Baylor – Leonberger Life

The Sense of Smell in Dogs

This evening around 7:45PM my daughter came to me and said that my wife, Claudia, and her, wanted to take Rollo for a walk. I said that I had told Claudia that I would go with her and Rollo for a walk at 8:00PM, and that I was in the middle of something right now. We had an argument, which ended with my daughter and my wife taking Rollo for a walk at around 7:50PM, and I stayed home to finish what I was doing. The reason we are walking him late in the evening is because here in north Texas it is pretty hot, so you need to wait until twilight.

They left, but at 8:00PM I decided to join them, so I went after them. However, I could not find them. When I reached an intersection, I called my wife on her phone to find out which way they went. She did not answer because she had left her phone at home. The same was true for my daughter. But then I thought I heard Rollo barking, so I went that way. It turned out it was another dog. I turned around and started walking home. I had about a mile back home.

Soon after I had rounded a corner in an intersection, I heard a bark. I turned around and there was Rollo running towards me with my daughter running behind him holding the leash. She explained that Rollo had picked up a scent about half a mile back and had started running. She thought he had smelled another dog and along the way they passed a dog. However, he just ran passed the dog without acknowledging the dog. He was obviously after something else. She was wondering what he was running after, and she found the answer as they rounded the corner and saw me.

He had smelled my scent and had started running to find me from half a mile away. It wasn’t like I stank to high heaven. I took a shower today. How could he smell me, just from walking around the neighborhood? The sense of smell of dogs is amazing. Clearly Rollo’s sense of smell was better than my hearing. According to this article (and this) a dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than that of a human. You can read more about Rollo here and here and here. Below are a few photos of Rollo.

A mini-Australian Shepherd puppy lying on a blanket and looking into the camera. — Close up of Rollo as a puppy.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy biting an orange volleyball. — Rollo playing with a volleyball.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd biting a Leonberger’s tail. — Rollo frequently bit our Leonberger Bronco’s tail, and he even swung in it like a swing. He climbed all over Bronco. Bronco was very patient with him.

The Day Our Leonberger Bronco Sniffed out an Insulin Shock

According to the article that I mentioned above “Dogs’ powerful noses are being used in medicine to detect diseases, sniffing them out in a less invasive manner than the currently available diagnostic tests”. For example, dogs have been able to accurately detect cancer, predict seizures and identify people with low blood sugar just by using their noses. This is exactly what I am going to describe below.

We used to have a Labrador called Baylor who had diabetes. Well, more exactly he was ¾ Labrador and ¼ Rhodesian Ridgeback. I used to give him insulin shots after every meal. We also had a Leonberger called Bronco. This was a large dog. Leonberger are related to Saint Bernards and about the same size.

One day as we had just gone to bed our Leonberger Bronco started barking while looking intently at Baylor, then he looked at us, then he turned his head toward Baylor and started barking again. He did this a few times—not aggressively, but to get our attention. It became clear to us that Bronco wanted us to look at Baylor. I examined Baylor but saw nothing wrong at first. Then I looked again. This time I saw that his back legs were shaking slightly. It quickly got worse. His gait became wobbly, then within perhaps fifteen seconds he fainted. He had gone into insulin shock. “Insulin shock” is another name for severe hypoglycemia, a condition where blood sugar (glucose) is dangerously low. Exactly, what dogs can smell out according to the article above. We rushed him to the emergency clinic, where fortunately the doctors were able to revive him.

Bronco detected a problem with Baylor before we could see anything wrong. His warnings gave us that little bit of extra time we needed to save Baylor’s life. Imagine if we had gone to bed, fallen asleep and not noticed the problem. I can add that Leonbergers have a very keen sense of smell. We had never taught Bronco to detect insulin shock or any other condition. It was entirely his own instinct. This was one of the amazing superpowers Bronco had. I should say that we didn’t know this at the time, but giving a dog sugar, or something sweet, can bring him out of insulin shock. To read more about this incident click here or here. Below are some photos of Bronco and Baylor.

Close up photo of Baylor our Labrador Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. He is looking into the camera. — Baylor is young in this photo. The photo is from around 2005 or 2006. Baylor had a smile that would warm the coldest hearts.

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

Bronco our Leonberger is standing in front of me and he is looking into the camera. — Our Leonberger Bronco is ready for dinner

National Mutt Day

Today, July 31^st is National Mutt Day. Our Leonberger Bronco, or Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, was not a mutt, but our Labrador Baylor was. We kept referring to him as a Labrador, but he was actually 3/4 Labrador and 1/4 Rhodesian Ridgeback. Therefore, I am making a post about him today. You can also read about Baylor here . here and here.

Our Labrador mix Baylor is lying down looking into the camera. He is on the left. Our German Shepherd Baby is lying down and looking into the camera. She is on the right. — Baylor our Labrador Rhodesian Ridgeback mix on the left and our German Shepherd Baby on the right. They were both old in this photo.

About Baylor

Our first family dog was Baylor, a yellow Labrador retriever mix who allegedly was one-quarter Rhodesian ridgeback. He was a rescue dog first adopted by our niece Jessica, and then when she went to college he stayed with Claudia’s parents until we finally adopted him a couple of years later. He was familiar with us, so the change was not a difficult experience for him. Naturally he was potty trained and well trained in other regards, so taking care of him was a relatively easy job.

Baylor was the dog who taught me what it means to be a dog owner. I didn’t grow up with dogs, and for years I felt like dogs were annoying and somewhat unpleasant and even scary. To me, they were just barking machines. People who let their aggressive and poorly trained dogs run loose and bother people on the street and children walking to school had cemented that impression on me. A dog was something I wasn’t interested in having. Hamsters and turtles seemed a lot easier to take care of, and they don’t run around growling and barking at people. But there was Baylor, and I had a lot to learn.

Baylor was an energetic and fun dog. He was also very social. He loved visiting the dog park and playing with other dogs. Like Bronco, he loved swimming. He loved running, chasing balls, and playing tug-of-war. I later learned that tug-of-war is not a great game to play with dogs. It can make them aggressive. Anyway, over the years I grew quite fond of him. I loved coming home to his enthusiastic greetings and then taking him for a walk.

Baylor our Labrador mix is seen swimming in big pool with clear water. — Baylor loved to swim in Claudia’s parents’ pool. Claudia is my wife.

On several occasions, Baylor proved to be a hero. My wife Claudia’s mother told me that once, when she was walking him along a road near her house, she fell into a deep hole in the road. There were no other people around at the time, and the hole, which wasn’t covered and hadn’t been roped off, was around waist high. Not being young anymore, she couldn’t climb her way out. However, Baylor started pulling her. She held on to his leash while he smoothly but forcefully dragged her upward. Working together, they managed to pull her out of the hole. Baylor understood how to help, and he was strong enough to do it.

The Dog Fight

Baylor could also defend himself when he needed to. One time, as he and I were walking down a long straight road in the neighborhood, I turned around and saw two dogs running out of an alleyway around half a mile behind us. Right behind them came a woman, and she was running as well. The dogs were racing toward us and barking, and the woman behind the dogs was screaming at them. It was obvious that they had snuck out of a house and were ignoring their owner. For a moment I thought that maybe we should be running as well, but I decided against it. I would not be able to outrun the dogs, even though Baylor could, and letting him loose would be a bad idea. I decided to keep calm and continue walking.

A few seconds later I turned around to look again. The dogs were coming closer. I could see their glistening teeth and their faces full of rage as they charged toward us. The woman behind them was going as fast as she could, but she couldn’t keep up. Both dogs were around the size of Baylor. One of them looked like a pit bull, and the other looked like a golden retriever. I braced for the worst, and Baylor and I positioned ourselves for a fight.

Then the dog who looked like a golden retriever stopped and sat down. He seemed to be less aggressive. But the pit bull came right at us as if he wanted to kill us. There was a violent clash. Baylor fought back valiantly, and he was able to control the situation, despite being on a leash. (Well, I gave him all the leeway I could.) There were loud growls and snarls and sharp white teeth snapping and biting.

The woman finally arrived. Her face was red, and she was sweating profusely. It didn’t look like she was in good shape, and she had just sprinted half a mile without stopping. Breathing heavily, she grabbed her aggressive dog and apologized. I didn’t respond, even though I felt sorry for her. I knew the whole thing was probably an accident, but after that experience I couldn’t spare much sympathy for her. Luckily, there were no serious injuries.

Many dog owners intentionally let their dogs run loose in public, thinking they have them under perfect control, but then the dogs snap when they don’t expect it and they don’t know why. It probably wasn’t what happened in the episode with Baylor, but instances like this serve as powerful reminders of why we have leash laws.

After it was all over, I felt proud of Baylor for defending himself so well. He was a lot stronger and feistier than I expected, yet he was a very friendly and loving Labrador (mix).

Goodbye Baylor

All life ends and so did Baylor’s, in a tragic and sad way. Those who have read my book might know what happened. If you do read my book, this section is marked in grey and called an intermezzo. This way you can avoid reading this sad part. Less sensitive people are welcome to read it and learn some lessons from our experience.

An illustration of Labrador like dog passing a bridge with a rainbow above. The text says, “You were our favorite HELLO and our hardest Goodbye”. — You were our favorite HELLO and our hardest Goodbye. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

About the book The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle

Finally, I would like to point out that I currently is running a promotion for my book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger”. The book is focused on our late Leonberger Bronco, but Baylor and several other dogs are also featured in the book. The price of the Kindle version of my book is now only $2.99 and the price of the paperback version is 17.95 (normal prize is $19.95). You can read more about the promotion here.

The gold and beige book cover features the face of our Leonberger Bronco and the text "The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger." — This is the front cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click here or on the image to go to the United States Amazon location for the paperback version of the book.

The back cover in gold and beige features a photo of a Leonberger in a snowy forest and an introduction to the book. — This is the back cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click here or on the image to go to the Amazon.com location for the kindle version of the book.

The endorsements say “A wonderful tribute to the author's beloved Bronco. The stories are heartwarming as well as informative - a true glimpse into life with a Leonberger. D'Nae Wilson, President, Leonberger Health Foundation International.” and “A lovely tribute to Bronco, with lots of resources for general Leonberger information. Julie Schaffert, LCA breeder since 1992.” — Again, these are the endorsements for the book by some very prominent members of the Leonberger community. Click here or on the image to go to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.

Have you ever owned a Mix Breed / Mutt ?

What are your favorite animals

It is easy for me to answer the daily prompt “What are your favorite animals?”, it is Canis Lupus Familiaris, or dogs of course, especially Leonberger dogs.

Daily writing prompt

What are your favorite animals?

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Our yellow Lab Baylor is sitting on the left. Our brown-black German Shepherd Baby is sitting on the right. — ur Labrador Baylor and German Shepherd Baby. They were both rescues.

Dogs are very social and often quite intelligent. They are loving, loyal, fun, innocent, playful and they can provide protection whether it is physically or just via their barking, which alerts us to the presence of strangers. Dogs provide companionship and encourage physical activity since you need to take them for walks and play with them.

Our Leonberger puppy is sitting and looking into the camera. He is wearing a scarf, and his tongue is sticking out. — A black and white photo of our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.

Bronco is lying in green grass. Our house and brick wall are in the background. — Our Leonberger Bronco is in the front yard.

Among dogs my favorite breed is the Leonberger. Leonbergers are confident and brave gentle giants. They are great with children, very social and good companions and they can also be guard dogs. They are not aggressive and were not bred for that purpose, but their size, strength, courage, protective nature and acute senses make it a natural role for them. Our Leonberger Bronco protected the entire neighborhood by chasing off a peeping Tom. Leonbergers are double-coated, and they have webbed paws, so they’re natural swimmers as well. They are sometimes used in water rescue operations. But be careful, they are big, full of energy, and can be rambunctious when they’re young.

Below are various photos of our dogs

Our pug Daisy is on the lawn on the left. Our Leonberger Bronco is standing on the right. — Our Leonberger Bronco and our Pug Daisy

Our daughter 9 years old is holding the paws of our Japanese Chin Ryu. Ryu is standing on his back legs, and it looks like he is laughing. — Our Japanese Chin Ryu with our daughter who was 9 years old at the time.

Our Japanese Chin Ryu is sitting on the wood floor. — Our Japanese Chin Ryu.

Our pug Daisy is lying on her back on the gravel. There is also a toy duck. — Our pug Daisy loved to sunbath even when it was hot. Here she is catching some rays while lying on our old backyard porch, which had gravel.

Rachel kneeling on the floor and petting our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo who is on the left as well as our pug Daisy who is on the right. — Our daughter with our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.

There is text above the wolf on the left that says “Canis Lupus, the grey wolf is a fearsome and courageous hunter in nature.”. There is a text above Rollo on the right that says “Canis Lupus familiaris, the dog, a close relative of the grey wolf, is sometimes less brave. This specimen prefers to sit in a stroller when he hears strange sounds.” — A gray wolf on the left. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo sitting in a stroller on the right. Whenever there was a sound that scared him, such as quacking ducks, or someone banging on something, he wanted to sit in Daisy’s stroller.

Our Leonberger Bronco is lying on the floor. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is lying on his side wanting to be petted. — Our Leonberger Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.

All official dog breeds have a breed standard. If you want to show your dog your dog has to closely match the breed standard. Below is the breed standard for the Leonberger.

The physical breed standard for the Leonberger. There is also one for character/behavior. The AKC / the USA has its own breed standard for the Leonberger but it closely resembles the international one.

What Is Good About Having a Pet

Daily writing prompt

What is good about having a pet?

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In regard to the daily prompt “What is good about having a pet?” Pets can give you so many things, love, company, adventure, memorable moments, hilarious moments, protection, and playing with them or taking a dog for a walk is good for your health. We have dogs and have had dogs for decades. According to this article from the Mayo clinic dogs are good for your health. Dogs reduce work related stress, help manage stress, increase activity and help combat loneliness.

In addition, our late Leonberger dog Bronco protected us and our neighborhood from a trespasser and a peeping Tom who was terrorizing my wife and other women in the neighborhood. A Leonberger is very large dog, like a St. Bernard. The police could not solve the problem. The private detectives I hired did not catch him, despite the fact they were hiding in our backyard at night. However, one time when the peeping Tom showed up, I sent Bronco after him and that took care of the problem. Bronco probably just wanted to say hello, but a big bear-looking dog dashing towards you in the darkness can be unnerving. That scared him off for good. Bronco saved the neighborhood.

Bronco also saved other dogs and pets on several occasions. He detected when our Labrador Baylor was about to have an insulin shock. He protected our pug Daisy from an attacking German Shepherd. He found our runaway hamsters on a number of occasions. Below are some photos and illustrations of our dogs.

A photo of our Leonberger as a puppy. He is wearing a red scarf. — Our Leonberger Dog Bronco at 3 months old

Our Leonberger Bronco is standing on our red sofa. He is giving me a hug. — Me with our Leonberger Bronco. He was not yet fully grown.

My wife is sitting on a red sofa. Our large Leonberger Bronco is sitting in her lap. He is big and heavy, and she is barely visible underneath him. — Our large but cuddly 167lb Leonberger Bronco is sitting nu my wife Claudia’s lap.

A man sitting on a lawn chair and looking in between the blinds of our bedroom window. — The stalker / peeping Tom is sitting on a lawn chair and looking through our bedroom window at night. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Illustration of our Leonberger running after a man wearing jeans and a purple shirt. — After the police and private detectives all failed our Leonberger Bronco is chasing off the intruder for good. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Bronco has puffy cheeks. There is a hamster in each cheek. — Our Leonberger Bronco is carrying two hamsters in his mouth. Don’t worry they were fine. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Our son is sleeping on our beige leather sofa. He is holding our sleeping pug puppy. — Our son with our pug Daisy when she was a puppy.

Our Japanese Chin is sitting on the left in suitcase and our pug on the right. — Our Japanese Chin Ryu and our Pug Daisy are protesting our travel by sitting in our suitcase. They want to come with us.

Bronco is standing behind Rollo. Rollo is black and white and very small. They are standing in front of the kitchen. — Our Leonberger Bronco with our new puppy Rollo, a mini-Australian Shepherd.

Our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd barking at people passing by our house. Notice the joke. — Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd could be a pest. He loved biting Bronco’s tail and even swung in it as if it was a swing.

The joke in the photos is : Daisy says “Rollo do you want to hear a joke”, Rollo says “OK”, Daisy says “knock! knock!”, then they both start barking “Woof! Woof! Woof!”, “Woof! Woof! Woof!” — Our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd barking at people passing by our house. Notice the joke.

Our Leonberger Bronco and The Book About Him

Our Leonberger Bronco was born in British Columbia, Canada (nearby Vancouver), on July 3^rd, 2007. That was 17 years ago today. His full name was Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. His father’s name was Priamos Vom Dreiburgenland and his mother’s name was Justus Aria Von Drevas. He had four full siblings, or twins, Little Jonah, Love Ryan, LRV’s Moose, and Lakeisha Makita. That was his litter. Notice that all names begin with an ‘L’. He had 83 siblings in total. The breeder’s name was Julie Schaffert, who is a Leonberger Club of America certified breeder (since 1992), and arguably North America’s most prominent breeder.

A screenshot of Bronco’s entry in the Worldwide Leonberger Data Base — Bronco’s entry in the Leonberger Data Base. Click on the picture to visit the Leonberger Data Base.

About 8-9 weeks later he came to Dallas, Texas to be with his new family. That was us. 13 years later he passed away. The name we picked for him was Bronco. However, we were told that his name needed to begin with an ‘L’, so my wife said, “Let’s do Le Bronco”, intending it to be “Le Bronco”. It took us several years to change his name from “Lets Do Le Bronco”, which also begins with an ‘L’, to “Le Bronco”.

This is a photo of Bronco’s original birth certificate from LCA (Leonberger Club of America). It features his name, his pedigree, breeders, etc. — Bronco’s original birth certificate from LCA (Leonberger Club of America). His name at this time was “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.

Portion of original birth certificate from LCA showing the name to be “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” — Close up of his name, which incorrectly was “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.

On the left our Leonberger Puppy wearing a scarf and on the right him almost 13 years later lying on the ground looking old. — Bronco at the age of three months and at the age of almost 13.

Bronco quickly grew to become a big dog. At one point he was 167lbs but his ideal weight was 135lbs. When he joined our family, we had two other dogs, a Labrador (or Labrador mix) called Baylor and a female German Shepherd called Baby. Baby was like a mother to Bronco, and she was fiercely protective of him. We would soon get two more dogs, a Japanese Chin called Ryu and a pug called Daisy. Once Bronco was older, we would get one more dog, a mini-Australian Shepherd called Rollo. Bronco loved all the other dogs, and he was very protective of them. He saved the life of our Labrador by sniffing out an oncoming insulin shock and he saved our pug Daisy from an attacking German Shepherd.

Bronco is standing on a red sofa and giving me a hug. — This is Bronco and me. He is about one year old. Not yet fully grown but still big.

My wife is sitting on a sofa and our very large Leonberger is sitting on her lap. She is essentially disappearing under him. — Bronco when he was 167lbs sitting in my wife’s lap. He went on a diet after this photo.

The dogs are standing. Daisy our pug on the left, Ryu our black and white Japanese Chin in the middle and our Leonberger Bronco on the right. — Bronco with our pug Daisy and Japanese Chin Ryu.

The dogs are lying on the floor. Daisy our pug towards the top, Ryu our black and white Japanese Chin in the middle and our Leonberger Bronco is towards the bottom. — Bronco with our pug Daisy and Japanese Chin Ryu again.

A painting of Bronco our Leonberger. His face is facing forward. — The portrait was drawn by Veniceme at Etsy (Natasha Dall’Ara) and it is based on one of our photos.

One thing that we are proud of is that Bronco lived very long for a Leonberger. The typical lifespan for a Leonberger is 8-10 years. Giant breeds tend to have a short lifespan. The Leonbergers who live at least 12 years are awarded the so-called Grey-Muzzle Award by the Leonberger Health Foundation International, and Bronco was a recipient. The Leonberger Health Foundation International (LHFI) is supporting research that aims to solve health issues in Leonbergers and other giant breeds. All proceeds from the sale of my book are donated to 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.

A scan of Bronco’s Grey-Muzzle Award. The text says, “The Grey Muzzle Award for Leonberger Longevity is presented with gratitude by The Leonberger Health Foundation International to Bronco for Offering Hope and Potential for Longer Lives For Leonbergers Throughout The World.” — Bronco’s Grey-Muzzle Award.

Bronco was a very special dog, and he also gave us many amusing stories. Some of the stories were great, like when he chased off a trespasser / peeping Tom who had been terrorizing my wife and the other women in the neighborhood, but that the police and the private detectives I hired could not catch. Or when he saved runaway hamsters or saved the lives of other dogs. He also gave us some embarrassing stories, such as when he put our neighbor’s head in his mouth, like the circus lion trick, or pushed our German Shepherd into a storm drain. After Bronco passed, I decided that the world needed to know about Bronco, so I wrote a book about him. It is a tribute to him as well as a collection of funny stories. I also added information about Leonbergers in the book, their origins, care, training, health, etc.

On the left a trespasser sitting in one of our lawn chairs and looking through our bedroom window. On the right, Bronco our Leonberger, chasing off the trespasser. — Bronco is chasing off a trespassing peeping Tom who had been terrorizing the women in the neighborhood at night. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

On the left Bronco’s face has puffy cheeks because there are hamsters in them. On the right my wife is using her finger to give a hamster CPR. — Bronco with hamsters in his mouth. When he dropped them, they were unconscious, so my wife gave the hamsters CPR. They were fine. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Our German Shepherd is in a storm drain. I am lying on the ground holding her around the chest as I am dragging her up. Bronco our Leonberger is acting crazy. — Bronco acting wild pushing our German Shepherd into a storm drain. I am trying to get her up. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Finally, I would like to give an overview of my book about Bronco and Leonbergers. I intended to release the Book on July 3^rd, 2022, on what would have been Bronco’s 15^th birthday. However, Amazon was quicker than I expected. The Kindle version became available on the day I uploaded it July 1^st, 2022, and the paperback version July 2^nd, 2022, but I did not tell people about it until July 3^rd. Well today it is July 3^rd again. To read more about my book click here.

Screen shot of the Amazon from July of 2022. It features the “#1 New Release in Dog Breeds” label. — In July of 2022 my book was the number one new release on American Amazon in the category “dog breeds”

Sample spread of page 102 and 103 featuring two photos showing the interaction between our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo and our Leonberger Bronco.In the photo on the left Rollo wants Bronco to give him a belly rub. In the photo to the right Rollo is pulling on Bronco’s tail. — This is a sample spread from my book (The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle). It is page 102 and 103. The other dog is our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.

The back cover in gold and beige feature a photo of a Leonberger in a snowy forest and an introduction to the book. — This is the back cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com location for the kindle version of the book.

If you haven’t already, please take a look at my book

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.

25 Leonberger Photos and Illustrations
Another 25 Leonberger Photos and Illustrations
25 Waterberger Photos (Leonbergers in water or swimming)
25 Leonberger Puppies and Other Puppies for National Puppy Day

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 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.

Tears Are Falling in My Heart

This morning at 10:20AM our pug Daisy died. She was 15 ½ years old. She had an enlarged heart, her back legs were giving out, and she had breathing problems. She took lots of different medications. Yet, the breathing crisis she had this morning came unexpectedly. Our veterinary told us it was time. We did not want her to suffer. I was holding her in my arms and my wife, daughter and doctor Sara Thomas petted her. Then when we were ready Dr. Thomas gave her the injections.

A puppy in the arms of our son wearing a red shirt — Daisy came to us a little pug puppy 15 ½ years ago. Our son David, eleven years old at the time, was holding her. Today I held her for the last time.

Daisy was a sweet, friendly and funny pug who loved cuddling, eating and sitting on the sofa. She also loved sunbathing as well as sitting in front of the vent when it was cold. All our dogs loved her, and our Leonberger Bronco saved her life once. He protected her from an attacking young German Shepherd. Our Labrador Baylor and our German Shepherd Baby loved her. Our Japanese Shin loved her more than anything. They were always together. They made mischief together, they escaped together, and they went for walks together and at the dog park Ryu wouldn’t let any other dog be too friendly with Daisy. Later, our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo loved her too. Unfortunately, Rollo is now alone. He is confused and sad like we are.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo on the left. Our pug Daisy on the right. — Rollo and Daisy in our red sofa. Rollo was one year old, and Daisy was 11 years old.

I wrote a poem in French, a language I am learning. I am not a poet. I think it is my first poem as an adult in any language. I chose French because everything sounds so much better in French. It rhymes/ I apologize for any errors.

Ce soir, il pleure dans mon coeur. (tonight, tear falls in my heart, pleure & coeur rhyme with fur)

Notre belle carline Daisy est mort (Our beautiful pug Daisy is dead)

Il est temps, dit notre docteur (It is time said our doctor)

Tu es parti dans un coup du sort (You are gone in a twist of fate)

Nous nous souviendrons toujours (we will always remember)

Ta gentillesse. Tes yeux aimants (Your kindness. Your loving eyes)

Tu auras pour toujours notre amour (You will forever have our love)

pour nous tu étais comme un enfant (to us you were like a child)

Below are two YouTube songs that express how I feel. The first one is in French “Je suis malade..” / I am sick without you, I am ugly without you, …. Warning this one is very sad. The second one is your love….to feel your love again… to feel you close once more… (no lyrics in song) by Ennio Morricone.

Je suis malade / I am sick … without you

to feel your love again

Our pug Daisy on top of the sofa. Her legs are dangling over the sofa and her tongue is out. — Daisy on the sofa after an exhausting day of doing nothing.

Our pug Daisy is stranding on the wood floor. — Our pug Daisy when she was young.

Daisy is sleeping in our son’s arms, and he is sleeping on the sofa. — Daisy our new pug puppy with our son David.

Our pug is leaning on vent located close to our wood floor. — Daisy liked to sit in front of the vent when it was cold or alternatively too hot.

Daisy our pug loved lying on her back and bathe in the sun. — Daisy loved sunbathing.

Our pug Daisy is wearing sunglasses. — Daisy in sunglasses.

Our Japanese Shin Ryu is on the left and our Pug Daisy on the right. They are sitting in our red suitcase. — Ryu and Daisy jumped into our suitcase to protest that we were leaving for a trip.

Our Pug Daisy is holding Ryu’s leash in her mouth. Ryu is our Japanese Shin. — Daisy is taking Ryu for a walk.

Our pug Daisy is lying on her back on the patio. — Daisy sunbathing on our patio in the backyard.

Daisy our pug is standing on kitchen floor tiling. — Daisy standing on our kitchen floor.

Daisy our pug is sitting on a red sofa. — Daisy on the red sofa.

Daisy our pug has a tissue box over her head. — Once when we came home Daisy met us in the doorway with a tissue box over her head. She had gotten her head stuck in a tissue box.

Our Leonberger is spread out on our leather sofa and Daisy our pug is walking in front of him. — Daisy decided to leave because Bronco our Leonberger was taking up too much room.

Daisy our pug is sleeping and resting her head on my wife Claudia’s knee. — Daisy resting her head on Claudia’s knee.

From left to right, Bronco, Ryu, Daisy. — Bronco our Leonberger, Ryu our Japanese Shin, and then Daisy our Pug.

Our Pug Daisy is sitting at the table to the left. She is wearing a blue birthday hat. Our Leonberger Bronco is on the right. — Daisy’s 11^th birthday.

Daisy is sitting on our bed, and she is looking into the camera. — Daisy is sitting on our bed.

Daisy our pug (left) and Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd (right). — Daisy and Rollo in the sofa.

Our daughter is sitting on her knees on the floor. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo sits on her left and our Pug Daisy sits on her right. — Our daughter is petting Rollo and Daisy.

Daisy and Rollo are looking out the window. Daisy says : Rollo do you want to hear a joke? Rollo says : OK. Daisy says : Knock! Knock! Rollo says : Woof! Woof!, Woof!. Daisy says : Woof! Woof! Woof!. — Daisy and Rollo barking at the mailman + a joke.

Daisy is wearing a pink party hat. She is sitting in front of a cake and my wife is giving her cake. — Daisy’s 15^th birthday.

Daisy is standing on the wood floor. She is wearing blue diapers with black suspenders. — Towards the end of her life Daisy had to wear diapers with suspenders.

Daisy our pug is sitting in a blue stroller. — Towards the end of her life Daisy had a hard time walking so she sat in a stroller during our walks.

Goodbye Daisy

25 Leonberger Puppies and Other Puppies for National Puppy Day

Today is National Puppy Day. Therefore, I am posting 25 puppy photos. It is mostly Leonberger puppies but there are also puppy photos of some of our other dogs. Most of the photos in this post are mine but I am including a few Leonberger puppy photos from shutterstock. If you want to check out the Leonberger book I wrote click here, or look to the right if you are on a desktop or at the bottom if you are on a mobile.

This is a black and white photo of our Leonberger puppy Bronco at three months old. He is sitting and staring at the camera. He is wearing a silk scarf. — Our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.

This is color photo of our Leonberger puppy Bronco at three months old. He is sitting and staring at the camera. He is wearing a silk scarf. — Our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.

Our black and white Japanese Shin Ryu is on our red sofa. You can see our pug Daisy in the upper left corner. — Our Japanese Shin Ryu when he was young.

Photo of our son David on the sofa holding a little pug puppy in his arms. — Our son David with our pug Daisy when she was a puppy.

Two brown Leonberger puppies lying on a wood floor. — Two Leonberger puppies. Shutter stock Photo ID: 2294202331 by Olga Shusters.

A Leonberger puppy running in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2056502327 by Nikky de Graaf.

A Leonberger puppy standing in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2390810457 by VeronArt16.

A Leonberger puppy sitting on a white floor next to pink flowers. — Another Leonberger puppy. Stock Photo ID: 561111403 by Akbudak Rimma.

Leonberger puppy running through green grass. The puppy has its mouth open, and he is looking straight into the camera. — Leonberger puppy. My guess is that he is around two months old. Shutterstock-ID: 629624396 by TOM KAROLA.

Two sand colored Leonberger puppies playing in the snow. The play seems to be a little bit rough. Like all Leonbergers they have a black facemask. — Two light colored Leonberger puppies playing. My guess is that they are three months old. Shutterstock-ID: 2141564415 by AnetaZabranska.

The German Shepherd is lying on the floor and the Leonberger puppy is on his back. — Our German Shepherd Baby playing with our 4 months old Leonberger Bronco.

Our Leonberger Bronco about 9 months old is lying on his back on the floor.

Bronco our Leonberger at the dog park. He is about one year old. He is maybe not a puppy but far from an adult. He is an adolescent, which is why he looks so thin and gangly. Our Labrador Baylor is in the background.

Our black and white Japanese Shin Ryu (left) sleeping next to our beige pug Daisy (right). — Our Japanese Shin Ryu sleeping next to our pug Daisy.

Our black and white Japanese Shin Ryu (right) licking our pug Daisy’s ear (left). — Our Japanese Shin Ryu licking our pug Daisy’s ear.

Photo shows a little mini-Australian Shepherd puppy on top. He is looking up at us. Right below him is an English Bulldog puppy. — The day we picked up our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. He was nine weeks old. The other puppy is an English bulldog puppy.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo is lying on the grass. — Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo is lying on a blanket. — Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.

The photo shows our pug Daisy on the right and our little mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo on the left. They are on the sofa. — Our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.

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 and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.

The photo shows our big Leonberger standing behind our little mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo. — Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo is playing with an orange volleyball on the green grass. — Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo playing with an orange ball.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo (left) is biting Bronco’s tail and pulling on it. — Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is playing with our Leonberger Bronco’s tail. Once he even dangled in it like a swing.

Happy National Puppy Day

National Love Your Pet Day with Leonbergers and Other Dogs

Today, Tuesday, February 20, 2024, is National Love Your Pet Day. So, I thought I would show some photos of our current dogs and dogs from the past, naturally including our late Leonberger Bronco. I think the photos I am displaying show some of our love for them.

Photo of a Leonberger puppy looking into the camera — Our Leonberger Bronco when he was a three-month-old puppy.

A yellow lab on the left and the dark brown German Shepherd on the right — On the left our Labrador Baylor and on the right our German Shepherd Baby. Baby took care of and protected Bronco when he was a pup, just like a good mother.

Our Leonberger Bronco is standing on our red sofa and giving me a hug and a kiss — Our young Leonberger Bronco is giving me a hug.

Jessica is on the left and she is giving our Leonberger Bronco a kiss — Our niece Jessica giving Bronco a kiss

Our 167-pound Leonberger is sitting in my wife’s lap and she is disappearing behind him. — Our Leonberger Bronco sitting in my wife Claudia’s lap. He was the perfect lap dog.

Our Japanese Shin Ryu is sitting in the middle of the floor — Our Japanese Shin Ryu

Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy is lying on a blanket on the floor while turning his head and looking into the camera. — Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo as a puppy.

Our 20-year-old daughter is sitting in between our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo (left) and our pug Daisy (right) while petting them both — Our daughter petting Rollo and our pug Daisy

Our dogs are sitting on a very nice leather sofa chair. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is sitting on the left and our pug Daisy on the right. They are looking into the camera. — Rollo and Daisy own the best furniture.

Photo of 32 Leonberger faces — 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. Bronco is at two minutes.

Video showing 32 2019 & 2020 Grey Muzzle Awardees (Leonbergers). Bronco at two minutes in.

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