey Muzzle Award from the Leonberger Health Foundation International

The foundation 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. To find out more about the Grey Muzzle Award click here. To see the 2019–2020 awardees video featuring Bronco click here.

Photo copy of the full Grey Muzzle Award Diploma. Lots of text. — Grey Muzzle Award certificate from the Leonberger Health Foundation International

I can add that when Bronco passed away, we sent his DNA to the University of Minnesota to be used in research. This was facilitated by the LHFI.

Familiar faces. Time marches on.

The faces (Leonberger dogs) of the 33 2019 & 2020 Grey Muzzle Awardees — The 2019-2020 Grey Muzzle Awardees. Bronco is on the second row from the top and second from left. Click on the picture to visit the YouTube video.

Video showing 33 2019 & 2020 Grey Muzzle Awardees (Leonbergers)

Many of the owners of very old Leonbergers joined the Double Digit Leonberger group on Facebook (Leonberger 10+ years old) and the owners of the extremely old Leonbergers (around 12 or older) started talking to each other a lot. It was a small group from around the world. This is why I said “Familiar faces” above. I knew many of them, including Pling, a Leonberger in Sweden. I and Pling’s owner talked a lot to each other in Swedish. Bronco and Pling reached about the same age and passed not too far from each other in time.

Our Leonberger Bronco from the LHFI Grey Muzzle Awardee Video 2019-2020. The photo/screenshot shows a close up of his face. — Our Leonberger Bronco from the LHFI Grey Muzzle Awardee Video 2019-2020.

The photo shows 12+ year old Bronco in our TV room — Our Leonberger Bronco from the LHFI Grey Muzzle Awardee Video 2019-2020.

Pling the Leonberger from Sweden is holding a stick in her mouth. — Pling a Leonberger from Sweden from the LHFI Grey Muzzle Awardee Video 2019-2020.

Note, all royalty earnings from my book (see right) go to the Leonberger Health Foundation International.

Leonberger Facebook Groups Are the Nicest Dog Groups I Have Found

I’ve been, or am, a member of several Facebook dog groups. I’ve found that most of them are awful. Take for example the Pug groups. I’ve joined a few Pug groups so that can post about Daisy. What I’ve found is that almost all of the Pug groups have preapproval turned on for all posts. Most other groups (Leonberger groups, beer groups, discussion group, etc..) do not. It would not be a bad thing if it wasn’t for the fact that the administrators/moderators of several of the Pug groups take weeks before they approve a post, all while shamelessly doing constant self-promotion, promoting products, and spamming the group they are supposed to moderate. I am a moderator or administrator in several groups, and I certainly don’t behave that way.

Another thing that annoys me is that they copy the photos that members post and then repost them in multiple places and multiple groups without attribution. Look at my photo from Daisy’s birthday below. That photo was copied (not shared) without attribution in lots of groups, multiple times, receiving several thousand reactions and thousands of comments, which is something I only found out about by accident. Who knows how far and wide the photo was spread. Unless someone explained it to you, you would think that it was their pug and that it was they who took the photo. I assume they do this because they want to get attention and be social network influencers. I’ve never complained, that probably would get me banned from the groups in question. However, I don’t think that is the way to run a group. I have not yet found a decent Pug group.

Photo of our Pug Daisy being fed a pupcake. — Photo from Daisy’s 15^th birthday on October 22. This photo has been spread all over Facebook without attribution.

This brings me to the seven Leonberger groups that I am a member of (there are many more). I’ve listed them below. Only one group does post pre-approval and they typically approve posts within a few hours. None of moderators/administrators of these groups spam their groups, try to push products, or copy members photos/posts without attribution. People have friendly informative discussions, and they get to know each other. The Leonberger community is smaller, and the owners/administrators/moderators of the groups are more mature and responsible. I think it makes a difference that Pug groups tend to be run by attention seeking youngsters. I wish I could find a Pug group that was more like a Leonberger group.

Leonberger’s All Colors Worldwide
LEONBERGER
Leonberger Double Digit Double Club
Leonberger Forum
Global Leonberger Lovers
Leonberger Lovers
Frontier Leonberger Club of the Southwest

I think my favorite Leonberger group is the Leonberger Double Digit Club. It is a group for Leonberger owners with Leonbergers who ten years are old or older. Leonbergers tend not to live very long so that is why this is an exclusive club. It was one of the former administrators (and founder) of this group who suggested to me that I write a book about our Leonberger Bronco.

Below I am posting a few screenshots of my posts from the Leonberger Double Digit Club.

Photo of our Leonberger Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo in the lower right corner. Both close up to my face.

Our Leonberger Bronco standing in the kitchen. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is behind him.

This photo is from Bronco’s 12 years and 8 months birthday. He demanded a greenie by slamming his paw in the floor. Daisy our Pug and Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd are looking on from behind.

Bronco our Leonberger just got his grey muzzle award, which is given to all Leonberger (who’s owner apply) older than 12 years old. Being older than 12 years old is rare among Leonbergers. The photos show Bronco with my wife holding his diploma.

Jacqui pointed out to me in a comment below that you can take action when people are using your stuff without attribution. A photo that took me a second to take may not be a big deal, even though it is bit rude to use it as if it is yours. However, when people copy artwork, as had happened to a few commentors below we have a more serious situation. So anyway, here is the link that Jacqui posted in her comment. (You can also visit the comment).

Send them a DMCA take-down order (https://www.dmca.com/FAQ/What-is-a-DMCA-Takedown) or turn them into Facebook for copyright infringement.

Changing the Bandages on a Leonberger and Why Rollo Could Be a Nurse

October 2019 was a tough month for us and especially for our Leonberger Bronco. He had a toe amputation due to a cancer growth on his toe, mysteries sores on his paw that wouldn’t heal for a long time, a tornado destroyed our neighborhood and damaged our house (cost $50,000.00), and then Bronco had a heart failure. All in one month.

Bronco, our Leonberger lying on the basketball court / runway by our broken fence. He has a bandage and a plastic bag around his back right foot. — Bronco lying in front of our fence, which was damaged by the tornado. His paw is in a bandage and there’s a plastic bag around it. I can add that we only put the plastic bag on while he was outside. If you keep it on longer than 15 minutes you may have problems with condensation.

Our veterinarian’s office had been destroyed by the tornado, so we took Bronco to the veterinary surgical center (where he had his toe amputated) for bandage changes (amputated toe and mysterious sores). 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.

Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt of Bronco running with a cast. He is looking very excited. — Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt of Bronco running with a cast.

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.

Two dogs on a brown blanket. Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd on the left. Le Bronco our Leonberger on the right. — Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd on the left. Le Bronco our Leonberger on the right. The outer bandage is purple in this picture but we also used green.

I did most of the bandage changes, but my wife Claudia and the children helped, and even Rollo, our mini-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. He followed every move I made with my hands and it seemed like he wanted to help. It was never a problem—except for the time he drank the chlorhexidine.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is standing next to Bronco our Leonberger. He is looking at Bronco and the bandage equipment. — Rollo carefully inspecting the bandage change.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is standing next to Bronco our Leonberger, and he is looking at the bandage equipment. — Rollo making sure I don’t forget anything.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is standing next to Bronco our Leonberger. He is sniffing the Hypafix tape. — Rollo thinks the Hypafix tape, chlorhexidine and manuka honey is very interesting.

Therefore, I think that Rollo was a little bit like a dog nurse.

A Food Theft Warning Has Been Issued Over Thanksgiving For All Owners of Large Dogs

Large dogs are sometimes expert counter surfers. Our Leonberger Bronco sometimes stole food, and he could certainly eat a lot. Once he sneaked into the kitchen during the night and ate a 2lbs bag of dog treats, a box of pastries, bread, a grilled chicken, a container of mash, a key-lime pie, and whatever was on that empty plate. He still wanted breakfast. I should mention that he was on a diet, and that’s when stuff like this happens.

A photo of Bronco our Leonberger. He is looking into the camera. It is a screenshot from my Facebook page so my writing is displayed as well. — A screenshot from my Facebook

Photo of Bronco our Leonberger and Daisy our Pug standing in the kitchen and looking at the camera. There are remains of a ginger bread house on the floor. — Bronco and our Pug Daisy are sharing a gingerbread house. Bronco opened the gate to the kitchen using his paws and nose.

But how about Thanksgiving and large dogs?

Thanksgiving is a day of thanks, and a day of temptation for large dogs. Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Our Labrador Baylor could not eat as much as Bronco, but he was an extremely skilled food thief. Combining speed, patience, stealth, and the element of surprise, he could steal almost any food. Once he made off with the Thanksgiving Turkey. As soon as I realized what had happened, I went looking for him in our backyard. I chased him around and was able to get the Turkey from him. I cleaned it off and asked my wife what the best way would be to serve it after what happened. She told me to forget about serving the remaining Turkey.

A close up photo of our Yellow Labdrador Baylor. He is looking into the camera. — A close up of our Labrador Baylor

Would you have served a Turkey half eaten by a dog?

Happy Thanksgiving

Ice Hotel Adventure in Jukkasjarvi

Someone reminded me that today is the day of writing, so I decided to make a blog post even though I made one yesterday. This post is not about Leonbergers or dogs but about our visit to the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi in northern Sweden. It was 2005 and the kids were still small. It was the first ice hotel in the world and is the biggest one.

I should say that Jukkasjärvi is located north of the arctic circle and is typically very cold in winter. The ice hotel itself does not have any bathroom, but they have an adjacent wood building with bathrooms, showers, and rooms for anyone who can’t stand the cold for too long. If you are OK with being a bit cold, you sleep in sleeping bags on top of blocks covered by reindeer hides. Below are some selected photos that I took.

Elaborate beautiful white structure made of ice and snow. — This is the ice theater. It was located next to the ice hotel (not in the picture).

The ice hotel had put out lots of kick sleds, referred to as “spark” for people to use as a mode of transportation on the snow and ice, or just to sit on. As my dad, Stig, was sitting on one of them, our son came up to him and told him “Stig the hotel put out these sleds for children to play with. It is not for adults to sit on.” My dad was so surprised that he just handed him the sled.

He is standing and kicking with his feet to move forward with the sled. He is passing in front of the ice theater. — Our son David with one of the kick sleds called “spark”.

Photo is of a large ice table and ice chairs located in the middle of the lobby, which is filled tall pillars made of ice. — The lobby of the ice hotel. Our kids are sitting around a table of ice. A chandelier of ice is hanging above the table. The light is from fiber optics, so the ice won’t melt.

Another photo of the lobby at the ice hotel. My son David is barely visible behind one of the ice pillars.

My oldest son sitting at an ice table in the lobby.

Photo of men with a machine cutting ice blocks. — They got the ice blocks for the structure and for the art from nearby Torneå river.

Photo of my wife with our three children standing in front of the ice bar where two servers are standing. Everyone is holding glasses made of ice filled with juice. — We started the evening with a visit to the ice restaurant and bar. Everything in the ice restaurant was made of ice, the tables, the chairs, the counter, the glasses, the plates, and the art.

A photo of an ice table and 7 instruments made of ice standing on an ice stage. — This is a photo of the ice instruments standing on the ice stage.

A close up of an ice cello and an ice guitar.

Stig left and Ulla right sitting on an ice bed in their room. — My dad Stig and his girlfriend Ulla came with us on the trip.

We are all laying on top of our ice bed. We are inside our sleeping bags except my head and part of my body is out of the bag. — We are going to bed in our room. I think it was my wife Claudia who took the photo.

The day after I took some photos of the other rooms.

An ice room with an ice motorcycle and other ice art.

An ice bedroom with an ice statue of a moose.

A long white icy hallway in the darkness. — This was the hallway where our room was located.

We are going on a dogsled tour. The ice theater is in the background, and you can see part of the ice hotel on the right.

You can see ten dogs and the sled with us on top of it. On the left is a kåta, a movable Sami structure (indigenous arctic Scandinavian people). It is similar to a Tipi. — The kids had a lot of fun during the dogsled tour.

Would you stay at an ice hotel?

Todays Wag the Dog Adventure

Walking our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is often an adventure and so was today’s promenade. Daisy, who is fifteen years old and has arthritis walks very slowly and cannot walk far. Therefore, I let her sit in a pet stroller on our walks. However, I let her walk a little bit, go to the bathroom, well the grass, and sniff around a bit. She also has incontinence problems and wears a dog diaper inside the house. I take it off for our walks.

Daisy our pug in her blue and black pet stroller — Daisy in her pet stroller

Rollo our mini–Australian Shepherd, on the other hand, is very energetic and fast, and unfortunately very misbehaved. He is the worst behaved dog that we’ve ever had, and he growls and barks aggressively at every dog we meet. Yes, I know that is our fault and we need to fix this problem, but it requires some time and discipline. He also does not seem to understand that he is too small to take on large dogs like Bernese Mountain Dogs. Perhaps, he acquired that belief because our Leonberger Bronco was so patient with him.

Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd bites our Leonberger Bronco's tail. Bronco just ignores him. — Rollo pulling Bronco’s tail. Once he even bit it and swung in it like a swing. Bronco’s patience with him was great.

So, what happened today?

During our walk I stopped to let Rollo go to the bathroom and I also let Daisy down, who also went. Right at that moment a woman with her two Bernese dogs approached us and Rollo went crazy. He barked loudly and the Bernese dogs barked loudly back. As Rollo ran towards them Rollo’s leash got stuck around the stroller wheel and he tipped the stroller over. As I tried to fix it, I made it worse, and the stroller tipped upside down. Luckily, when the woman saw this, she turned and went a different way.

Our neighbor Dave, who is a nice guy, had watched the commotion from his window and came out to help. As he ran towards me, he shouted, “Thomas are you OK?”, “are you OK?”. I thanked him and I was able to turn the stroller over and I put Daisy back in the stroller. As I did this Daisy peed all over me, but other than being wet and in need of a shower, I was back in business. I was annoyed with Rollo, but I did not say anything. I wonder what will happen on tomorrow’s walk.

Finally, a few words about Daisy’s pet diaper. It is a diaper with a hole for the tail. I think it is a great idea. Dogs eventually get old, and they may have bathroom problems. You cannot get angry with the dog when they pee on the floor or the carpet, they already feel bad about it. A diaper will solve the problem and make them feel better about it. They will quickly understand how it works. However, one problem with the diapers is that they easily slip off and to solve that we got suspenders with Velcro holding the diaper. You can buy this stuff from online pet stores, Amazon and many other places.

Daisy our pug standing on the wood floor wearing a blue diaper and her suspenders. — Daisy in her diaper with suspenders holding it.

Indy Author Day At Watauga Library 2023

On Saturday November 4^th Watauga public library hosted an indy author day to which I was invited, and I gladly joined. Wautauga is a small city located between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is closer to Fort Worth. They also hosted an indy author day last year, which I also partook in. We all had a booth where we sold and signed our books. I did not sell a whole lot, half a dozen, but that’s OK. It is a great way to interact with and get to know other authors, and it is fun.

We also read a short passage from our respective books in front of an audience. My reading went very well. I read one of the shorter funny Bronco stories from my book and people laughed a lot. Well, I had practiced, and I was animating the story a bit. I felt like a comedian. I am including the story I read at the end of this post. If you are an indy author and you live in the Dallas Fort Worth area I suggest you participate next year, just for the fun of it.

Me, Thomas Wikman, standing in front of an audience presenting my book and reading a passage from my book "TThe Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger". In the picture I am holding the book and standing in front of a microphone. — Me presenting and reading from my book, The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger.

Eleven Indy authors. I am standing on the left in green. — Author group photo. One author had to leave before the photo.

Photo of eleven Indy authors. I am standing on the right and wearing a blue polo. — Author group photo from last year 2022 (me on the right/blue). As you can see it to a large degree the same people.

My author booth from last year, 2022. My booth looked about the same this year. — I did not take a photo of my booth this year, but it looked the same. This is the photo of my booth from last year.

The story I read during reading time (3 minutes)

Bronco’s Hamster Search and Rescue

Back when Bronco was young, the kids had pet hamsters—Moldova and Montenegro. The hamsters escaped from their cages sometimes, but Bronco usually helped us find them whenever they did. Claudia (my wife) would tell him, “Bronco, find the hamsters,” and he would go around the house sniffing until he found them. One time he found them in the linen closet; another time he found them on a shelf in the living room.

On one occasion, a friend of David (our son) trusted us with his two hamsters while he and his family went on vacation. A couple of days later, Claudia noticed that the two hamsters were missing from their cage. The next thing she noticed was that Bronco’s cheeks looked puffy, so she said, “Bronco, drop it!” Out came the two hamsters, both unconscious.

Illustration of Bronco with puffy cheeks — Cheeks full of hamsters (illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt)

In a panic, Claudia started performing CPR on the unconscious hamsters. She put one hamster at a time in her hand and gently compressed each tiny chest using the finger of the other hand. Fortunately, one hamster revived right away. The CPR didn’t seem to be working on the other hamster, but Claudia put both of them back in their cage, and soon the second hamster also woke up. We decided to keep the incident to ourselves. Hamsters don’t squeal.

Illustration showing a hamster in the palm of my wife's hand and her giving the Hamster CPR with the finger from the other hand. — Hamster CPR (illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt)

The question is, Did Bronco try to eat the hamsters? Or did he simply find them and pick them up, intending to alert us to their presence? I’ve asked several people this question, including some who know Leonbergers well. The answer they give is that he tried to save them from whatever danger he thought they might have been in. If he wanted to eat them, they say, he would have tried chewing them. But clearly, he didn’t.

Note: Unless they bought my book, they probably still don’t know what happened

Have you been an indy author day or similar?