Tag: Esther Chilton

Playing Catch with Dogs

Esther’s writing prompt: October 22, 2026: Catch

Playing catch with dogs is my response to Esther’s October 21st prompt Catch. Click here or here to join in.

Playing catch with a dog is a fun way to provide exercise for the dog and perhaps for you too. Many dogs love to play the catch game whether it is with a ball, a squeaky toy or some other kind of toy. You just need to be a little bit careful not to overdo it. The wrong kind of toys can hurt their teeth and be careful, so you don’t accidentally throw the toy right at the dog and hurt them. Nobody likes to have a ball land on their head.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo loves balls, and he loves playing catch with balls and squeaky toys. Today October 22nd it is National Make a Dog’s Day, and we played with Rollo and he also got a little bit bigger dinner than usual.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is rolling and biting a soccer ball.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo love balls. Here he is playing with a soccer ball. My photo.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is rolling and biting an orange volleyball.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo love balls. Here he is playing with an orange volleyball. My photo.

I took the photos above, but I do not have any photos of our dogs playing catch and therefore I am using Shutterstock photos or pictures I generated using ChatGPT for dogs playing catch.

Rollo’s Bad Blue Ball Day

As mentioned, Rollo loves playing catch with balls and with squeaky toys.

The picture shows a dark brown and white mini-Australian Shepherd with a green and brown mallard duck in his mouth.
Illustration of our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo with a squeaky duck in his mouth. I generated this picture using ChatGPT.

However, it does not always go well, for example, the time when I threw a big blue ball really far and he ran after it really fast and tried to catch it, but it landed right on top of his head. He did not get hurt but he yelped a little. We were done playing catch the ball after that incident. What a disappointing ending to a fun game.

The picture shows a dark brown and white mini-Australian Shepherd with a blue ball on top of his head.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd gets a ball on his head while playing catch the ball. I generated this picture using ChatGPT.

Our Dogs Playing Catch

We used to have Yellow Labrador, Baylor, and he loved playing catch. Well, he was not a pure Labrador. He was quarter Rhodesian Ridgeback. If I threw a ball or another toy he would run after it very excitedly, come back and then we did it again. It was something he could do over and over. He might have been the most playful dog we’ve had.

A close up photo of our yellow lab Baylor. His face is towards the camera.
Our labrador Baylor (allegedly quarter mix with Rhodesian ridgeback) was a very playful dog.
Picture of a Yellow Lab jumping after a green tennis ball.
Illustration of Baylor catching a tennis ball.  I generated this picture with the help of ChatGPT.

Our German Shepherd called Baby was not as playful as Baylor, but she sometimes played with toys and might run after a ball if she was in the right mood.

Photo of Baylor and Baby. They are laying down.
Our yellow lab Baylor on the left. Our black German shepherd named Baby on the right. Our photo.

Our Japanese Chin Ryu was almost as playful as Baylor and Rollo. He loved playing with toys and running after balls. However, he preferred the squeaky toys over balls.

Black and white Japanese Chin lying on a red sofa.
Our Japanese Chin Ryu on the sofa. My photo.
Black and white Japanese Chin running to catch a thrown toy duck.
Japanese Chin trying to catch a toy duck.

Our Pug Daisy sometimes played with toys, like her favorite duck toy, but getting her to play catch the ball was mission impossible. She was not interested in such silliness.

A toy duck and our Pug Daisy laying on her back.
Our pug Daisy played with the squeaky duck for a while and then she spent the afternoon sunbathing in the warm sun. She did what she enjoyed best. My photo.

Leonbergers Playing Catch

Leonberger dogs are big and very playful dogs, and you can play catch the ball with them, but only so much. They get bored by repetition, and our Leonberger dog Bronco was that way. If you threw the ball, he would run after it and come back with it. If you threw the ball a second time, he would walk to get it and come back. If you threw it a third time, he would just stare at you as if he was thinking “what’s wrong with you? You get it this time.”. However, he was more interested in other kinds of games. For example, he loved swimming and chasing ducks in the water.

The picture shows a Leonberger running on grass chasing a green tennis ball.
A Leonberger dog is chasing a tennis ball. Leonbergers are playful but not fond of repetitive play, so throwing the ball will only work for so long. I made this picture with the help of ChatGPT.
The picture shows a man who is throwing a tennis ball in a field. A Leonberger dog is standing there looking at him. A thought bubble above the Leonberger's head says "I already got you the ball. This time you go get it."
With our Leonberger you could only throw the ball so many times. I made this picture with the help of ChatGPT.
Leonberger is swimming with a ball in his mouth.
Leonberger is swimming with a ball in his mouth. Leonbergers are playful and love swimming. Stock Photo ID: 720242263 by Christian Mueller.

Finally, a video about a Leonberger catching sausages. The Leonberger named Hagrid appeared on Britain’s Got More Talent in 2017, and in other places. Hagrid was attempting to set a new Guinness world record for catching the maximum number of sausages in his mouth in the shortest period of time. You can watch Hagrid’s attempt below. The video is 4 minutes and 46 seconds long.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

Dogs Make you Exercise and you Live Longer

Esther’s writing prompt: August 26, 2026 : Exercise

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Esther’s current prompt is Exercise. Dog owners tend to live longer than others and one reason for that is that dogs force you to exercise. You should walk your dogs every day because they need the exercise and they love sniffing around. Dogs really enjoy their walk and so should you. If you have a large adult dog, you should walk it at least one hour per day. A Leonberger dog should have at least 1-2 hours of physical activity each day, which can include walks, hikes, swimming, or interactive play sessions. Sometimes they make you run for better and for worse, and running is good exercise, as long as you don’t fall. See the story below.

This AI generated illustration shows a man walking on a path through a lush forest.
Walking the dog (a Leonberger) through a forest. There’s peace, fresh air, and exercise for both of you, and objects to sniff for the dog. I generated this picture with the help of ChatGPT.

When Our Leonberger Bronco Made Me Run like Crazy

A couple of times, Bronco took advantage of the fact that the snap hook on his leash would come loose and detach from his collar. One day this became a big problem. Bronco ran off, and I chased him—across the street, across people’s lawns, across the street again, and back over neighboring lawns. When he ran in circles, I ran in circles right behind him, yelling at him. He would stop and wait for me, and then as soon as I got close, he would start running again. I even jumped to catch him a few times. But he dashed off both times, and I just landed flat on my belly.

A man is holding a leash and running after a Leonberger dog. They are running on green grass. The man is shouting.
I am running after our Leonberger Bronco, unable to catch up. I generated this picture with the help of ChatGPT.
A man is holding a leash and running after a Leonberger dog. They are running on green grass. The man is falling.
I am running after our Leonberger Bronco and I am falling. I generated this picture with the help of ChatGPT.

Bronco had a lot of fun doing this. I imagined him laughing at me, and I got angry. Dogs can’t laugh, of course, but his tail was wagging in excitement, and it was obviously a game to him—a dangerous game.

So, I asked him, “Do you want to be lost? Bad things happen to dogs who get lost.” I don’t know how much of that he understood, but I had to tell him the truth. Then I turned around and started walking home. I figured I’d never catch him, so it was better for me to go back and get help. (It was 2008, and I didn’t have a cell phone.) Naturally, I worried that Bronco would get hit by a car. I was also worried about the damage an energetic 130-pound adolescent dog could do to the neighborhood.

The man and the Leonberger dog are standing on grass at a distance from each other (about 100 yards). The man is shouting at the Leonberger who is looking at the man.
Me shouting at Bronco from a distance. I generated this picture with the help of ChatGPT.

As I stomped off, I turned around to look at Bronco. He stood still, around a hundred yards away, staring back at me. He seemed confused. I continued walking. After a while, I heard the soft slapping of big paws on the road behind me, accompanied by some distinctly noisy breathing. Then I saw Bronco walking next to me, so I carefully snapped the leash back onto his collar. He let me do it without protest. He was finished playing games. We walked home calmly, and the next day I bought a new and better leash.

A man and a Leonberger are walking together on the sidewalk. This time the Leonberger dog is leashed.
Finally Bronco was finished playing games. I generated this picture with the help of ChatGPT.

Well sometimes the situation below may happen with a Leonberger. This happened to my wife and to my daughter. Our Leonberger Bronco was dragging them as they desperately tried to hold him. In this case the exercise the dog gets is of better quality than what the woman gets.

An illustration of our Leonberger Bronco dragging my wife who is lying flat on the ground.
My wife Claudia and Bronco. This was not Claudia’s best dog walk. This picture was drawn by Naomi Rosenblatt.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

When our Leonberger took a Car for a Test Drive

Esther’s writing prompt: August 5th : Test

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This AI generated picture shows two people sitting in the back seat of a car. A Leonberger is driving the car, and the man is holding a leash to the dog.
Photo of us taking a car for a test drive.

Today we started looking for a new car for our daughter, so we visited some dealerships and she test-drove some cars. This reminded me of when we bought our Subaru some years ago. We felt that it was very important that our Leonberger dog Bronco, or Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, which was his full name, was happy with the car. So, we let him take the car for a test drive. My wife and I sat in the back seat. Naturally, we had him in a leash. There are leash laws here in Dallas and we are not crazy.

More recently the Texas Legislature passed HB64 and SB14, which made Texas the first US state to allow dogs to drive. Any dog of any breed is allowed to drive a car as long as they are two years or older and are facilitated by a DDAD, a dog drivers assistance device. The Texas legislature isn’t crazy after all.

A DDAD is a device that reads traffic signs for the dog and takes cues from the dog’s body language to turn the car and control it in other ways. DDAD utilizes a multi layered neural network (deep learning style neural network, like LLMs) that has been trained using several thousand dogs that included all of AKC’s approved dog breeds as well as 100’s of mixed breeds. Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd, passed his driver’s ed test and now he has a driving license. In the picture below he is coming back from a visit to grandma and grandpa. He drove there all by himself.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd behind the wheel.
Rollo coming back from a visit to grandma and grandpa. He is driving our old Toyota Prius. We are not letting him drive our new car. We are not crazy after all.

The True Story

OK, I must confess, the stories above are not entirely true and the picture of the Leonberger driving a car, that is not a photo of us. That is a picture I generated with the help of ChatGPT. So, the top part of this post is not 100% truthiness. However, below is the true story of when we bought our Subaru and our Leonberger Bronco was part of the decision.

Do you remember the old joke about the man who heard a woman speak to her cat as if the cat understood her? He thought it was so funny that he went home and told his dogs about it, and they laughed and laughed. Well, it sorts of happened at the Subaru car dealership. We had our Leonberger dog Bronco with us. He was going to help us test cars. We wanted him to be comfortable in the back seat.

Well, the salesman at the dealership told us a story about a woman who kept talking to her dog as if he was a person. He was laughing and told us that she was probably crazy. He put his finger to his temple and twirled it in circles to underscore his point. But we didn’t think his story was funny. I mean, what dog owner doesn’t talk to their dogs?

Anyway, that day at the dealership, we let Bronco walk in and out of the various cars we were considering, and he sat in the back seats. The salesman didn’t seem to mind. But at the end we told him that Bronco had told us which car to buy. I mean in practice, you can say that it was Bronco who chose the car we bought. Maybe the salesman thought we were crazy too. Below are some photos of Bronco.

Our Leonberger dog is standing on a red sofa. He is stretching to give me a hug,
Very young Bronco is giving me a hug.
A big Leonberger head between the front car seats.
Bronco in the back seat. Going for a car ride. He is almost 13 years old.
A big Leonberger head between the front car seats.
Bronco in the back seat again. He is almost 13 years old.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

The Riverbank of Moälven

Esther’s writing prompt: July 8th : Bank

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An aerial photo of a river winding through a forest. There is some snow on one of the riverbanks.
Photo of Moälven river/ Photo taken in November 2005. Babiarne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A riverbank is the sloping terrain that directly borders the river. It separates the flowing water from the surrounding land and helps maintain the river’s path. I grew up nearby a river in northern Sweden called Moälven. Moälven is a small river, 140 kilometers, or 87 miles long. Moälven goes through Bredbyn, Själevad and Örnksöldsvik and it ends in Örnsköldsviksfjärden, a bay, or a fjord, in the High Coast region of northern Sweden. See the map below.

A beige and brown map showing the path of Moälven in blue.
This map shows the path of Moälven. That is the blue thin winding line. The dark areas depict mountains. Moralist, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons.

Moälven was used for timber floating in the past. Forestry and logging used to be a big business in the region where I grew up, and it still is. However, timber is usually not transported via timber floating now a day. Moälven features a lot of wildlife, including fish, birds, and beavers. Moälven was a stronghold of the Eurasian beaver already 50 years ago as it was recovering in Europe from near extinction. You could sometimes see foxes and moose in the forest surrounding the river and you could pick blueberries, raspberries and other berries in the forest.

In addition to living nearby the river, we also used to have a summer cabin that was located not far from the river. For these reasons I spent a lot of my childhood and youth on the banks of Moälven river. I used to jump into the river from the riverbank, I sat or stood on the riverbank as I was fishing, and we docked our small boats by the riverbank, tying them to a tree with a rope. There were also bicycle paths next to the river.

The map shows Moälven and a red arrow pointing out the location for our summer cabin.
A Google Maps close up of where our summer cabin was.

Some of the riverbanks were sandy, a result of the river being so winding and this caused the riverbank to flatten out were the stream was slow. So, there were several small sand beaches along the river that people rarely visited. That way you could have your private beach.

I should explain that in Swedish the word “flod” means a big river like “fleuve” in French. The Swedish word “älv” means a medium sized river or smaller river like “rivière” in French. The Swedish word “å” means a small river, stream, or creek.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

What is your experience with riverbanks?

60 million Lego Blocks

Esther’s writing prompt: July 1st : Block

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This post is about Lego blocks and Legoland. Lego blocks in their current interlocking form were invented in Billund, Denmark, in 1949. However, the history of Lego blocks started already in 1932 (in Denmark). You can read more about it here.

When I was a kid, growing up in northern Sweden, I loved building with Lego blocks, or if you call them Lego bricks (either way is fine). I’ve always wanted to visit Lego land in Denmark, but I never got the opportunity to do so. However, about 20 years ago me and my daughter (she was a young child at the time) visited Legoland in Carlsbad, California, a 128 acre theme park. Do you know how many Lego blocks there are in Legoland California? There are 60 million Lego blocks. Below are some photos from that trip. I should add that since this was 20 years ago, a lot has been added to Legoland.

Several skyscrapers including Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty, all built from Legos.
A model of Manhattan made from Lego blocks. The Lego Empire State building is close to 30 feet tall.
Several skyscrapers including Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty, all built from Legos, but a different angle.
A model of Manhattan made from Lego blocks.
You can see skyscrapers and the harbor and various famous buildings.
San Francisco built with Lego blocks.
My five years old daughter is standing on the left. The capitol building and other buildings in Washington DC are in the background.
My daughter is in front of Lego Capital building.
There are several buildings made by Lego blocks and in the background, there are people looking at the buildings.
A Lego block city
In the background is a Lego Science Center. There is also a Lego Bull in the picture.
Lego Albert Einstein. Mindstorm is a Lego Science center.
Sydney Opera House made from white Lego blocks.
Sydney Opera House made from Lego blocks.
This Taj Mahal model is made from white Lego blocks.
This Taj Mahal model is made from Lego blocks.
The big octopus has a black hat, black sunglasses, and is playing drums. He is surrounded by other musicians.
A large Lego Octopus playing music.
The White House is surrounded by greenery and other DC buildings.
This model of the White House is made from Lego blocks.
A lot of buildings from Washington DC including the Capitol.
This is a Lego model of Washington DC.
A lot of Lego buildings.
City made from Lego blocks.
The prince is bending over Sleeping Beauty who is asleep.
Sleeping beauty and the prince, all made from Lego blocks.
Hans and Gretel is standing next to a house, probably the witches house.
Lego model of Hans and Gretel.
Aladdin is sitting surrounded by treasures including a large open treasure chest.
Lego model of Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

Close Encounter with Grizzly Bear Number 399

Esther’s writing prompt: June 24th : Close

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Grizzly bear 399 was a long lived female Grizzy bear who lived in Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park near Snake River. She was called Grizzly bear 399 because of her tag number. She was arguably the most famous grizzly bear in the United States and likely in the World. Unlike the typical female grizzly bear, Grizzly 399 regularly gave birth to triplets rather than twins. She was seen and admired by thousands of visitors. Her Instagram account has 55,000 followers, books were written about her and documentaries were made. She had 22 cubs throughout her life. Unfortunately, she was hit and killed by a car on Tuesday October 22, 2024, at the age of 28. You can read my post about the accident here. Luckily, her one remaining cub was not hurt in the accident, and he was old enough to survive on his own.

rizzly 399 in the meadow. She is followed by her three cubs.
Grizzly 399 with three cubs. Photo from Wikipedia by StevenPDeVries, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

She was also special to me because we had a close encounter with her and three of her cubs during our visit to Grand Teton national park in 2007. It was a school trip organized by the math teacher, Frank Jordan, and each kid was accompanied by at least one parent to give the math teacher a break. Grizzly 399 gave us a very memorable experience.

Photo including a somewhat turbulent Snake River with the Teton mountain range in the background.
My photo of the Teton mountain range taken from Snake River.
The Teton range towering an island is reflected in a lake.
Jackson Lake, an island and the Teton Mountain range in the background. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Gabriel Goncalves.

Grizzly 399 frequently sought human company. She came down to the roads with her cubs and stayed with the passersby for hours. She did not beg for food. She just wanted to stay with people. This article describes her as a gentle soul. Grizzly bears seeking human company is normally a dangerous situation and grizzly bears seeking human company are therefore often shot to protect the public. Grizzlies can kill people both out of aggression and for food. However, the park rangers left Grizzly 399 and her cubs alone because they deemed her harmless. She frequently interacted with people without ever showing any aggression towards people.

Four cars that are stopped on the road letting the grizzlies cross the road.
A photo of Grizzly 399 and a couple of her cubs taken in June 2007 by fellow trip participant Gabriel Goncalves.

Her behavior was somewhat strange, but I was told by a ranger that male grizzlies sometimes kill cubs, and this was her way of protecting the cubs. Grizzlies tend to stay away from people except for her. She used people as a shield to protect her cubs.

We had a somewhat scary experience with Grizzly 399, but as it turned out, we were never in any danger. As we were driving through Grand Teton National Park, Grizzly 399 came down to the road, so we stopped to watch her, and so did many other people. She let her cubs visit the cars and interact with people and we went outside to get closer. This is normally not recommended.

One of the visitors, with a big car and a trailer, decided that he had seen enough and began to leave. He drove his car between Grizzly 399 and her cubs. Someone rightly thought this was really dumb and decided to improve the situation by honking angrily. As a result, 399 started running towards us, the large group of tourists standing outside taking pictures. We were about 100 feet from Grizzly 399, which is indeed a very close encounter with a grizzly bear.  As Grizzly 399 ran toward us, people started screaming and running, and unfortunately the math teacher who had organized the trip fell and got trampled by the panicking people.

One grizzly cub is looking in the window of a blue car. The other one is right behind.
A photo of two of 399’s cubs. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Gabriel Goncalves.

A lot of other things happened during the panic. People ran back to their cars or to any car. A couple of my fellow trip participants found themselves blocked from entering their own car (on the side facing away from the bear) because a plus sized lady was stuck in the door of their smaller car. Not a comfortable situation with a grizzly on the loose. By pushing her from behind they were able to get her inside and could then enter the car themselves. The kids were standing on top of the SUVs that we had rented and crawled back into the car through the sunroof. My son entered the car last by his own choice.

As it turned out the panic was completely unnecessary. 399 was not chasing anyone and was not really running towards us. She was running to the end of the car with the trailer to get around it to get to her cubs on the other side.

Six cars a car with a big trailer and a grizzly mother and three cubs on the road.
Grizzly 399 is crossing the road with her cubs. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Gary Weinstein.

One ranger told us a story about 399 that sounded a bit scary. A hiker, hiking alone (which you should not do) stumbled upon 399 and her cubs as they were in the middle of eating an Elk carcass. He had come out of a thicket and had not seen them until he essentially bumped into them. He screamed on top of his lungs because he was shocked and then he started running. That is a very bad reaction by the way.

Grizzly 399, who was equally startled, pursued him. He laid down on the ground as he had read that you should do when pursued by a grizzly. Grizzly 399 sniffed him but did not touch him. Her two cubs bit his behind but not hard. After the grizzlies had left, he stood up, walked away and went to a hospital to check out the bites on his bum, which allegedly were not bad. Well I guess he had a closer grizzly encounter than we did.

A grizzly bear is walking out of the thicket in a forest nearby the road.
The math teacher, Frank Jordan, took this photo of Grizzly 399.
Cars a trailer, and grizzly mother with her cubs on the road.
Grizzly 399 and her cubs amongst the cars. The photo was taken in June 2007 by a fellow trip participant Carl Ondracek.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

Why did the Dog Cross the Road

Esther’s writing prompt: June 17 : Cross

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A mini-Australian Shepherd is crossing the street on a crosswalk.
A dog is crossing the road. Created with the help of ChatGPT.

Top Ten Reasons as to why the Dog Crossed the Road

  1. The dog got sick and tired of this side of the street.
  2. The dog wanted to stalk someone on the other side of the road and then not bark at them and get a treat for not barking at people.
  3. Because he wants to chase a cat on the other side of the road.
  4. The dog wanted to smell something on the other side of the road.
  5. A dog is barking at us on the other side of the road, and our dog wants to put him in his place.
  6. There was a scary noise on this side of the road.
  7. Someone the dog knows and love is on the other side of the road.
  8. The dog has to cross the road to get to grandma and grandpas house.
  9. Because someone said let’s cross. Note: our dog Rollo knows the word “cross” very well.
  10. Because someone accidentally said the word “cross”, for example, “After graduating from college, I found myself at the crossroads”. Now we all have to cross the road.

About number 2. Our dog Rollo loves getting close to people and not bark because he knows he will get a treat if he does not bark at people. So sometimes it appears that he wants to stalk people to get a treat. He even spots people half a mile away. However, we do not actually stalk people.

A mini-Australian Shepherd is lying on his side as in front of Bronco as if he wants a belly rub.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd with our Leonberger Bronco who was old at the time.
Rollo is biting a large orange volleyball.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo rolling a ball.

The danger of dogs crossing the Road

Our dog Rollo loves to cross the street when we are out walking, and we cross the street many times during our walks. He knows the word “cross” because we have taught him this word so that he understands that crossing a street back and forth is a special action that he needs to pay special attention to. We want him to know that when crossing the street, you have to be careful. Ideally, we would like for him to look both ways before he crosses a street, but we are working on this. We have had a bad experience with dogs crossing roads.

WARNING: the paragraphs below are very sad, so if you are sensitive, please skip to “My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts”.

Close up photo of Baylor’s face.
Our Yellow Labrador Baylor

In December of 2008, we were planning a one-week trip. Baylor our yellow Labrador was maybe twelve years old at this point, and Bronco our Leonberger dog was a year and a half. We also had Baby our German Shepherd and Ryu our Japanese Chin. We needed someone to watch our four dogs while we were gone. Following a recommendation from our veterinarian at the time, we settled for a sitter who would visit the dogs, feed them, and walk them but not stay at our house full-time. This sounded like the best option at the time, but it turned out to be a disaster.

After we left on our trip, we got a phone call from the sitter, who told us that she was taking care of several other dogs in addition to ours and that she did not have time to drive back and forth to our house and attend to our dogs. The fact that she was taking care of several other dogs simultaneously was news to us. She asked if she could take our four dogs to her house. She stated that she had a fence like ours, and by having them at her house she could watch them 100 percent of the time.

We didn’t really like the idea because the dogs had never stayed at someone else’s house before. Moreover, we had never seen her house, and we had no idea how crowded it was with the other dogs there. But it sounded like the best solution under the circumstances, so we reluctantly agreed.

A couple of days later, the dog sitter called us again, but this time she told us that Baylor was missing. He had been barking at night, so she put him out in the backyard. Unfortunately, the gate at her place had been left open, and she didn’t notice that Baylor was gone until early in the morning. She asked us what we thought she should do.

We told her that she had to find him. “Go look for him; put up posters,” we said. She was reluctant to do any of that because she didn’t want to leave the other dogs alone. We told her that it was an emergency and she had to do it. We suggested that she recruit other people to help her. Baylor had to be found.

We were pretty upset about the fact that the sitter had put Baylor out into the backyard in the middle of a cold night and left him there. However, we needed her help, so we kept calm. We enlisted help from family members in Dallas, and I used an online service called My Lost Pet Alert, which sent 2,264 emails to people in our neighborhood that night. It didn’t help that it was cold and sleeting and the streets were icy and dark. Baylor also needed his insulin shot in the morning.

The following afternoon Baylor was found dead two miles from the dog sitter’s place. He had been hit by a car. He was found around midway between her house and our house, so it seemed like he was trying to get home.

Baylor had a very special place in our hearts, and I was devastated. My wife Claudia was crying, and the kids were crying. Not only had we lost a family member in a sudden cruel twist of fate, but his death was also likely an unpleasant one. That it was the result of a dog sitter’s carelessness didn’t make it any better. In fact, it made it worse. It is a traumatic event that none of has yet gotten over.

Baylor crossing the rainbow bridge and it says “you were our favorite Hello and our hardest Goodbye”.
Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

The Joy of Having a Pet

Esther’s writing prompt: June 3 : Pet

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I grew up not having any pets even though I really wanted a dog. However, both my parents were working, and my brother and I walked to and from school every day. We stayed by ourselves until our parents came back home. That is not a good situation for a dog or for many other kinds of pets. This all changed after I met my wife. She was used to having dogs and other pets. While we were still students we had an aquarium, hamsters, a rabbit, and a cat. Unfortunately, I was extremely allergic to the cat and I got very sick. Luckily, we found someone who could take care of the cat.

After we got married and had kids we had a couple of aquariums, a pet snake, a frilled lizard, hamsters, and eventually dogs. On one occasion we went fishing in a lake here in Texas. We used minnows for bait. My daughter wanted to take the leftover minnows home and put them in an aquarium. She named all of them Sally. Sally #1, Sally #2, Sally #3, Sally #4, Sally #5, Sally #6, etc. She was very young at the time and did not take care of her Sallys’ very well. She wanted them to have cranberry juice, so she poured cranberry juice in the aquarium. She wanted them to have a beautiful red aquarium, so she poured red paint in it. Well eventually the minnows died.

Freshwater fish Riffle minnow (Alburnoides bipunctatus) underwater photography. Minnow in clean water and nature habitat. Natural light. Lake and river habitat. Wild animal. Underwater photo of fish.
Sally #1 and Sally #2 Asset id: 1182854671 by Rostislav Stefanek

Our first dogs as a family were our Labrador Baylor and our German Shepherd Baby. To be precise, Baylor was a mix, one quarter Rhodesian Ridgeback and three quarters yellow Labrador. They were both rescues that were adopted by our niece (Baylor) and Claudia’s sister (Baby). They were both wonderful dogs. Baylor loved swimming and he was brave and very playful.

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

Next, we got a Leonberger dog by the name Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, or Le Bronco, or just Bronco for short. He was a big friendly goofball who saved our Pug Daisy’s life, probably saved Baylor’s life my smelling out an oncoming insulin shock, found and saved run away hamsters, and saved the entire neighborhood by chasing off a trespasser / intruder / peeping Tom. I wrote a book about him “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.

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 in my wife Claudia’s lap.

Next, we got a Japanese Chin named Ryu and the Pug Daisy. Two little energetic and funny dogs. Ryu loved howling and he sounded like an opera singer. He loved the applause he got. Daisy was a funny girl, and she loved being around Ryu. They did not like it when we travelled and on one occasion they staged a protest. They defiantly sat down in one of the suitcases and refused to move.

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.

Finally, we got our little rascal, the mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. He is an intelligent, curious, energetic, anxious and spoiled dog that is a chore. He probably understands several hundred words. When we still had Bronco, they were best buddies. He was pestering Bronco, biting his tail and even swinging in it. Luckily, Bronco was patient. When we leave for a little bit, he sits in the window and looks out into the street. When we say “Rollo, go look out the window” he runs to the window. He knows we are leaving. He is our most misbehaved dog, but he is full of life and full of joy.

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 mini-Australian Shepherd on the left, is biting and pulling Bronco’s tail. Bronco is on the right.
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.

The Joy of Having a Pet

Pets give you unconditional love, company, adventure, memorable moments, hilarious moments, protection, and lots of joy. Playing with them or taking a dog for a walk is good for your health, as this article from the Mayo clinic states.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

Myths and Magic Blog Tour Stop

Today, I’m having the honour to share the words and talents of one of my favourite bloggers and children’s authors, Esther Chilton. She is the host for the weekly writing prompt as well as many other blogging prompts. The weekly writing prompt is a lot of fun and very easy. I’ve written Amazon reviews for two of her books, The Secret Dragon, and this one Myths and Magic. You can read more here and here. Now, I give you Esther Chilton aka Esther Moonstomp (her very cool pen name).

The front cover features the title and author name, and a picture of a girl reading a magic book. There’s a king and queen in the background.
Front cover of Myths and Magic.

Blog Tour Stop for Myths and Magic

Thomas has very kindly allowed me to take over his blog for a short period today as part of the blog tour for my second children’s book, Myths and Magic,written for 5-7 year olds. A huge thank you to Thomas for his support. I really appreciate it.

I’ve been sharing different extracts from the book on my tour, but as Thomas often shows wonderful pictures and diagrams on his blog, I thought I’d share a few of the inside black and white illustrations. I hope you like them.

A bookcase with lots of books and there is a toy rabbit and a ball
Saffy’s bookcase
A big ogre with a big mouth and sharp teeth roaring and looking scary
An evil ogre
A pixie fairy sitting on a mushroom
Cute pixie
Baby dragons dancing as they are lifted up
Baby dragons

The Blurb:

Saffy has solved the first clue in her quest to save the magical world of Mandoreum from danger. Now it’s time to find the second. 

She isn’t alone. Her new friend, Lily, a dragon from Mandoreum, wants to help. Together they take a trip and uncover special stories and unexpected surprises.

But Saffy soon learns that first appearances are not always what they seem. And plotting in the background is a witch who will do everything she can to stop them…

Author bio:

Esther has been a freelance writer for over twenty-five years, regularly writing articles and short stories for magazines and newspapers such as Writers’ Forum, Writing Magazine, The Guardian, Best of British, The Cat, This England, Yours and The People’s Friend.  

Winner of several competitions, including those run by Writing Magazine and The Global Short Story Contest, she has also had the privilege of judging writing competitions and relished being given the role of head judge of the Writers’ Forum monthly short story competition.

Esther loves writing but equally enjoys helping others, which she achieves in her role as a tutor for The Writers Bureau. Always on the lookout for a new challenge, she is taking the distance learning college over at the end of July.

She has had two how-to books on writing published, with a third due out later this year, as well as two collections of short stories. Her second children’s book is coming out in May, where she writes under the name of Esther Moonstomp.

Blogs: https://estherchilton.co.uk

Website : https://esthermoonstomp.co.uk

Buying links:

Amazon UK:

UK: Paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Magic-Saffys-Secret-Quest/dp/1806342103

E-book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GX6T5C6R

Amazon US

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Myths-Magic-Esther-Moonstomp/dp/1806342103

E-book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX6T5C6R

Myths and Magic by Esther Moonstomp

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers including Leonberger book reviews. However,  sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that are books that I love and want to promote. This time the book is Myths and Magic by Esther Moonstomp. Below I am giving an overview of the two formats for the book (I bought the paperback edition).

  • Paperback Edition –  Publisher : Troubador Publishing (April 17, 2026), ISBN-10 : 1806342103, ISBN-13 : 978-1806342105, 80 pages, Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.2 ounces, dimensions : 5.83 x 0.22 x 8.27 inches, it cost $ 16.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Kindle Edition – Publisher : Troubador Publishing (May 28, 2026), ASIN : B0GX6T5C6R, ISBN-13 : 978-1806346684, 47 pages. It is currently $3.99 on Amazon or free with kindle unlimited. Click here to order it from Amazon.com. (Kindle version not released yet).
The front cover features the title and author name, and a picture of a girl reading a magic book. There’s a king and queen in the background.
Front cover of Myths and Magic. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback edition of the book.

Amazon’s Description of Myths and Magic

Saffy has solved the first clue in her quest to save the magical world of Mandoreum from danger. Now it’s time to find the second.

She isn’t alone. Her new friend, Lily, a dragon from Mandoreum, wants to help. Together they take a trip and uncover special stories and unexpected surprises.

But Saffy soon learns that first appearances are not always what they seem. And plotting in the background is a witch who will do everything she can to stop them…

This is my five star review of the Myths and Magic

Saffy and her Dragon at the Museum

First a note. I bought this book for the children of friends of ours, but I read it myself first without bending the pages. This book is an adventure filled and imaginative book that is excellent for reading out loud to children, or for young readers to read on their own.

Lily is a friendly dragon from the magical land of Mandoreum. In the earthly realm she appears as a small dragon statue that you can put in your pocket but in Mandoreum she is something quite different, but she is still friendly. Dragons are not bad and dangerous, just misunderstood. Saffy, the little girl who is the protagonist of the story, is friends with Lily and she carries her around when in the earthly realm. I should add that Mandoreum is under the threat from a witch, Narla. Saffy, her mom and brother, and Lily, visit a museum when the magic of Mandoreum begins to manifest. Magical beings appear and dangerous things start to happen in the museum.

The story is full of adventure; it is very imaginative and features harmless and non-scary drama of the kind that children love. It is a sweet and fun book that is captivating. In the book there are a couple of dozens of illustrations of dragons, dragon eggs, magical books, ogres, mermaids, museum rooms, king and queens, flying brooms, and more. In the paperback edition, which I bought, the illustrations are black and white. The book is well written, and it is a good story. I highly recommend this imaginative and entertaining book.

A description of the book written on the background of what looks like marble.
Back cover of Fringes, Heartstrings and Lyrics. Click on the image to go to the kindle edition of the book.

About Esther Moonstomp

Photo of the author. She is looking into the camera smiling.
Photo of Esther Moonstomp (Esther Chilton)

Blog: https://estherchilton.co.uk

Website: https://esthermoonstomp.co.uk