This blog feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar.
Something amazing happened this evening. I was watching a movie, Lion, about an Indian boy, Saroo who gets lost far away from home. He and his brother were riding trains, and they got separated. He is unable to get back home and ends up in an orphanage and is eventually adopted by a loving Australian family. However, once he becomes a successful adult in Australia, he sets out to find his biological family in India, a sort of mission impossible. I know it is not something parents of adopted children are thrilled about, but he has their blessing to go and try to find them anyway. It is a beautiful movie based on a true story and it is one of the most emotive and touching movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen the movie before, but it is difficult, even for me, not to get a bit emotional towards the end of the movie. I highly recommend the movie if you have not seen it. But you may need a tissue box.
I am sitting in the sofa, being a bit emotional, but I don’t think I was very emotional. I don’t think it was obvious. Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd is sitting in the same sofa, a few feet away. I look over at him and I see his big round sad eyes staring at me as he is tilting his head. I can see the love and concern in his eyes. He slowly comes over to me, lays his paw on my leg for a bit while looking into my eyes. Then he lays down next to me and pushes his body towards my leg as if to comfort me. It just felt exactly as if that was what he was doing. He was trying to comfort me. I wasn’t really sad, but the movie was touching my heart. So, I guess my feeling was pretty close to sadness.
This is Rollo. I don’t have a photo of him from today’s experience. This photo is from a different occasion when Rollo did not look happy because we told him we are leaving.
Can dogs sense when we are sad?
It is not just Rollo. Our Leonberger Bronco, our pug Daisy and our other dogs showed on several occasions that they could sense our feelings. When one of us was sad they tried to comfort. Especially Bronco was very sensitive to people’s feelings, and he tried to comfort. When our Japanese Chin Ryu died, we were sad, and Bronco and Daisy were sad, and I believe they could sense our sadness. The whole house was in mourning, including the dogs.
I can add that Leonbergers are known to be loving dogs and are especially in tune with people’s feelings. That is why they are very often used as therapy dogs. Dogs can even use their amazing sense of smell to detect emotions in people. “Can Dogs Sense Human Emotions?” is is an excellent article from “the Vets” on the topic. Check out the section under “Can dogs sense when we are sad? ”. I think you can recognize what just happened with Rollo. This is another interesting article from VCA Animal Hospitals. This post features a video about a therapy Leonberger called Scout.
Me and our Leonberger Bronco when he was young. He is giving me a hug.
Dogs can sense and detect a lot of things, our emotions, mood, fear, whether you are pregnant or not, illness, cancer, diabetes, whether you are a negative person, whether you are about to have a seizure, the weather, and they have an amazing sense of smell. You can read more about that here.
Recently Rollo impressed me with his amazing sense of smell. You can read about that here. Guess who had a truly amazing sense of smell? That was Bronco our Leonberger. You can read about that in the same post.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo loves going out, whether it is for a walk, a car ride, or visiting grandma and grandpa. But we can’t take him everywhere. Sometimes we have to leave him at home and when this happens, we tell him “Rollo go and look out the window”, and he runs to the window, and he looks out. You may wonder, what does Rollo see when he looks out his window?
He sees the blue sky and the clouds; he sees birds flying and he sees the black crows walking on our lawn. He doesn’t like the black crows walking on our lawn, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
He sees the green grass, the houses, he sees the jagged edges of the roofs and the chimneys, and he sees workers repairing shingles on roof tops, which look scary, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
He sees rabbits running, cats hiding, children playing and laughing, and he sees squirrels running up the trees so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
He sees people walking by our house. Do they see him? Maybe not. But there, someone sees him, and he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
He sees people with dogs walking by our house and that makes him mad, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
Rollo looks out the window and he sees the world, and he knows that the world was made for him, but he has to stay inside, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
We left him alone in his despair for nearly two hours but now he sees us coming home and he runs to the door, and he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
We ask him, Rollo, what did you see out your window today? And he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.
Photos of Rollo Looking Out the Window
This is Rollo. Rollo does not look happy because we told him we are leaving. Next, we are telling him to go look out the window.Rollo is looking out the window. Unfortunately, there are reflections in the window.Rollo is looking out the window. You can see the reflection of me taking the photo and of the neighborhood in the window.
Daisy and Rollo Looking Out the Window
Rollo grew up with two dogs, our big fluffy Leonberger dog Bronco and Daisy our Pug. Bronco sometimes stood and looked out the window, but Rollo and Daisy loved doing that together. They stood on the sofa and barked at everything they saw outside.
Daisy’s and Rollo’s knock knock joke.Finally, I just wanted to point out that Rollo is named after the Viking king who tried to sack Paris, not the Rolo candy.
This post is about big events that happened to me or my family during 2024 and that I blogged about. I selected six events that stood out to me. They are sort of my 2024 blogging summary. Our pug Daisy died at the age of 15 ½ and we still miss her a lot. On April 8, 2024, we experienced the event of the year, the total solar eclipse. Dallas (where we live) was in the path of totality and the weather was clear. It was spectacular. Then the largest newspaper trade association in the United States the National Newspaper Association (NNA, 2,300 newspapers) awarded a Dallas magazine that had written a review for my book “Le Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” an honorable mention for best book review of the year. That was fourth place out of thousands of newspapers and magazines.
In August I launched a new blog, superfactful (please feel free to follow) and in September my oldest son and his wife and me traveled to Sweden and Norway where we saw a lot and encountered magical creatures. On October 21st, 2024, NBC news interviewed me about a tornado that ravaged our neighborhood five years ago.
We miss our Pug Daisy
On April 5th, 2024, our beloved pug Daisy took her last breath. 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 that morning came unexpectedly. Our veterinary told us it was time. It was a dark day for us, and we still miss her dearly. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo also seems to miss her and now he is alone. To read the tribute post I made for her click here.
Daisy liked to sit in front of the vent when it was cold or alternatively too hot.
Total Solar Eclipse in Dallas
On April 8th, 2024, there was a total solar eclipse and Dallas, where we live, was in the path of totality, and we were lucky with the weather. A total solar eclipse is a totally different experience from a partial solar eclipse. Despite knowing this beforehand, and having seen a partial solar eclipse, I was amazed. As you approach totality you will have a partial solar eclipse, so you’ll experience both. The partial solar eclipse portion lasted for a few hours and totality lasted only four minutes, but during those four minutes the sun and the moon put on a spectacular show. For the event we had prepared a little party on our backyard patio.
A partial solar eclipse is interesting too. The shadows change during a partial solar eclipse. The shadows of the tree leaves look like moon crescents, but it is not dark, it is still daylight. The sun will look like a bright crescent if you are wearing solar eclipse glasses, but the light is too strong for you to see anything without glasses, and trying to look at the sun during a partial eclipse is dangerous.
When the total solar eclipse happened it suddenly got dark, but not midnight dark, more like late twilight. The stars came out, the birds and the crickets got quiet, Rollo hid under the table, it felt colder, and straight above us Venus came out bright and shining. You usually see Venus in the west soon after sunset or in the east before sun dawn, not above your head in the middle of the day. You could take off your solar eclipse glasses and look straight at the sun, because it was no longer very bright. What you saw was a big black circle surrounded by wispy foggy lights about as bright as the full moon, maybe a little brighter. That was the sun’s corona, which is only visible to the naked eye during a total solar eclipse. To read more about this event click here.
We took many pictures (see below) but this is a good stock photo. Solar Eclipse Stock Photo ID: 2344355767 by aeonWAVE
Preston Hollow People Magazine receives a National Award for a Book Review of my Leonberger Book
In September 2023 a Dallas journalist wrote a half page positive book review for my book “Le Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. In 2024 her and the newspaper/magazine received an honorable mention for Best Book Review (that’s 4th place) at the annual National Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest organized by The National Newspaper Association (NNA). NNA has 2,300 members (newspapers and magazines). I can add that Preston Hollow is an area in north Dallas. To read more about this, click here.
This is a photo of the page of Preston Hollow People Magazine where the review appeared. If you click on the picture (or click here you can see the online version of the book review in Preston Hollow People Magazine.
Launch of the Super Facts Blog
On August 5, 2024, I launched my new blogsuperfactful url https://superfactful.com. The goal of this blog is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true and yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many. These kinds of facts are special because they are important and at the same time there is a lot of confusion around them, or they are shocking. Therefore, I call these facts super facts. I should say that in addition to super fact posts I am also posting about other interesting and fun information. My first post “Bamboozlement Misunderstandings, Big Surprises and My Journey” was not a super fact post. To read more click here .
Smashing our old beliefs with new surprising facts, super facts. Expand your mind and teach me some unexpected truths. Shutterstock ID: 1685660680 by MattL_Images.
I can add that this site certainly needs more followers so feel free to subscribe. The subscribe button is on the right on a PC and at the bottom on a mobile device.
Scandinavian Adventure
In September 2024 I visited my native country Sweden and Norway with my oldest son and his new wife. We visited Stockholm, Uppsala, Oslo and Norwegian fjords. We saw palaces and castles, the old city in Stockholm (800 years old city on an island), we saw many museums including the Vasa Museum featuring an extremely well-preserved Swedish war ship that sank in 1628. We encountered a Huldra, a female magical creature, in the Norwegian mountains (OK this was a tourist ploy, but a fun one). To read more about our adventures click here, or here, or here.
From a cruise in Sognefjord, Norway. Left to right, me, my oldest son and his wife. Click on the image to visit my post titled : “Tourism in Scandinavia on World Tourism Day”.Imagining how a Huldra would look like. Stock AI-generated image ID: 2400845203 by Shutterstock AI Generator. Click on the image to visit my post titled : “Scandinavian Folklore”.An illustration of a Tomte another Scandinavian mythical creature. Shutterstock ID: 2060057882 by PLIMPLUM.
The NBC Interview with me about Dallas Tornado
October 19 and October 20, 2024, I got phone calls from NBC Universal. NBC Universal is a large media company that is a merger between NBC news and Universal Studios. I ignored the phone calls, because why would NBC call me. I thought it must be spam or a scam. Then I listened to the message they left, and I realized it was not spam. The NBC journalists had been reading my Leonberger blog, specifically a post I had made about the tornado that hit Dallas and ravaged our neighborhood on October 20, 2019. They wanted some of my photos and they wanted to interview me. You can read more here and you can listen and see the interview here. It is at one minute and ten seconds.
Seeing myself on the TV was a bit surreal. Click on the image to see the interview. My interview starts at 1 minute and 11 seconds.NBC used this photo. A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21st, 2019. Again, click on the image to see the interview.
Below are some additional photos in from these events in the form of a photo collage.
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.
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.
A black and white photo of our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.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 Leonberger Bronco and our Pug DaisyOur Japanese Chin Ryu with our daughter who was 9 years old at the time.Our Japanese Chin Ryu.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.Our daughter with our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.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 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.
A little bit more than a week ago a photo of our Leonberger Bronco taken when he was three months old was stolen and used without attribution. The thief, Valerie, was the founder and administrator of a new Leonberger Facebook group. In addition, she changed his name and gender. Our breeder (well Bronco’s breeder) Julie Schaffert alerted me to the situation. I was unaware of the existence of this group. Julie knows this photo well since I’ve used it a lot on Facebook and Instagram as well as here. I think the worst part of it was that the thief manipulated the emotions of the members of the group by fabricating a story about the puppy being sick. What a dubious way to attract attention.
Photo of Bronco at three months old. This photo was copied without permission and Bronco’s name and gender were changed.His name was certainly not Gracie, and the story about being sick was fabricated. BTW this kind of emotional manipulation has become ubiquitous. Don’t believe these kinds of claims.This was Julie’s comment.
It is far from the only time I’ve had a dog photo stolen. I was (well still is) a member of a few pug groups and all of them except for one smaller group were photo theft groups. It seemed like the bigger the groups, the worse they were. The founders/administrators of the groups regularly stole the photos posted by the members and then used the Facebook approval feature to prevent the members from complaining about the situation. I had several photos of Daisy stolen.
The photo below was stolen dozens of times and passed around to several groups including groups I was not a member of. I accidentally discovered my photos in other pug groups that I was randomly browsing. Her name and gender were often changed, and it was perpetually her birthday for at least several months. She was congratulated thousands of times, which was a silver lining. At first, I played along and just said thank you to all the people congratulating her even though I was not the one who posted the photo. However, that became unsustainable as there were so many congratulations in so many places for so long and then one guy started accusing me of pretending it was my pug. Well, it was my pug. After a while I just gave up on the pug groups. It seemed to be the same problem everywhere.
Photo of Daisy’s 15th birthday. The photo was stolen dozens of times in various pug groups.
So why do people steal dog photos? It seems like in some cases it is for the purpose of selling stuff, but that is not always the case. It seems like some photo thieves just want to grow their groups and become “influencers”. I should say that one of my old on-line friends told me that he had a popular YouTube video downloaded and re-uploaded (stolen) several times. He was making money off that video so in that case it was a matter of theft of money. YouTube took down those videos when he reported them, but naturally he still lost some money.
This seems to be a problem that’s spreading like wildfire on social media. I did not use to see this, but now I see it all the time. Photo theft happens even in the beer groups I help administer. Apparently taking your own photo of a beer can is too much to ask for. Unfortunately, it seems like photo theft has become normalized behavior.
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.
Our Leonberger Dog Bronco at 3 months oldMe with our Leonberger Bronco. He was not yet fully grown.Our large but cuddly 167lb Leonberger Bronco is sitting nu my wife Claudia’s lap.The stalker / peeping Tom is sitting on a lawn chair and looking through our bedroom window at night. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.After the police and private detectives all failed our Leonberger Bronco is chasing off the intruder for good. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Our Leonberger Bronco is carrying two hamsters in his mouth. Don’t worry they were fine. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Our Labrador Baylor and German Shepherd Baby. They were both rescues.Our son with our pug Daisy when she was a puppy.Our Japanese Chin Ryu and our Pug Daisy are protesting our travel by sitting in our suitcase. They want to come with us.Our Leonberger Bronco with our new puppy Rollo, a mini-Australian Shepherd.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.Our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd barking at people passing by our house. Notice the joke.
Today, October 20, 2024, is the 5-year anniversary of the EF3 Tornado that ravaged our neighborhood. Our chimney was smashed by a piece of concrete flying off a neighbor’s house, our roof was damaged and needed to be replaced, our garage door was destroyed, and the wiring and pipes in the attic were destroyed. In addition, our fence was damaged, and my grill flew across the yard. The cost of the repairs was $50,000.00. However, we were lucky compared to many of our neighbors whose houses were destroyed.
A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21st, 2019.Another neighbor’s house. This house was about 100 yards from our house. It took a direct hit from the tornado.
The house of my wife’s parents was more severely damaged than our house. The wind from the Tornado lifted my 89-year-old father-in-law up in the air and he was hit by a broken marble table that injured his back. He had a sore that was about one foot long. He did not go to the hospital. The school where our boys used to go, St. Marks School of Texas, was badly damaged and the walls of the gymnasium blew away. The neighborhood looked terrible afterwards.
Inside Claudia’s parents’ house. This was the morning after. We are walking into their house to check on them (that’s my wife).
It was also a tough time for our Leonberger dog Bronco. He was more than 12 years old, which is old for a Leonberger, and he had various age-related illnesses. Earlier in October he had amputated a toe due to a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. One week after that we discovered a large deep ulcerous sore on the same paw a few inches above the surgical scar. Fortunately, it was not cancerous, as we first thought, but we would have to treat this sore in addition to nursing him back from his amputation. In addition, he also had the first signs of geriatric-onset laryngeal paralysis polyneuropathy (or GOLPP).
Bronco our Leonberger and Daisy our Pug the evening before the big storm. None of us suspected what was about to happen.
We lost power for four days due to the tornado and about one week after the tornado Bronco had a congestive heart failure. He eventually recovered but October 2019 was a very difficult month for him.
Bronco had just had a toe amputation. He did not blow down our fence.We had to change Bronco’s bandages every now and then but Rollo, our mini–Australian Shepherd made sure we did it right.Bronco and Rollo a few days after the Tornado.
I remember October 20, 2019, as if it was yesterday. I was sitting outside in my backyard drinking my favorite SMASH IPA, Yellow Rose, from Lone Pint, Texas, ABV 6.8%. IPA stands for India Pale Ale, a type of beer that contains a lot of hops. SMASH IPA is an IPA brewed with one type of Malts and one type of Hops (Single Malt, Single Hop). The single hop in this case is Mosaic. My phone started making a loud sound. It was an alarm announcing a tornado warning and, in the distance, I could hear a faint tornado siren. At first, I thought it was nothing but when I saw the lightning approaching, I decided to go inside. Two minutes later a hailstorm made things very loud, the wind was strong, and the house shook, and then we heard a loud explosion. That was a concrete block that had smashed our chimney.
I was sitting in my backyard drinking Yellow Rose my favorite SMASH IPA, not knowing that a tornado was advancing down the street nearby.
After the wind had died down a bit, I opened the door to the backyard, and what I saw shocked me. My gas grill had flown across the patio. There were bricks and pieces of concrete all over the patio and the lawn. There was a big sheet of metal lying on the patio. Big tree branches covered the lawn. There was debris everywhere. We had also lost power. It turns out that the EF3 tornado had gone through our neighborhood and passed within fifty to one hundred yards of our house.
Another neighbor’s house (a bit further away from us).
My wife Claudia asked me to go check on her parents. I drove about 50-100 yards when a neighbor’s roof lying across the road stopped me. I turned around but this time I was stopped by a large pile of trees lying across the street. So, I started walking, but this time I was stopped by a group of firemen telling me that it was too dangerous to be outside. They told me to go back home, and I did.
This is the next-door neighbor of Claudia’s (my wife) parents.
I can add that we got some unexpected help from our congressman at the time, Colin Allred, congressional district 32. My wife left the neighborhood in her car, but the police would not let anyone back in. This made it difficult to, for example, go shopping. I complained about this on Colin Allred’s Facebook page and within hours I received an email from Colin Allred’s legislative director (Judith). They had contacted city hall and the police and now the police would allow residents back in the neighborhood as long as they could show ID. Colin Allred’s office had my email from a previous communication. I did not leave that with my Facebook comment. My wife was happy since she now could go shopping.
Below are some additional photos that I took, showing the carnage in the neighborhood.
The remains of the Gap, a store at a nearby shopping center.Destroyed house in the neighborhood.View of the shopping center in our neighborhood.This was a school bus belonging to the school where my boys went.Streetview from the neighborhood.Another house in the neighborhood.The remains of the veterinary clinic where we used to take our dogs. Luckily there were no animals staying overnight at this time.Our street, just two/three houses down from us.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd turned six years old on October 12, 2024. However, we were at a wedding in Chicago, so we had to miss his birthday. We celebrated when we came home. In the past we’ve put a funny birthday hat on him. Unfortunately, he hates hats so this time I took pictures without a hat. To celebrate Rollo’s birthday, I am posting 20 photos I took of Rollo through the years, including some with our late Leonberger Bronco. If you’ve been following my blog, you will have seen many of these photos already but not all of them, certainly not the ones I just took.
Rollo eating a pupcake from our daughter’s hand. A pupcake is a cupcake for dogs.Rollo reaching for a piece of a pupcake on the sofa.This is an old photo from his fourth birthday. He is unhappy with the hat.Rollo almost six years ago. He had just arrived at our house. Our Leonberger Bronco is welcoming Rollo.Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy.Our Leonberger Bronco with little Rollo.Close up of Rollo as a puppy.Rollo on his first walk. It wasn’t really a walk. More like carrying him around the neighborhood.Rollo peeking out behind the sofa.Rollo playing with a volleyball.Rollo rolling a soccer ball.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.When Rollo was young, he loved chewing shoes. Here the artist is posing with his art.When we left the house we put Rollo in his baby jail for his own protection. We were afraid he would bother Bronco so much that Bronco lost his patience. Rollo ended up loving his baby jail. It was his own special house and no one else was allowed in.When Bronco had a toe amputation and we had to change his bandage every day, Rollo helped out. He was a dog nurse.Rollo liked to play with Bronco. Here he is asking for a belly rub.Our daughter with our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo and Pug Daisy.Sometimes there are scary sounds and Rollo wanted to sit in the stroller we bought for our Pug Daisy.Two friends.Daisy our Pug and Rollo are watching something from the window.
This is another of my 25 Leonberger photos posts. This time the theme is old Leonbergers. Most of the photos are of our late Leonberger Bronco from the age of 11 years old and up. Since Leonbergers typically live 8-10 years, eleven years old and up is indeed old for a Leonberger. One of the photos is a photo of Bronco with my wife standing next to him holding his Grey Muzzle Award. This is an award given to Leonbergers who have reached the age of 12 years or older.
The first two photos are photos of Leonbergers belonging to friends of mine, then there are 17 photos of Bronco and finally there are six Leonberger stock photos. If you’ve been following my blog, you may have seen many of these photos already but not all of them. Below is a list of the previous 25 Leonberger posts I’ve made.
A Canadian Leonberger called Mak with my book. Photo by Debbie Ireland.Digory and Obi two Leonbergers. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.Bronco’s 11th birthday.Bronco taking a resting in the grass in our backyard.Bronco and our Pug Daisy. Daisy is leaving because she thinks Bronco is hogging the sofa.Our Leonberger dog Bronco is coming up to me. Maybe it is dinner time.Our Leonberger Bronco in the backyard with our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo. This is the first time they met.Our Leonberger dog Bronco is eleven and a half years old and we have acquired a new puppy, a mini-Australian Shepherd by the name Rollo.Rollo wants Bronco to play with him, but Bronco is old.Bronco got his Grey-Muzzle award from the Leonberger Health Foundation International for reaching the age of 12 years old and thus giving hope for a longer life to all Leonbergers.Bronco our Leonberger dog is taking a rest during a walk. He is twelve and a half years old.A rambunctious Rollo is biting Bronco’s tail. Bronco was very patient. One time Rollo swung in his tail as if it was a swing.Our Leonberger Bronco is in the bushes at grandpa and grandma’s house.After a toe amputation due to toe cancer, Bronco needed to wear a cone, a big soft cone. Unfortunately, he frequently cleared tables as he swung the cone back and forth. Here he has just pushed a pile of books and papers off a table.Rollo wants Bronco to give him a belly rub. But Bronco does not know how to give belly rubs.Bronco taking a break during a walk. He is old for a Leonberger. He is 12 years old and 10 months.Bronco our Leonberger is hanging out with Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd. Bronco is 12 years old and 11 months, in this photo. You can see his blue help-em-up around his waist. He needed help to get up. Unfortunately, he only had two more weeks to live in this photo.Big dog Leonberger portrait in the studio Stock Photo ID: 193024763 by Csanad Kiss.Old Leonberger Stock Photo ID: 2342234815 by theimagebooth.Mature big Leonberger Stock Photo ID:731020957 by Peter Josto.Old Leonberger Stock Photo ID: 1844035084 by Daniel Lesk.Old Leonberger Stock Photo ID: 1957113277 by AnetaZabranska.Old Leonberger in the snow Stock Photo ID: 1944789826 by Anna Krivitskaya.Old Leonberger in Norway Stock Photo ID: 1779931691 by Britta Paasch.Closeup of old Leonberger Stock Photo ID: 1942925251 by Wirestock Creators.
Also don’t forget to check out my new blog if you haven’t done so.
Our Leonberger Bronco was born in British Columbia, Canada (nearby Vancouver), on July 3rd, 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.
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”.
Bronco’s original birth certificate from LCA (Leonberger Club of America). His name at this time was “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.Close up of his name, which incorrectly was “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.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.
This is Bronco and me. He is about one year old. Not yet fully grown but still big.Bronco when he was 167lbs sitting in my wife’s lap. He went on a diet after this photo.Bronco with our pug Daisy and Japanese Chin Ryu.Bronco with our pug Daisy and Japanese Chin Ryu again.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.
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.
Bronco is chasing off a trespassing peeping Tom who had been terrorizing the women in the neighborhood at night. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.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.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 3rd, 2022, on what would have been Bronco’s 15th birthday. However, Amazon was quicker than I expected. The Kindle version became available on the day I uploaded it July 1st, 2022, and the paperback version July 2nd, 2022, but I did not tell people about it until July 3rd. Well today it is July 3rd again. To read more about my book click here.
In July of 2022 my book was the number one new release on American Amazon in the category “dog breeds”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.This is the front 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 paperback version of 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.These are the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to got to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.
If you haven’t already, please take a look at my book
Leonberger Life 