We just came back from a trip to Baltimore. Our oldest son and his wife are having a baby, a son, due in September. He will be our first grandchild. On Saturday they held a baby shower. That is Saturday yesterday or two days ago depending on your time zone. Our son and his wife had organized a barbeque for about forty people. It was what they called a Baby-Q. They have a smoker and had smoked brisket throughout Friday-Saturday night.
I was talking to our daughter-in-law’s mother when she mentioned a recent chance encounter with a Leonberger. It was at her mother’s nursing home. I can add that Leonbergers are great therapy dogs because of their calm temper, friendly disposition, intelligence and trainability. They are therefore frequently found at hospitals, nursing homes, and similar places.

A Therapy Leonberger Called Scout
As I mentioned, Leonbergers are great therapy dogs and are often used in hospitals. Below is a video about a Leonberger called Scout by CBC news in Canada. This Leonberger is helping residents at Hamilton mental health hospital. He was bred by Concorde Ridge Leonbergers. They have a website and a blog which I follow. You visit my post about Scout here. The 8-minute video is shown on the website below.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/1.6835161
The Leonberger at the top of Skull Mountain
Speaking about Leonberger chance encounters, one very unexpected Leonberger encounter happened to us at the top of a mountain in northern Sweden. My wife, my daughter, my brother and his wife and children were hiking/climbing up to the top of a mountain in the high coast region of northern Sweden. This is a coastal region of Sweden that is quite mountainous and feature fjords, like in Norway. This is the region where I was born and where I grew up. The name of the mountain was Skule Berget, or Skull Mountain. We did it for the adventure, the views, and to visit a famous cave. Below is the view from the top of Skull Mountain in the High Coast.

At the top of the mountain, we met a man who had brought his dog, and it was not just any kind of dog, it was a female Leonberger Named Amie. The owner told us that Amie was nine years old, which is old for a Leonberger. It was quite a hike to the top of the mountain so the dog must have been in good shape despite her age. Well, the man we too were in good shape too. You can read about our Skull Mountain adventure here.
As soon as we them, we shouted, “look a Leonberger”, and Amie started wagging her tail and running towards us. She obviously loved attention. Her owner let us pet her and take a few photos of her. Amie was very playful; she rolled around and wanted to be petted. She was very friendly. She reminded us of our late Leonberger Bronco, but being a female, she was a little bit smaller and more feminine looking. Below, are a couple of photos of Amie.


About the book The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle
Finally, I would like to mention that I am 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”. It is to celebrate Bronco’s birthday and his memory. I should say the book features the amusing adventures of our Leonberger Bronco and his dog friends, and information on how to train and care for Leonbergers and other large breeds, as well as breed history, breed standard, Leonberger organizations, and a resource guide. I can add that all photos and illustrations are in color.
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. I will keep the promotion going for a few more days.



