Leonberger Life

A Leonbergers Last Car Ride

Three years ago today, our beloved Bronco passed away. We miss him very much. Below is a snippet from my book about his passing. Warning, it might be sad reading.

Photo of our Leonberger Bronco at the age of three months. He is wearing a red bandana. — Our Leonberger Bronco three months old

Bronco (our Leonberger) was very old for a Leonberger, and his health had been badly failing him for months, including his first heart failure, as well as other issues. It seemed like the time had come for him to be put to sleep. This is an extremely difficult decision for any dog owner.

Our Leonberger Bronco 12 ½ years old. He is lying in the grass looking into the camera. — Our Leonberger Bronco 12 ½ years old

In the wee hours of the morning on June 16, 2020, Bronco collapsed. He was no longer able to get up or hold himself up even if we lifted him. His legs were like spaghetti, and his breathing was heavy. We called our veterinarian as soon as the clinic opened. She spent quite a bit of time with us over the phone trying to figure out what was going on. The preliminary conclusion was that he most likely was experiencing another episode of heart failure.

We decided, all of us, together with our veterinarian that it was time. Our veterinarian knew Bronco extremely well: she really cared for him, and she was not afraid to tell us how she felt.

Rachel and I would take Bronco to the clinic, where he would be put to sleep. Claudia would stay at home with the other dogs.

Rachel, Claudia, and I lifted him into the car—all 142 pounds of him. It was the first time he could do nothing to help. But once he was inside the car, he was able to rest his head on the center console, between the armrests of the front seats, and sometimes he lifted his head so that he could see out.

He was exhausted but very curious about what he could see out the windows. We had some extra time before our appointment, so we took him for a car ride instead of driving straight to the clinic. He seemed to enjoy it: he was looking at things that seemed to interest him, but he did not make a sound, and he didn’t move much. After a while we turned around and started heading toward the clinic. We dreaded what was coming, but it was time.

Our veterinarian was waiting for us. The staff put Bronco on a stretcher and rolled him inside. Seeing my best friend lying on a stretcher being rolled into a clinic and knowing these were his last moments on earth was surreal. Our veterinarian checked him to verify what was going on. His blood pressure was extremely low, and his heart was not pumping normally. It was indeed heart failure. Rachel was FaceTiming Claudia so she could talk to Bronco. We did everything we could to comfort him.

Our veterinarian and her assistant had taken care of Bronco for around ten years, and we had visited them quite often toward the end of his life. They both knew him really well, and they truly cared for him. The veterinarian had told us that Bronco was the oldest big dog she’d ever treated, and they both said that he had become like family to them; he wasn’t just another patient. The situation was upsetting for them, too. Putting him to sleep was not an easy thing for any of us, but it was the right thing to do.

We all petted him, and Rachel and Claudia spoke to him to comfort him. I was not able to say much—it was just too difficult—but I made sure Bronco heard my voice a few times and that he could see me. The room was somber but peaceful and filled with love. First he got a shot that put him to sleep, and then after he was completely asleep, the veterinarian gave him a drug that stopped his heart. It stopped beating less than fifteen seconds after the injection. Bronco had passed across the Rainbow Bridge. The room was quiet, but human hearts were not.

Paw print in the clouds. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Bronco was cremated, and we picked up the box containing his remains and his paw print the next day. The veterinarian and her assistant also wrote us a beautiful card that will forever stay with us.

Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt showing our Leonberger Bronco in the middle with our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo on his left and our Pug Daisy on the right. Rollo is saying "they still talk about you". Bronco is saying "I know".

Bronco had a long life and a big heart. He was loving, caring, protective, and brave. So it’s almost fitting that heart disease ultimately caused his death. This calls to mind the legend of Sven Dufva, the fictional Finnish hero who was shot in the heart in the Finnish War of 1808–1809. In the epic poem The Tales of Ensign Stål, Dufva’s commanding general stands over his body and proclaims:

That bullet knew what course to take, it must acknowledged be. . . .

It knew far more than we.

It let his brow be spared in peace, the weaker, poorer part,

And chose the portion that was best—his noble, valiant heart.

A photo of a rainbow by the coast Costa Rica. The white text says "Deat leaves a heartache no one can heal, But love leaves a memory no one can steal."

The rainbow bridge

According to an article in the Washington Post,* the Rainbow Bridge is “a mythical overpass said to connect heaven and earth—and, more to the point, a spot where grieving pet owners reunite for good with their departed furry friends.” It’s also a poem of unknown origin that spawned a pet-bereavement movement and even a worldwide Pet Remembrance Day, August 28. The poem in its entirety follows.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special to them who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.

This is a photo of Bronco's obituary as it appeared in the September 2021 issue of the LeoLetter, the official publication of the Leonberger Club of America. Text below:

Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle
Breeders: Julie & Thorsten Schaffert
July 3, 2007 to June 16, 2020
Loved by Claudia, Thomas, Jacob, David, Rachel Wikman
Dallas, Texas

Our beloved Bronco passed away peacefully last summer two weeks short of thirteen years old. It was sudden but not unexpected. He was old, his heart was failing, and he had other health issues as well, and then when his second heart failure happened on June 16, we all knew it was time. We were with him all the way to the end and we said goodbye. He knew, but he was at peace. It was a heart-rending experience for all of us including the veterinary and her assistant. Bronco had become family to them as well. Our veterinarian said he was the biggest oldest dog she had ever treated.

When he came into our lives as a happy, rambunctious and confident puppy he instantly stole our hearts. He became the mascot for our daughter’s soccer team, and he went to every game. In half time the girls lined up to pet him, including the opposing team. He was the main attraction. Each girl got one minute to pet him. He wasn’t scared. He loved every minute of it. He grew big quickly and his size and strength amazed us and everyone in the neighborhood. He loved greeting people and dogs and wanted to say hello to everyone we met on walks. He was not just the greeter in chief at our house but at the dog park as well. He also loved swimming and chasing ducks in White Rock Lake.

Bronco amazed us with his intelligence and abilities so many times. When our hamsters escaped from their cage my wife tried to enlist Bronco in helping us find them. He understood and he sniffed them out and he found them. This happened twice. We had a Labrador with diabetes called Baylor. One day Bronco alerted us to the fact that something was going on with Baylor. Soon thereafter Baylor had an insulin shock. No one had taught Bronco to detect this, he just did, and it probably helped us get Baylor to the emergency sooner. On another occasion Bronco saved our Pug Daisy from an attacking loose German Shepherd. He also chased off a trespasser, but Bronco probably just wanted to greet him and lick him, but the intruder didn’t know that.

We will never forget Bronco’s loving and trusting eyes, his lust for life, his Leonberger hugs when he leaned into us. He was very social and his love for people and other dogs and especially small dogs was remarkable. He had an enormous patience for rambunctious small dogs, and he took it upon himself to protect them. At the age of twelve and a half he got the “grey muzzle award”, which was a fun experience for all of us. We think of Bronco every day and we miss him dearly. He will forever be in our hearts. — Bronco’s obituary appeared in the September 2021 issue of the LeoLetter, the official publication of the Leonberger Club of America.

The 500 Years Anniversary of Swedish Independence

I am originally from Sweden, but I’ve lived in Texas for more than 20 years and in the US for 30 years. Therefore, I forgot June 6, which is the Swedish National Day. It is still June 6 in California and Hawaii but not in Texas and certainly not in Sweden, so I am a day late. I forgot. A blogger who isn’t even Swedish incidentally reminded me. It is also a special National Day because it is the 500-year anniversary of Sweden’s independence from Denmark.

Image showing the Swedish flag. It is yellow and blue. From Wikimedia commons. — Swedish Flag

Christian the Tyrant, or as the Danes call him Christian the Good, was a very bad man who chopped people’s heads off. The Danish version of history is that Christian the Good was a very good man who tried to save the Union. He still chopped off heads though. Luckily, we had this guy Gustav Vasa (or Gustav Wasa) who resisted, and he became king of Sweden on June 6, 1523, which is 500 years ago. He was also really good at skiing.

Portrait of Gustav Vasa of Sweden (from Wikipedia Commons). — Portrait of Gustav Vasa (from Wikipedia Commons).

Therefore, I have decided to post a couple of photos of the only Swedish Leonberger I’ve ever met personally, I haven’t been back to Sweden a lot. Her name is Amie, and she is from my neck of the woods, the high coast in northern Sweden. We met her at the top of a mountain, called the Skule mountain. Therefore, she is also the only Leonberger mountaineer I’ve ever met. To check out my original Amie post click here.

A female Leonberger standing on top of a bench on top of a mountain — Amie at the top of the Skule Mountain.

Amie was very happy and playful despite having climbed a mountain. Below is what Amie and we saw from the mountaintop.

View from mountain top showing bays, fjords, mountains in the High Coast. — View from the Skule Mountain top (skull mountain).

I am also posting a few more photos from Sweden.

My three kids around an ice table in the lobby of the ice hotel in northern Sweden. — My kids at the ice hotel in northern Sweden (Jukkasjärvi).

My wife Claudia and our three kids in a dogsled. — My wife and kids getting ready for a dogsled tour in northern Sweden

Photo of a dogsled with 8 dogs. My wife and kids are on the sled in the back. — The dog sled. My wife and kids in the back.

One thing that is pretty unique about Sweden is the different concept of private property. You can own the fruits of property, a farmer’s field, a mine, but the land belongs to everyone regardless of who owns it. Well almost everywhere, there are a few exceptions such as military reservations and you have stay at least 200 meters away from dwellings. It’s called “Allemansrätten”, or all-peoples-right translated roughly. This means that you can walk, hike, camp, pick berries and mushrooms, etc., anywhere without having to worry about trespassing. You just can’t walk off with the gold from a goldmine or a farmer’s crop. This is very different from how it works in Texas. However, everyone in Sweden love it and we certainly take advantage of it when we visit. In the picture below we were hiking, and we stopped at this small forest lake and someone had hung a tire from a branch.

My son is jumping off a tire hanging from a branch and into a forest lake — My son is jumping off a tire into a forest lake.

The guard at Stockholm Castle and my kids — The guard by Stockholm Castle and my kids

When Dogs Trick You

Today our Dog Rollo, a mini-Australian Shepherd who also was a good friend of our late Leonberger Bronco, walked out into the backyard and then he came back a few minutes later. He looked at me a bit funny. He was watching me closer than he usually does, and he lowered his head as he passed me by, and he was tiptoeing quietly. I did not think about it too much. I mean what could be wrong? However, my daughter told me, “That looked very suspicious”. She thought Rollo might be trying to hide something. Therefore, we followed him, and we realized that he had something in his mouth. We told him to drop but he wouldn’t obey us. He was defiant. That’s when my daughter got a glimpse of what was in his mouth. It was a piece of poop.

A close up photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo — Look at those innocent trusting and loving eyes

He is not supposed to eat poop. He is not allowed to. We are very strict about this. We never had to tell any of our other dogs not to eat poop, they just never did, except Rollo. You give him cooked ground bison, ham, and liver treats, specially prepared treats, things he loves, but then he has poop for dessert. Anyway, I got some toilet paper for him to spit in. We told him to drop. He looked at the toilet paper, and he looked at me with his big eyes. It was clearly a very difficult decision for him, and after sitting there thinking hard for a minute, he quickly swallowed the poop. What would you have done? Anyway, remember how he fooled me at first.

The artist poses with one of his creations.

Rollo also loved chewing on shoes when he was younger. Fortunately, he’s gotten over that behavior, but in the process we’ve lost a lot of shoes. One time I forgot that I had left my shoes under a table in our TV room. I was walking around the house when I met Rollo in a hallway holding one of my shoes in his mouth. He gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look, then he slowly turned around and tiptoed back into the TV room. He placed my shoe back under the table, right next to its mate, positioning it correctly so it was just the way I had left it. Then he tiptoed away as if pretending that nothing had happened.

Left to right, our pug Daisy, our Japanese Chin Ryu and our Leonberger Bronco. — Three of our escape artists stand ready for their next adventure.

Our Leonberger Bronco, our pug and Japanese Chin also played us a few times, extorting treats from us by tricking us and they also tricked us when escaping the backyard in ways that we couldn’t figure out. Well actually, we figured out how Daisy and Ryu escaped, and we repaired the hole in the fence behind the tree that we found.

Our pu Daisy and our Leonberger Bronco in the kitchen. They just ate some of a now destroyed gingerbread house. — Daisy and Bronco opening the gate to the kitchen and eating the gingerbread house.

So how do you deal with this? My advice is to be smarter than I am, well at least, try to be smarter than your dog. Being smarter than your dog is very helpful. Watch them, observe them in the backyard. A Leonberger digging frenetically by the fence is soon going to be out roaming the neighborhood. A Leonberger shaking an unlocked gate using his paw, or trying to lift the lever with his nose, is soon going to be out roaming the neighborhood and eating Hors d’oeuvres at a neighbor’s cocktail party.

From Puppy to Old Dog I Will Always Be There

Photo of a Leonberger puppy with a scarf — Bronco our Leonberger at three months old

Our Leonberger Bronco and me. He is standing on the sofa giving me a hug. — Bronco and me. Bronco about one years old.

Our Leonberger Bronco in Claudia’s lap, He weighs 167 pounds in the picture and is a bit overweight, but he lost weight. — Bronco in Claudia’s lap, a little bigger, and chubbier (but he lost weight)

Our Leonberger Bronco lying down in the grass. You can see shaved fur resulting from his toe amputation. — Bronco about nine years old. He had just had a toe amputation.

Our Leonberger Bronco lying down in the grass. He is very old in the picture. — Bronco closing in on 13 years old at the end of his life

With permission from Brend Saito (see comment), in this post I am sharing something she shared on Facebook in memory of her golden retriever, Odie, who passed away in May 2021 at the age of 12. The author is unknown.

“A dog asked :

“Tell me, human, why’d you record me? ”

The human replied, “You were so little and cute then and I couldn’t resist”

“But I ate your flowers, peed on your carpet and broke the expensive vase and all your clothes are full of hair from me… never thought about giving me away? ”

Again the man replied:

“I was also upset at first and had more work to do, but then when you sat down on my lap as usual, everything was fine… you don’t give your children to the orphanage because they once are mischievous. ”

The dog looked attentively at his owner and asked:

“But look, now I’m very old and I have my problems too… I cost a lot of money because you go to the vet with me more often and I need special food… I’m not as agile as I was 10 years ago… and i don’t smell like a baby anymore”

The mistress swallowed briefly and struggled with tears for a moment when she then answered:

“My love, you will ALWAYS be my baby, you have enriched my life and given me countless beautiful moments, now you are old and not quite healthy but that doesn’t change how much I love you.

You have always been there for me, comforted me when I was sad and made me laugh, you are my most precious treasure. And I wish we can spend more time together.

I will continue to do my best to make your life beautiful.

I will do everything for you my little darling.. ”

The dog gently placed its paws on his wife’s cheek and licked.

The sun shone in his eyes that shone like opals.

Satisfaction.

H a p p y.

L O V E

Perfection.

Harmony.

Anyone who has and loves dogs understands without words….

Illustration showing our Leonberger Bronco in the middle with a dog on each side. Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd to the left and Daisy our Pug to the right. Rollo says "They still talk about you". Daisy says ""I know. — Bronco is in the middle, Rollo left, Daisy right. We still have Rollo and Daisy. We will never stop talking about Bronco. Illustration Naomi Rosenblatt.

Joining the Covenant of Dracula in Transylvania

I found out that today, or rather yesterday, that May 26 is World Dracula Day. It is celebrated to remember the day that the famous novel Dracula by Bram Stoker was published (1897). For most of you I am posting this one a day late. However, I found out about it a bit late. Check out VAMP JENN’S CORNER.

It reminded me of our trip to Romania and Transylvania in 2008. During that trip my son and I were inducted into the covenant of Dracula as special protectors of Dracula. Perhaps you could join as well? Viking Blood tastes pretty good and you can buy it at Specs. More on that later. (Photos by me).

Photo of a guy wearing a mask in the Bran Castle — Dressed up dude scaring tourists at the Bran Castle.

First a little bit about Dracula. Prince Vlad “Tepes” Draculea (Vlad the Impaler) known as Dracula was born in Sighisoara, Transylvania, Romania, in 1431. He was the second son of Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Dragon), who became the ruler of Wallachia in 1436. Wallachia is the province to the south of Transylvania. He got the nickname Vlad the Impaler because his favorite method of execution was to impale people, and he is rumored to have impaled tens of thousands. In 1442 the Ottoman Empire tried to invade Transylvania and Vlad Dracul and Vlad Tepes Draculea were imprisoned by the Ottomans. They were able to flee, and Vlad Tepes became the Voivod (ruler) of Wallachia, defender of Transylvania and ultimately the defender of all of Europe. For this reason, Vlad Tepes alias Dracula is a local hero, despite his impalement activities and being rumored to be a vampire.

Stray dog that we came across in Sighisoara. Do you think he was a vampire dog?

It was a Water polo team trip. In addition to the kids on the team, including my son Jacob, there was the coach Mihai, and two chaperones, me, and Jim Smith. We arrived in Bucharest (Wallachia) where the boys played water polo against other teams, and we also visited various tourist attractions such as the enormous Palace of the Parliament erected by Communist Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. We also visited the Snagov island and the Snagov monastery located not far from Bucharest. The Snagov monastery is where Dracula’s grave is located and it is tended to by a monk, Dracula’s monk, and he was extremely happy to welcome us. He had been waiting for us.

Photo of the enormous Palace erected by Nicolay Ceausescu. It is the largest administrative building in the World. — This enormous Palace was erected by Nicolay Ceausescu. It is the largest administrative building in the World.

Photo of a room inside Ceausescu’s palace. — One of hundreds of public rooms in Ceausescu’s palace.

Photo of Dracula’s monk, Mihai the coach, and the seven kids plus two small dogs. My son Jacob is second from right in the dark green shirt. — Dracula’s monk, Mihai and the kids. My son Jacob is second from right in the dark green shirt. Notice the little dogs. Dracula had nice little dogs.

Photo of three of us standing right behind Dracula's grave on the Snagov island. I am to the right in blue, my son in the middle. I forgot his friend’s name. Dracula’s monk took the photo using my camera. Focus could have been better. — We are standing right behind Dracula’s grave. I am to the right in blue, my son in the middle and I forgot his friend’s name. Dracula’s monk took the photo using my camera. Focus could have been better.

Next the monk took us to Dracula’s well and he asked us if we were willing to join the covenant of Dracula as protectors of Dracula. I am not sure if that is the same as the order of the Dragon, the order that Dracula was part of. The monk said that my son was very special. He was the incarnation of the arch angel Gabriel and a special protector of Dracula. I am not sure if that had anything to do with me giving him a good tip earlier. I asked whom I was an incarnation of. The monk answered, no one special, you are just Pedro. I don’t know who Pedro is. Anyway, we drank from Dracula’s well and got inducted into the Dracula’s covenant.

Dracula's monk is preparing for us to drink from Dracula's well. — Drinking from Dracula’s well.

Next, we headed off to Transylvania where we visited the cities of Brasov and Sibiu and the town of Sighisoara. We stayed at a hotel “Casa cu Cerb” built inside the three-story house, at “Piata Muzeului” number 6, where Dracula was born. It was an interesting experience and we got to know the owner well. It is a famous small hotel with only ten guestrooms. We also ate at Dracula’s restaurant next-door. We had brain, not human brains, but cow brains, we aren’t zombies.

View of Brasov from nearby mountain — Brasov

Plaque for Dracula's restaurant — Dracula ’s restaurant

Photo of fried brain at Dracula's restaurant — Brain food at Dracula’s restaurant

We also climbed the Transylvanian mountains and visited the Bran castle. The Bran castle is allegedly Dracula’s castle, but it is not really true. It is more of a tourist trap. The Poienari Castle, which we also visited, was on the other hand built or rather renovated by Dracula.

Photo of the Bran Castle — View of the Bran Castle

Photo of the courtyard in the Bran Castle — Courtyard inside Bran Castle.

Photo of stray dogs by the Bran Castle. — Stray dogs by the Bran Castle.

Photo of my son Jacob and a team mate at the Poienari Castle — My son at the Poienari Castle

Photo of the coach Mihai in the Transylvanians mountains — Mihai in the Transylvanian Mountains

Photo of a beer I drank today. Darkness Falls, a run barrel aged coconut milk stout from Fort Worth, Texas, ABV 9.8%. Perfect for Dracula Day. — Darkness Falls, a run barrel aged coconut milk stout from Fort Worth, Texas, ABV 9.8%, that I drank today. Perfect for Dracula Day.

Photo of Viking Blood a Danish mead, ABV 19.0%. I drank it some time ago. Perfect for Dracula Day. — Viking Blood a Danish mead, ABV 19.0%, that I drank some time ago. Perfect for Dracula Day.

Bronco And the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database

One amazing aspect of owning a Leonberger is that there is a database where you can lookup information on your Leonberger including his siblings and ancestry. It is called the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database. It currently contains 166,000 entries that lived as far back as the 19^th century. Considering there are around 30,000 Leonbergers in the world, that’s impressive.

Screenshot of the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database. — Click on the image to go to the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database.

The database is updated weekly and free to use. It serves mostly as a tool for breeders and researchers, but it is quite interesting for anyone to browse. It was established in 2005 as a nonprofit organization and is managed and owned by Wilma and Ben Kroon, breeders who live in the Netherlands. Like any database, it is fully searchable. Search criteria include the name (or portion of a name), registration number, date of birth, and chip number. You can search in English, German, and French. The website also features informative articles about the data that’s collected. Note that some of Bronco’s information is missing because he was not used for breeding.

Screenshot of the search feature of the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database. — Click on the image to go to the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database.

For each Leonberger, the database contains the following information.

Full name
A photograph if available
Registration number
Tattoo and/or microchip number
DNA profile number
Date and place of birth
Kennel name
Website of breeder
Website of owner
Export registration number
Mean kinship (a measure of genetic diversity)
Indicators of hip dysplasia (abbreviated as HD) and elbow dysplasia (abbreviated as ED)
Eye test dates and results
Indicators of hypothyroidism
Results of DNA tests for the genes LPN1, LPN2, LPPN3, and LEMP
Number of offspring
Coefficient of inbreeding for ten generations and all generations

A screenshot of Bronco's database entry. He is named "Lets Do Le Bronco von der Lowenhohle". The "Lets Do" is not supposed to be there. — Database entry for “Lets do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. The “Lets Do” part was because someone interpreted my wife too literally. She meant it to be “Le Bronco” not “Lets Do Le Bronco”. Click on the image to go to Bronco’s entry.

About “Lets do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” that’s not his real name. His real name is “Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. What happened was that we named him “Bronco” and we were told that his name had to start with an ‘L’. So, my wife Claudia said, “Let’s do Le Bronco” intending his name to be “Le Bronco”. When we received his certificate, it said “Lets do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”, which also starts with an ‘L’ but not what we intended. I got this fixed in the database as you can see below. However, for whatever reason the “Lets Do” crept back in again.

Screenshot of the database entry after I got it corrected. Now the “Lets Do” is back again. — Database entry after I got it corrected. Now the “Lets Do” is back again.

I am going to contact the database administrators to take the “Lets Do” back out. Do you think I will be able to succeed?

With the help of the database, I was able to trace Bronco’s lineage all the way back to 1901, and I found photographs of and other information about several of his ancestors as far back as 1904. However, below I am including screenshots showing the names of his immediate siblings (twins), his mother and father and a direct ancestor (grand-pa’s grand-pa etc.) 15 generations back.

Screenshot of Bronco's database entry including a list of his siblings. — Bronco’s four twin-siblings, the name of his mother and father.

Screenshot of Bronco's mother's database entry — Information on Bronco’s mother

Screenshot of Bronco’s father dataentry — Information on Bronco’s father

Screenshot of Bronco's father's offspring — I guess Bronco was the runt of his litter

Screenshot of the data entry of Bronco's ancestor 15 generations back. — Going back 15 generations. Bronco’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s father.

Old black and white photo of Bronco’s ancestor 15 generations back. — Close up of Bronco’s ancestor 15 generations back.

You can also read about the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database here.

Measuring Alcohol in Homebrewed Beer

This is my third post in the “other hobbies” category. The other two are “The Climate Journeys of Thomas and Larry” and “Eurovision Victory for Sweden”. This category has nothing to do with Leonbergers and dogs, well almost nothing. I guess it is a get to know the blogger kind of category.

In this post I am explaining how you measure the alcohol level in a home beer brew. You can find this information online and in books, but I am explaining it very succinctly. It is quite simple, and you don’t need to read a ten-page explanation. A few photos with a brief explanation will do.

When you brew beer at home you start by boiling the wort. You boil water and you add the malts and the hops for the flavoring and the aroma at specific times. This all depends on the recipe you are following. The wort easily boils over, which upsets my wife, but luckily my dog Rollo loves to lick the wort off the kitchen floor. He’ll lay there and wait for me to screw up. Don’t worry, the wort contains no alcohol at this point, which makes this a good point to measure what is called gravity. I should mention that you need to let the wort cool off before doing your measurements and before adding the yeast (or you’ll kill it). I use an ice bath to do this.

A big pan boiling wort consisting of water, malts and hops. — Boiling wort, water, malts, hops.

It is difficult to measure the alcohol directly. You need to set up a chemistry lab in the kitchen, which would upset your wife. Therefore, you use an indirect method using a hydrometer. During the fermentation process, yeast converts sugars into alcohol (and carbon dioxide). As the sugar is used up, the wort slowly becomes less dense. By measuring the density before and after fermentation, you can calculate how much alcohol is in the finished beer. In the beer world this is called measuring the gravity. You can buy a hydrometer in a lot of places including Amazon.

Photo of a measure cup (left) and a hydrometer (right). — Don’t worry about markings on on measure cup on the left. Hydrometer on right.

Close up photo of a hydrometer. — Don’t worry about markings on on measure cup on the left. Hydrometer on right.

Photo of hydrometer in measure cup. It is showing 1.018. — Original gravity/density Was 1.072. Final gravity/density was 1.018 (in picture).

The density/gravity of water is used for reference as 1.000. To be exact, it also depends on the temperature, but for now we’ll ignore that. You measure the gravity before fermentation has started, just before you pitch (add) the yeast. The temperature at this point should be around room temperature, 72 degrees (60 to 75 degrees). This is called the original gravity (OG). Then after fermentation (in your container, carboy, whatever) you measure it again. This is called the final gravity (FG).

I should add that after the fermentation in your container/carboy is done you add a little bit more sugar (called priming sugar), you bottle the beer, and you let it ferment a little bit more, which will add a little bit more alcohol as well as carbon dioxide. You want some carbon dioxide in the beer but not too much. This extra amount of alcohol is not accounted for using the final gravity. However, it is typically around 0.2% and if you wish to include it, you can just add that number.

Photo of the homebrew bottling process using siphoning instead of pouring. This is to achieve some filtering and to avoid splashing. There is a beer in the photo. It is Pliny the Elder is one of the best India Pale Ales in the world. — The bottling process using siphoning instead of pouring to achieve some filtering and to avoid splashing. Splashing can cause excessive oxidation which can ruin the beer the same way bananas turn brown. The beer I am drinking Pliny the Elder is one of the best India Pale Ales in the world.

Using the original gravity (OG) and the final gravity (FG) you can now calculate the ABV, Alcohol By Volume, by using the formula below. For my latest brew, an IPA (India Pale Ale), which I bottled yesterday, I got OG = 1.072 and FG = 1.018. Ideally FG is around 1.010, but for whatever reason I did not get there.

ABV = (OG – FG) x 131.25 = 0.054 x 131.25 = 7.1%

So that would be 7.3% with the bottle fermentation.

There is a more exact formula:

ABV = (76.08 x (OG – FG) / (1.775 – OG)) * (FG/0.794) = which in my case yields ABV = 7.23% which would yield 7.43% with the bottling. I can add the recipe predicted ABV = 7.5%. There are also formulas that account for the temperature at the point of measurement of original gravity and the final gravity. But I think this is good enough.

Eurovision Victory for Sweden

Today (well actually yesterday by now) was the Eurovision final (from the UK) and Sweden won. For those who don’t know, Eurovision is the largest song contest in the world. Countries compete against each other, and the final typically has as many viewers as the Superbowl, about 200 million. You are allowed to sing in your native language or in English. Not all participating countries are European, for example, Turkey, Israel, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Cyprus are frequent participants, but they are not European countries, and this year Australia participated, The Eurovision is a huge cultural phenomenon that is not well known in the United States. I’ve noticed that the natively English-speaking countries often miss out on big worldwide cultural phenomena that are not entirely based on English. Typically, famous music groups do not participate, but many famous music groups got started or were propelled by the Eurovision, for example, ABBA (waterloo 1974) and Celine Dion (1988).

Anyway, this is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about other things and my home country Sweden winning the Eurovision is a big deal for me, so I made a post about it. I am also posting number two (Finland) and number three (Israel). Which one do you think is best? I won’t be offended if it is not Sweden.

Photo from Swedish Eurovision celebration from New York Times. — Sweden in the Eurovision

Sweden, Eurovision 2023

Finland, Eurovision 2023

Israel, Eurovision 2023

Russia was banned from participating this year, and some other countries that usually do like Turkey, Bulgaria, and Hungary did not participate. These were the top seven.

Sweden
Finland
Israel
Italy
Norway
Ukraine
Belgium

Lion Scream by Robbie Cheadle

This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that I want to promote. This post is a review and a promotion of a very good wildlife and poetry book called Lion Scream: Syllabic Poetry About Southern African Wildlife Paperback – February 8, 2023 by Robbie Cheadle.

The paperback version of the Lion Scream, which is what I bought, is 163 pages, ISBN 979-8376647318, item weight 10.7 ounces, dimensions 6 x 0.39 x 9 inches. You can buy Lion Scream from Amazon, as a paperback or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $20.50 on Amazon. The Kindle version is $4.59 or free if you are part of Kindle Unlimited.

Below is my Amazon review of Lion Scream. Click here to visit the Amazon review.

Wildlife, Poetry, Truth, and Art all Wrapped into a Powerful and Beautiful Book

The book opens up to colorful cake art depicting nature’s response to the sixth mass extinction and global warming. The cake art was created by the author. FYI the previous five mass extinctions happened 440 million years ago, 365 million years ago, 250 million years ago, 210 million years ago and 65 million years ago. This book is a celebration of wildlife and a plea to save it. It contains 99 color photos of wildlife from south Africa, rhinos, elephants, lions, zebras, buffaloes, leopards, cheetahs, warthogs, wildebeests, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas, jackals, marabou storks, gemsbok, antelopes, insects, birds and monkeys of various kinds and many other animals. It also features 31 YouTube videos featuring wildlife. I bought the paperback, so I had to type in the links. That wasn’t bad but the kindle version has the advantage of clickable links.

However, the main feature of the book is the double ennead syllabic poetry about wildlife and the beauty of the natural world. This poetry is passionate and beautiful as well as fun and engaging. There is also information about wildlife and the threats posed to wildlife as well as a poignant story about a girl, Irene, who internalizes the mass extinction, global warming crisis, and the catastrophe this is to wildlife and her generation. Her angst and pleads for action and her anger towards her parents is heart-rending, and originally being Swedish my thoughts went to Greta.

I felt that this book has so much to offer in terms of beauty and wisdom, the poetry, the photos, the videos, the information, that reading it was a real pleasure. It is a book that will stay with me. I highly recommend this book.

Photo of the back cover of the book Lion Scream. — Back cover of Lion Scream.

If you would like to watch some of the other wildlife videos click on the links below

Rhinos video1, video2, video3, video4

Elephants video1, video2

Lions video1, video2

About the Author

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published thirteen children’s book and two poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The ten Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews.

The German Shepherd Who Adopted a Leonberger Puppy

Photos of the dogs; left to right, our Labrador called Baylor, our Leonberger puppy called Bronco, and our German Shepherd called Baby. — Left to right, Labrador called Baylor, Leonberger puppy called Bronco, and German Shepherd called Baby.

I should say Baby was a rescue dog who came to us via my wife’s sister. She had allegedly been abused in her previous family, as well as dumped at the shelter. For being a German Shepherd, she was anxious and did not have strong self-confidence. She did not like the dog park, which you could see because she tried to be by herself, and she was drooling while at the park. She was very smart, obedient, and easy, but she seemed depressed.

Photo of our German Shepherd Baby at the dopark. — Baby at the dog park.

Even though Baby was a shy and anxious dog at first, once we got Bronco, her personality changed. She loved Bronco, and she took on the job of being Bronco’s adoptive mom. She played with him; she watched him; she was fiercely protective of him. Bronco was her puppy. She seemed rejuvenated, as if she had found an important job to do—a purpose, if you will. It was beautiful to see her take care of Bronco and play with him. She became happier and more confident, and Bronco loved her.

As an example of her protective behavior, once our daughter Rachel put a bucket over Bronco’s head. She was young and she was just playing. Baby barked at her in a gentle way so that she understood to take the bucket off. She told me later she did not feel threatened by Baby. She felt corrected, like a mother saying, “don’t do that”. Baby liked our daughter Rachel. Rachel was the first one to pet her when she joined our family.

On the left our German Shepherd Baby. On the right, on his back, our four or five months old Leonberger Bronco. — Bronco, at the age of four or five months, would soon outgrow his playmate Baby.

Photo of Bronco at three months old — Bronco at the age of three months

What follows next is a scary story

One day I was out walking with Baylor, Baby, and Bronco. Bronco was very young, maybe four months old. We met a man walking two medium-size black dogs off leash. Suddenly, one of the dogs attacked us. There was nothing I could do. As I watched helplessly, the black dog made the monumental mistake of going for Bronco. If the dog had attacked Baylor or Baby, either dog would certainly have put up a courageous defense, but going after Bronco was nearly suicidal, not because of Bronco himself but because of Baby.

I heard a loud explosion of barks that lasted only a few seconds, and then I saw the black dog flying five or six feet up into the air. Baby had bitten him in the side and tossed him skyward. It was surreal. I almost couldn’t believe what I was witnessing.

The black dog lay in the street. The man knelt before him and started crying. He said his dog’s back was broken. I was mortified, and I said, “I am so terribly sorry.” He said, “It’s not your fault. I was the one walking my dogs without a leash.” It was gratifying for me to hear that under the circumstances, but it was no less tragic.

Then, to my astonishment, the black dog stood up and quickly walked back to the other side of the street. The dog was in shock, but he was fine. The man calmed down, and we said goodbye to each other on good terms.

It wasn’t the only time Baby protected Bronco, but it was the most memorable. Thinking about it still sends chills down my spine. Years later, after Baylor and Baby passed and we got our small dogs, Bronco would take on the role of their protector. He would save lives.

Photo of our Leonberger Bronco (left) and German Shepherd Baby (right) at the dog park. Bronco was still very young and did not yet look like an adult Leonberger. He was gangly and not very muscled yet. — Bronco and Baby at the dog park. Bronco was still very young and did not yet look like an adult Leonberger. He was gangly and not very muscled yet.

However, as Bronco grew older Baby slowly grew out of the role as Bronco’s protector, especially when he wasn’t that well behaved himself. On one occasion when I was walking Bronco and Baby, we met a man and his dog walking on the other side of the street, heading toward us. Bronco started barking at the dog, and the other dog responded. Both dogs worked themselves up into a frenzy. Bronco began pulling on his leash and even jumping. Baby remained quiet. But with all his carrying on, Bronco accidentally bumped Baby into a storm drain, which we happened to be standing right in front of.

To save Baby, I lay on my stomach and grabbed her around her abdomen with one arm—all while holding Bronco’s leash with my other hand. He continued pulling, jumping, and barking as I gradually dragged Baby up out of the drain. The guy on the other side of the street looked at us with big eyes, as if he had seen an evil clown peering out from the storm drain. He lifted his dog up in his arms and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

Illustration of me lying down on the street while holding onto to poor Baby who had fallen into the storm drain. I was also holding onto young and misbehaving Bronco. — Me holding onto to poor Baby while also holding young and misbehaving Bronco. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Meanwhile, Bronco had calmed down, and I was able to drag Baby back onto the street. She loved Bronco, but after this incident she showed us in her own way that she’d rather not take her walks with him. We respected her wishes, and I walked them separately from that point on. It was safer anyway.