Our Leonberger ChatGPT and Google AI

Today I was having fun with ChatGPT and Google AI. I asked ChatGPT the following question : Was there a Leonberger called Bronco?

The answer is shown below

The picture is a screenshot. The ChatGPT answer is below.
I took a screenshot of the answer.

If the text is hard to read in the picture, this is the answer ChatGPT gave.

Yes, there was a Leonberger named Bronco. Bronco, officially named Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, lived with the Wikman family in Dallas, Texas, from 2007 until his passing in 2020. Notably, he lived an unusually long life for his breed, reaching almost thirteen years, surpassing the typical life expectancy of Leonbergers, which is around nine years. His story is detailed in the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” by Thomas Wikman, which shares anecdotes of Bronco’s adventures and provides insights into caring for Leonbergers.

I think that sounds right.

Confusing ChatGPT

Next, I asked ChatGPT the following question : Did the Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle rescue Hamsters?

I can add that Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle is a unique Leonberger name. There is a Leonberger database called the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database featuring more than 172,000 Leonbergers. It covers most Leonbergers in the world back until the beginning of the 20th century and only three of them were named Bronco including Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, which is the only Leonberger named exactly that. As you can see below ChatGPT is confusing our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle with another dog.

The picture is a screenshot. The ChatGPT answer is below.
I took a screenshot of the answer.

If the text is hard to read in the picture, this is the answer ChatGPT gave.

Yes, Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, a Leonberger, is known for his heroic act of rescuing a group of hamsters! This event gained attention when Le Bronco, who was living in Germany, saved several hamsters from a fire in 2011. The hamsters were trapped in their cages, and thanks to Le Bronco’s quick thinking and bravery, he managed to alert his owners and helped rescue the small animals.

His actions were recognized as a remarkable act of kindness and heroism, showing the intelligence and sensitivity that dogs, particularly the Leonberger breed, can possess.

I’ve noticed that ChatGPT is sometimes wrong. For example, when you ask questions on a topic for which there is sparse information ChatGPT frequently gets the answer wrong. Another way to confuse ChatGPT and get bad answers is to ask vague questions or ask questions that cannot be answered precisely. ChatGPT relies on internet data and may base its answers on people’s biases and cliches rather than accurate information.

Google AI on Bronco

Interestingly enough, Google AI gave more extensive and interesting answers to my questions, and unlike ChatGPT it answered both of them correctly and provided links to the sources.

First, I asked : Was there a Leonberger called Bronco?

This is what I got :

The picture is a screenshot. The Google AI answer is below.
Screenshot of answer.

If the text is hard to read in the picture, this is what the screenshot says.

Yes, there was a Leonberger named Bronco. Bronco, officially named Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, lived with the Wikman family in Dallas, Texas, from 2007 until his passing in 2020. Notably, he lived an unusually long life for his breed, reaching almost thirteen years, surpassing the typical life expectancy of Leonbergers, which is around nine years. His story is detailed in the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” by Thomas Wikman, which shares anecdotes of Bronco’s adventures and provides insights into caring for Leonbergers.

Yes, there was a well-known Leonberger named “Bronco” (Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle) who lived with the Wikman family in Dallas, Texas, and was the subject of a book and blog called “Leonberger Life”.

Here’s a more detailed look at Bronco and his story:

As I scrolled down there was more

The picture is a screenshot. The Google AI answer is below.
Screenshot of answer after a bit of scrolling.

If the text is hard to read in the picture, this is what the screenshot says.

Owner:

Thomas Wikman, a retired automation, robotics, and software engineer, and his wife raised three children, and later lived with their two dogs—a pug and a miniature Australian shepherd.

Book and Blog:

Thomas Wikman wrote a book, “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” and a blog, “Leonberger Life” about his Leonberger, Bronco.

Longevity:

Bronco lived a relatively long life for a Leonberger, receiving the “Grey Muzzle Award” for living longer than 12 years.

Notable Incidents:

Bronco was known for his bravery and protective nature, saving Daisy’s life and potentially Baylor’s life, as well as scaring off a trespasser.

Death:

Bronco passed away in 2020.

On the right side there are references to two of my blog posts and one post by Annika Perry.

The picture is a screenshot. The Google AI answer is below.
Screenshot of answer after a bit more of scrolling.

If the text is hard to read in the picture, this is what the screenshot says.

Thomas Wikman had Bronco, a 167-pound Leonberger who, by all accounts, was an extraordinary dog with a remarkable owner.

This is followed by a link to the People Newspapers a Newspaper that published a review of my book.

How did Google AI do on the second question?

I asked Google AI the same question : Did the Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle rescue Hamsters?

The picture is a screenshot. The Google AI answer is below.
Screenshot of answer.

If the text is hard to read in the picture, this is what the screenshot says.

Yes, the Leonberger, Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, is known for a story where he “rescued” two escaped hamsters by carrying them in his cheeks, though they were later revived by Claudia, Thomas’s wife, performing CPR.

Here’s a more detailed account:

The picture is a screenshot. The Google AI answer is below
Screenshot of answer after additional scrolling.

If the text is hard to read in the picture, this is what the screenshot says.

The Hamster Escape Artist:

The kids had pet hamsters named Moldova and Montenegro, who occasionally escaped their cages.

Bronco’s Unique Skill:

Claudia would tell Bronco, “Bronco, find the hamsters,” and he would sniff around the house until he located them.

Examples of Bronco’s “Rescues”:

One time he found them in the linen closet.

Another time he found them on a shelf in the living room.

On one occasion, a friend of David trusted them with his two hamsters, and Bronco later “rescued” them after Claudia noticed they were missing from their cage, with Bronco’s cheeks looking puffy.

The “Rescue” Incident:

Claudia noticed Bronco’s cheeks were puffy, and when she said “Bronco, drop it!”, two hamsters, both unconscious, fell out.

CPR Attempt:

Claudia panicked and performed CPR on the unconscious hamsters, and one hamster revived right away.

Second Hamster’s Revival:

The CPR didn’t seem to work on the other hamster, but Claudia put both back in their cage, and soon the second hamster also woke up.

Keeping the Secret:

They decided to keep the incident to themselves, as “hamsters don’t squeal”.

Google Search for Leonberger

Finally, I did another experiment. I typed in “Leonberger” in Google Search and my blog came up on the first page following the Wikipedia entry for Leonberger, the “People also ask” section, the American Kennel Club web page  on Leonbergers, the Things to Know section and the What people say section and then comes my Leonberger Life blog followed by 7 more sites on the first page. Interestingly my blog is ahead of PetMD, the Leonberger Club of America and the United Kennel Club.

The screenshot shows  the entry for Leonberger Life … The Origins of the Leonberger Dog …. The Leonberger breed was originally created by
The screenshot shows the Google result for “Leonberger”

In conclusion, I was not that impressed by ChatGPT but I was impressed by Google AI and thought the Google search of Leonberger was fun to see.

Additon : A blogger friend of mine, Miriam Hurdle found the following information, which explains the result. Thank you so much Miriam.

Google AI has a larger database of all the information out there. Probably that’s the reason it has the details of your book and your blog. BBasically Google indicates that ChatGPT is good at idea generation and writing, etc. I think that’s why it doesn’t know the details of your book.

My Leonberger Blog Goals for 2023

I launched this Leonberger dog blog in March of 2022. The purpose of the blog was to promote my upcoming book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, stories and tips from thirteen years with a Leonberger” and to spread the word about Leonbergers, a rare but very special breed of dog. They are very large, friendly, unafraid but sensitive and loving, protective and strong, energetic and funny, especially when they are young.

Photo of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle at three months old.
Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle at three months old.

In addition, Bronco was a very special Leonberger. Purebred Leonbergers typically live 8-10 years, but Bronco lived almost 13 years. He was two weeks short of 13 when he died from heart failure. Therefore, he received an award for longevity from the Leonberger Health Foundation International and we donated his DNA for research. I can add that I donate all royalties from sales of my book to the Leonberger Health Foundation International. It is a great organization that has improved the health of Leonbergers and other giant dog breeds substantially.

Image showing Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award presented by the Leonberger Health Foundation International. He received this award because he lived longer than 12 years.
Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award presented by the Leonberger Health Foundation International. He received this award because he lived longer than 12 years.

My on-line friend Alex Diaz-Granados, who is an experienced blogger (see “A certain point of view”) helped me get started. He suggested that I use wordpress.com, and here we are. I can add that Alex and I have been on-line friends for a long time. It started with epinions.com, a review site that paid reviewers for writing reviews. I joined epinions.com in 2008. He had joined a few years before that. I focused on software, travel, books, computer hardware and electronics. He focused on books, film, travel, and I think on-line stores and a few more topics. He can fill me in. I can add that sometimes epinions.com paid pretty well, so after a while it became more than a hobby for me. It became a source of supplementary income. I joined twitter and Facebook in 2010 and he was already there, and we both eventually joined Instagram. Unfortunately, epinions.com went belly up in 2014.

In March of 2022 I invited friends and Facebook friends to visit and follow my blog if they wished to do so, and many did. I had some traffic and comments in the beginning but then it died down, and it didn’t seem like search engines picked up my blog. In July of 2022 I released my book in honor of Bronco’s birthday on July 3rd. In the beginning I sold many books, well for a Leonberger book anyway, and I also had more visitors to my blog, but after a while the activity on my blog as well as book sales died down.

Alex suggested that I visit, comment and like the posts of other bloggers and in August I started doing that using Alex’ blog as a starting point and now I was getting more visitors and a lot more comments and likes, and search engines started to pick up my blog a lot more. Lately I even had a couple of posts go sort of viral with thousands of visitors in a couple of days. Those unknown visitors tend not to leave comments (or likes) but other wordpress bloggers do. That was not the best part though. The best part was meeting other bloggers and authors on-line, reading their blogs, reading their books, typically great books. This was fun. Blog visits and book sales became secondary. Blogging is now a hobby.

Photo of Bronco in my wife Claudia’s lap.
Bronco in my wife Claudia’s lap.
Photo of Bronco a few weeks after his first heart failure heading towards the end of his life.
Bronco a few weeks after his first heart failure heading towards the end of his life.

So, what are my goals for my Leonberger blog in 2023?

  • Continue my Leonberger blog and keep promoting my book on the blog for at least six more months.
  • Virtual Book Blast For Natural Selection with Jacqui Murray on February 13 2023.
  • I still have a lot to learn more about wordpress.com. I don’t know how to do inline images, I don’t know how to store images for later use, I don’t know how to make those little icons, hearts and clover, etc., that people put in comments, I only know the basics of the 20/20 template, I don’t know other templates. I have a wordpress book that I am planning to read. I need to learn more.
  • I will read more books by authors I know online. Knowing an author and reading their book(s) is a completely different feeling compared to reading someone you’ve never talked to (I have a long TBR list).
  • Post 20-30 book reviews on my blog. I don’t post all my book reviews on my blog. Most of my book reviews are only for Amazon (or Goodreads). On my blog I just post reviews for Leonberger books and reviews for books by fellow bloggers that I love and want to promote.
  • I want to start a second blog that is about facts and insights that could have a high impact on someone’s worldview and yet may not be well known, understood, believed or are controversial, yet are fully backed by the expertise in that field. As someone who have studied modern physics, loves gapminder, and have read a ton of books on all kinds of topics, I’ve come across quite a few, and I have radically changed my view of the world several times. However, I am hoping for good suggestions from visitors so I can expand the collection. I can be in charge of the fact checking, at least to begin with.
Image showing the Leonberger breed standard from the Féderation Cynologique Internationale.
In case you are interested. This is an overview of the Leonberger breed standard from the Féderation Cynologique Internationale.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and a Great 2023!

The Five Most Liked Posts Among The 20 First

This is my 25th blog post and I decided to make it a collection of my five most liked posts. Most of you cannot like posts. You need a wordpress.com account for that. That’s just the way wordpress.com does it to incentivize people to get an account. I don’t like that, so I am not going to ask anyone to get an account. However, everyone can comment, and I like both likes and comments. So what do you think about these five posts?

Post-12: A Shocking Walk

A young Bronco (Leonberger) at the dog park. A bit gangly but still big and brave.
A young Bronco at the dog park. Our Labrador in the background. Bronco is a gangly adolescent and hasn’t filled out yet. Later he would start looking the way you expect a Leonberger to look like. He was still very big and very brave at the time. He was probably 120 pounds in this photo. Click on the image to see the “A shocking walk” story.

Post-13: Bronco the Great Swimmer

Bronco our Leonberger is swimming in White Rock Lake outside Dallas.
Bronco swimming in White Rock Lake outside Dallas. Click on the image to see the corresponding story.

Post-16: Bronco the Very Big Dog Bites My Behind

Our big Leonberger Bronco (167lbs) sitting in Claudia's lap.
Bronco our Leonberger was a big dog with extremely powerful jaws. Once he bit my behind. Find out why. Click on the photo to read the story.

Post-17: When Bronco Swallowed our Neighbor’s Head and Teaching Dogs How to Greet People Properly

Our big and fluffy Leonberger Bronco is standing in front of the Hallway. Bronco loved greeting people. However, the head in the lion mouth circus trick is not how you greet people, something Bronco needed to learn.
Bronco our Leonberger standing in front of the Hallway. Bronco loved greeting people. However, the head in the lion mouth circus trick is not how you greet people, something Bronco needed to learn. Read this story and how to teach Leonbergers not to jump up on people by clicking on the photo.

Post-21: The second proof version of the printed book was very close to final version. The final print version is finally done. Now we are doing fixes to the eBook version.

The front and back cover of the second proof of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”, stories and tips from thirteen years with a Leonberger. Click on the photo to read about this proof and the book release.

My First 20 Posts

This is post number 20 for my Leonberger/Bronco blog. I decided to make it a list of posts. Not all posts were equally popular and maybe you missed the posts you would have liked the most. You can click on the link or the picture to see a post, then click back or “Home” (at the top) go back. If you read a post I certainly would love to get a “like” or maybe a comment.

Post-1: What is a Leonberger?

This image of a Leonberger summarizes the FCI Leonberger breed standard.
Summary of the FCI Leonberger breed standard (Photograph of Leonberger © Shutterstock/Eric Isselee)

Post-2: Our Leonberger Bronco

Photos of our Leonberger Bronco. Left: Bronco at 3 months old. Right Bronco at almost 13 years old.
Left: Bronco at 3 months old. Right Bronco at almost 13 years old.

Post-3: The Time Bronco Saved the Neighborhood

Two illustrations: Left: Trespasser at night spying on us through our bedroom window. Right: Bronco chasing off the trespasser (illustrations by Naomi Rosenblatt)
Left: Trespasser at night spying on us through our bedroom window. Right: Bronco chasing off trespasser (illustrations by Naomi Rosenblatt)

Post-4: Bronco’s Hamster Search and Rescue

Two illustrations. Left: Leonberger with puffy cheeks full of hamsters. Right: Hamster CPR (illustrations by Naomi Rosenblatt)
Left: Puffy cheeks full of hamsters. Right: Hamster CPR (illustrations by Naomi
Rosenblatt)

Post-5: The Grey Muzzle Award

Leonberger's live on average 8-9 years. However, the Leonberger Health Foundation International is working hard to extend the lifespan of Leonbergers. They give an award to all Leonbergers who have survived passed their 12th birthday. The award is called the Grey Muzzle Award. Bronco's award reads: 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.
Leonberger’s live on average 8-9 years. However, the Leonberger Health Foundation International is working hard to extend the lifespan of Leonbergers. They give an award to all Leonbergers who have survived passed their 12th birthday. The award is called the Grey Muzzle Award.

Post-6: The time Bronco accidentally pushed Baby into a storm drain

Our German Shepherd Baby in a storm drain. I am trying to pull her out while our Leonberger Bronco is pulling on the leash.
Me handling a difficult situation. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Post-7: The Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database

Screenshot from the Worldwide Independent Leonberger Database, showing all the information on Bronco. More than 160,000 Leonbergers are listed in this database. That is most Leonbergers who've ever lived.
This screen shot shows the information about Bronco that appears in the WILD database above his full pedigree.

Post-8: The Day Bronco Stumped the Geek Squad

Illustration depicting a geek squad guy impressed by what the powerful bite by our Leonberger Bronco could do to a laptop.
Luckily the warranty covered both acts of God and acts of Dog (illustration Naomi Rosenblatt)

Post-9: Some Fun Leonberger Facts

The coat of arms of the town of Leonberg, Germany.
The coat of arms of the town of Leonberg, Germany, was allegedly the inspiration for the first breeder of the Leonberger, Heinrich Essig

Post-10: History of the Leonberger

Photo of Bronco at three months old. You can trace his ancestry back 120 years. A lot of interesting Leonberger history happened in that time.
Bronco at three months old. You can trace his ancestry back 120 years. A lot of interesting Leonberger history happened in that time.

Post-11: The Day Bronco Sniffed Out an Oncoming Insulin Shock

Photo of our Labrador Baylor on the left and our Leonberger Bronco in a sun ray on the right. Bronco may have saved Baylor's life by sniffing out an incoming insulin shock.
Bronco’s nose predicted an oncoming insulin shock

Post-12: A Shocking Walk

A photo of our Leonberger Bronco when he was young. Bronco was slim and a bit gangly when he was young. He would fill out later. He was full of energy, confident and not afraid of anything.
Bronco was slim and a bit gangly when he was young. He would fill out later. He was full of energy, confident and not afraid of anything.

Post-13: Bronco the Great Swimmer

Photo of our Leonberger Bronco swimming in White Rock Lake. Leonbergers are excellent swimmers and are sometimes used in water rescue.
Leonbergers are excellent swimmers and are sometimes used in water rescue.

Post-14: The Eye Drop War

Our Leonberger Bronco standing in front of a pet gate. Leonbergers are big and tall and can reach almost anywhere a human can. so pet gates are a good idea.
Gates we had around the house to prevent Bronco from roaming where he shouldn’t

Post-15: The Day an EF3 Tornado Ravaged Our Neighborhood. It was a tough day for us and Bronco

Photo of our Leonberger Bronco in front of our fence that was damaged by a tornado. He had also just had a toe amputation. He has a  plastic bag around his bandage.
Bronco, who was not at his best in this picture, rests next to our tornado damaged fence. We put a plastic bag around his bandage when he went outside.

Post-16: Bronco the Very Big Dog Bites My Behind

Our Leonberger Bronco was a very big dog with powerful jaws. Here he is sitting in Claudia’s lap/
Bronco was a very big dog. Here he is sitting in Claudia’s lap.

Post-17: When Bronco Swallowed our Neighbor’s Head and Teaching Dogs How to Greet People Properly

Our Leonberger Bronco standing in the hallway
Bronco in front of the hallway

Post-18: How to Publish a Dog Book on Amazon (and elsewhere)

This photo is a page example from The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger. It will be released July 3rd 2022.
Page example from The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger.

Post-19: Are Leonbergers like bears, lions or wolves? Ask the Boy Who Cried Wolf!

Photo of a Grey Wolf (Canis Lupus) to the left and our Leonberger to the right. The humoristic text says "Canis Lupus, the Grey Wolf, is a fearsome and courageous hunter in nature. Canis Lupus familiaris, the dog, a close relative of the grey wolf, is sometimes also brave. This specimen bravely protects the life of smaller dogs and hamsters."
Leonbergers are big dogs and little boys may think they are wolves, but Leonbergers are very friendly.

Post 20, well that’s this one. Please like this post or any other post if you do or leave a comment.