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.
Jen O’Keefe, a fellow Leonberger enthusiast and Facebook friend gave me permission to post about her late Leonberger Digory and the fundraiser she started to celebrate his memory.
Digory and Obi, two Leonbergers. Click on the image to visit Digory’s Facebook Page. Photo Jen O’Keefe.
Osteosarcoma is an aggressive type of bone cancer that tends to spread to the lungs. It affects both young and old dogs and appears to have environmental as well as genetic components. But according to the American Kennel Club, research into the disease in dogs is likely to have benefits for children who suffer from it as well.
Digory and Obi. Click on the image to visit the Canine Cancer Alliance Facebook Page. Photo Jen O’Keefe.
Digory was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and had his leg amputated 3 years ago. Although he passed a couple months ago, he still made it 2 years and 10 months, which is about 2 years longer than expected. Part of his treatment was a vaccine through Yale that was in early stages of clinical trials. That vaccine has shown great promise in treating both Osteosarcoma and Hemangiosarcoma, and Jen believes it was integral in giving him so much extra time. That vaccine has moved on to the next stage of trials. The Canine Cancer Alliance is helping to fund this next step, so in honor of Digory, Jen created this fundraiser so that more dogs, and their people, can benefit from the extra time.
Digory the Leonberger. Photo Jen O’Keefe.
Through the duration of this fundraiser, Jen will be posting links with more information about the vaccine and about Digory’s journey. Jen hopes that, even though he is no longer with us, he can continue to be an inspiration in the fight against Osteosarcoma. To end dog cancer, through research in prevention and cures. If you wish you can join in the fundraising. Facebook takes care of the donation processing with no fees.
Digory the Leonberger. Click on the picture to visit Digory’s Fundraiser. Photo Jen O’Keefe.Digory celebrating two years passed the amputation. Photo Jen O’Keefe.Digory with friends at the beach some years ago. Photo Jen O’Keefe.
The beautiful writing below I received from Brenda Saito a fellow Leonberger enthusiast and Leonberger owner. The author is unknown. Thank you so much Brenda.
Our Leonberger at three months old
Hello there. I am so glad you are here to talk to me. I don’t always do the best job of communicating my emotions to you, yet there is so much I want you to know. I will start off by saying I am so so sorry I stepped on your foot this morning. I do it all the time and don’t mean to, its just that my feet are so big and it’s easy for me to lose track of where they are in space. Speaking of space, I love to be in yours. I am really sorry I was in your space last night and my tail knocked over your beverage on the coffee table. Also, I am sorry I stepped on your foot again while you were cleaning it up. And this is probably a good time to apologize for all of the times you have had to change your pants before work because I slobbered on them. I know that I am extra in every sense of the word simply because of my size. At times you seem annoyed at my attempts to become your literal shadow. What you don’t know is how much my proximity to you matters to me. I can not express to you the joy you bring to me just by being present. I love your scent and the way your fingers feel behind my ears when you scratch them. I live for the moments when you lay on the floor with me and rub my belly, or when you slip me a piece of ice when you are getting a drink for your self. It is true that I watch your every move. I know the sound of your footsteps from anyone else’s in the house and the sound of your car from anyone else’s in the neighborhood. I notice the difference in your cadence when you are down or tired. At times your anxiety radiates through the room. It is intense and permeates your energy like a poison. I am not sure why this is, but somehow my sitting beside you helps the anxious cloud to dissipate. I promise to always sit there for you, as long as it takes, until your energy changes and you are ready to move. My time with you in this life will be short. My lifespan is not as long as other, smaller breeds. I promise to make up for this by filling everyday with extra love and lots of laughter. The connection between you and I will never be broken. You are my person. I am your dog. Love always,
Bronco’s asking face. You could usually figure out what he wanted.Bronco in his old age. He is 12 1/2 going on 13, much older than most Leonbergers live.
One year ago, I launched my Leonberger blog. Alex Diaz-Granados another blogger I know gave me some advice so I could get started. Well, that was one year and one day ago today (March 13, 2022). I was too busy yesterday to work on my blog, so this post is one day late for a one-year anniversary, but I am doing my one-year anniversary today.
The purpose of the blog was to inform people about Leonbergers, a truly remarkable dog breed, as well as advertise my then upcoming book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger.” I invited friends and announced the existence of my blog on Facebook and Instagram. Later in July of 2022 my book would be released, and a couple of months after that I started interacting with other WordPress bloggers upon the advice of Alex. At this point I am blogging just because it is fun.
I read somewhere that when you launch a blog you should make five posts at once because having a blog with just one or two posts makes it look empty. Therefore, I made five posts on launch day. Below I am posting five pictures corresponding to each of the five posts. If you click on the picture, you can look at that original old post.
What is a Leonberger? Click on the image to see this one-year-old blog post.Our Leonberger Bronco. Click on the image to see this one-year-old blog post.The Time Bronco Saved the Neighborhood. Click on the image to see this one-year-old blog post.Bronco’s Hamster Search and Rescue. Click on the image to see this one-year-old blog post.The Grey Muzzle Award. Click on the image to see this one-year-old blog post.
In this post I am just posting one video “THE GIANT LEONBERGER – DANGEROUS LION DOG?” from Animal Watch. I think it is a great video. It is 15 minutes long, which is I admit a bit long. However, all you need to do is watch one minute of it, at a random place to get an idea of how Leonbergers look like and how they interact. I did not take any videos of our Leonberger Bronco (that will change with the next Leonberger we get) so for videos I have to rely on the work of others, and I think this video is great (I’ve got plenty of photos though).
I think this video is bypassing the usual myths about Leonbergers and it is being more honest about the history of Leonbergers than most books and websites I’ve come across, so I like it. Yes, even Wikipedia is getting Leonberger history wrong. First, the creator of the Leonbergers breed, Heinrich Essig, was a politician, a councilman of the town of Leonberg, but never the mayor, as claimed by the majority of Leonberger books and Leonberger websites. This is confirmed by this video. The legend says that Heinrich Essig created the Leonberger to resemble to lion in the town of Leonberg’s coat of arms, which essentially means that Germans were pretty bad at drawing lions back then. Maybe Germans know how to draw lions now a day.
A lot of books state that the average lifespan of Leonbergers is 6-8 years, I stated 8-10 years in my book because their health had improved due to research by the (Leonberger Health Foundation International). A few other books also state 8-10 years, like mine. This video stated 10-12 years. It is the first time I hear that number, but it is believable because LHFI is doing their job. I should say that all royalties from my book goes to the Leonberger Health Foundation International. I can also add that work of the Leonberger Health Foundation International benefit not only Leonbergers but also other giant breeds as well as humans who are at risk for cancers that are very rare in humans but common in giant breed dogs such as, Hemangiosarcoma. However, it makes me wonder what will happen to the Grey Muzzle Award in the future. So if you buy my book you help Leonbergers, giant dog breeds, and people unlucky enough to get certain rare cancers common in some dogs.
The video stated that 22 breeding Leonbergers survived World War II and with respect to World War II I said that “that the Leonberger has twenty-two founder animals, or animal ancestors unrelated to one another (ten males and twelve females).” Both this video and my book thus disputed the very common claim that only 8 Leonbergers survived World War II (~80-90% of the books). So the agreement between the video and my book was very high despite the larger lifespan claim in this video.
Another item is that Heinrich Essig claimed to have used St. Bernards, Newfoundland dogs and Pyrenees dogs to create the breed. This is typically translated into, Heinrich Essig used St. Bernards and Newfoundland dogs to create the breed, or Heinrich Essig used St. Bernards, Newfoundland dogs and Great Pyrenees dogs to create the breed. I pointed out that Pyrenees dogs were probably not Great Pyrenees dogs but another breed called Pyrenee Mastiffs, that no longer exists. I also pointed out that Heinrich Essig did not keep a record and therefore we don’t know if what he said was even true. This video brings to out attention that Essig (without stating so) might have used the local farm dogs in his breeding, dogs which would have been the ancestors of the German Shepherd. That later part was news to me, and something that was never suggested in any of the 20+ Leonberger books that I’ve read. However, it makes sense. Leonbergers have some German Shepherd traits and our German Shepherd, we called her Baby, thought our Leonberger Bronco was her puppy, and raised him, and protected him with her life.
In this post I am posting three videos that I like, first, an interesting informational video about Leonberger dogs Second a song video featuring a Swedish lullaby about a wolf. Wolves are after all close relatives of dogs and our Leonberger Bronco was accused of being a wolf. The third video from the Britain got talent show, feature a Leonberger, Hagrid making a world record in sausage eating.
First video: It is an AKC informational overview of Leos featuring Leonberger breeder Alida Greendyk, von Alpanese Leonbergers. The video is 4 minutes 25 seconds.
AKC video with Alida Greendyk, von Alpanese Leonbergers
Second video: This music video, feature Vargsången or the wolf song, a Swedish or Nordic Lullaby. Dogs, Canis Lupus Familiaris, are descended from wolves Canis Lupus, and they have a lot in common. Our Leonberger Bronco was accused of being a wolf by an alarmed boy at PetSmart. We handled it well, so don’t worry. Bronco has been accused of being both a wolf and a bear, but as far as I can remember not a lion, despite the fact that Leonbergers were bred to resemble the Lion on the coat of arms of the town of Leonberg. I guess Germans are bad at drawing lions.
The song is about a woman protecting her child from being eaten by a wolf, but notice that despite that, there is empathy expressed in the song for the hungry wolf and his aching stomach. The existence of the stomach creates conflict between creatures in our world, and it’s been that way billions of years before humans entered the picture. The landscape is from northern Sweden where I am from. The singer is Jonna Jinton. The video is 4 minutes and 20 seconds….notice to get English subtitles you may have to change your YouTube settings.
Varsången with Jonna Jinton
Third video: is about a Leonberger named Hagrid who appeared on Britain’s Got More Talent in 2017, and 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.
So, someone writes a generic dog book to promote a website and another dog book, the book they really want to sell, and then makes 61 copies of the generic book, make the titles breed specific, and adds a little bit of breed specific information, maybe from Wikipedia, to each of the 61 books, for dog breeds, mind you, that they probably never met. Voila! One example is this book, Leonberger (Divine Dogs Online) Paperback – August 14, 2016 by Mychelle Klose. Since the author forgot to remove references to Tibetan Mastiff’s we know what breed this book was copied from.
The paperback version of the book is 48 pages, ISBN 978-1537099552, item weight 3.68 ounces, dimensions 6 x 0.12 x 9 inches. You can buy it from Amazon, as a paperback, or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $12.98 on Amazon, and the Kindle version is $6.98.
Front cover of the book Leonberger (Divine Dogs Online) Paperback by Mychelle Klose. Click on the image to go to the Amazon location for the book.
Below I am posting my Amazon review of Leonberger (Divine Dogs Online) by Mychelle Klose. Click here to see my original Amazon review. BTW I gave the book two stars.
This book on Tibetan Mastiffs, I mean Leonbergers, has issues and contain errors.
Mychelle Klose has written at least 61 breed specific books about dog breeds that she obviously never owned. I believe this Leonberger book was based on her Tibetan Mastiff book since she sometimes refer to Tibetan Mastiffs instead of Leonbergers. In the book she is heavily promoting her website and another book “How to have a healthy dog”. I get the impression that this book was created for the purpose of promoting the “How to have a healthy dog” book and her website, which is printed on the front page and throughout the book.
The book is very generic, applicable to any dog breed, and it does not contain a lot of specific information about Leonbergers. but there is some. Unfortunately, that information is incorrect a little bit too often considering it only covers a few pages. She claims that Heinrich Essig, the creator of the Leonberger breed, was the mayor of the town of Leonberg. Heinrich Essig was a prominent citizen of the town, and he was a successful businessman, farmer, innkeeper, horse and dog trader, large-dog enthusiast, dog breeder, and town councilman, but he was never the mayor of Leonberg.
She claims that only five Leonbergers survived World War I. It is true that World War I was tough on the breed, but it was not quite that bad. After the war, Karl Stadelmann and Otto Josenhans, worked hard to save the breed, and they were able to find twenty-five Leonbergers whose owners were willing to cooperate in reestablishing the breed. Of these, only five were suitable for breeding. That’s where that info originates. However, that’s a little different from saying that only five Leonbergers survived.
She also claims that only eight Leonbergers survived World War II. However, that is once again an exaggeration. There was indeed a “genetic bottleneck” of Leonbergers in the 1940s. This was largely because people repeatedly bred the dogs they thought were the best specimens in a misguided attempt to improve the breed. Scientific pedigree analyses demonstrate that the Leonberger has twenty-two founder animals, or animal ancestors unrelated to one another (ten males and twelve females). Again, that is a little bit different from “only 8 survived”. I found other errors as well.
The book design could have been better. The text is sometimes left adjusted and sometimes centered and the chapter titles are sometimes by themselves on the page preceding the actual text. It quite frankly looks like a mess. In addition, the pages are not numbered.
I am giving the book two stars instead of one because of the color photos and the external links section at the end, which feature links to great Leonberger websites.
Back cover of the book Leonberger (Divine Dogs Online) by Mychelle Klose.
With this post I am adding another Leonberger book that I recommend. It is a very good guide for new Leonberger owners with one caveat. It implies that you should neuter/spay your Leonberger at six months old, which would severely harm your dog if you did. The in general recommended six months does not apply to Leonbergers. Vannessa Richie did her research except regarding this. She has written many dog books, interviewed many Leonberger breeders, and she is a skilled author. However, it is obvious that she has never owned a Leonberger. Therefore, I am giving this otherwise great book four stars instead of five.
Front cover of the book the Complete Guide To Leonbergers by Vanessa Richie. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the book.
The book is The Complete Guide to Leonbergers: Selecting, Training, Feeding, Exercising, Socializing, and Loving Your New Leonberger Puppy Paperback – May 12, 2022 by Vanessa Richie. It is 195 pages, and the current price on Amazon for the paperback is $19.95, the hardback is $26.95, and the Kindle is $9.95. ISBN-13 978-1954288485, weight 12.5 ounces and the dimensions are 6 x 0.44 x 9 inches.
Complete and Very Helpful Guide to Leonbergers, but DON’T Neuter/Spay a Leonberger at Six Months
As the title promises this book is indeed a complete guide to Leonbergers. It is focused on training and care. First the book examines whether a Leonberger is the right dog for you as well as the history of the breed. The rest of the book includes topics on how to find and prepare your home for a Leonberger, puppy training, socialization, exercise, grooming, nutrition, health, etc. The book has a lot of detail and a lot of useful information. The author clearly did her research. She interviewed ten breeders after all.
The content of the book is almost 100% correct as far as I can tell, and the information is very useful to Leonberger owners. I question the second page of the chapter on history where she claims that Essig bred his Leonbergers from two dogs, a white and black Newfoundland and a long-haired St. Bernard. Essig claimed a third dog was also involved, a Pyrenean Mountain Wolfhound or possibly a Pyrenean Mountain Dog (Great Pyrenees). However, Essig’s claims have been disputed, and this is not important.
The book design is very professionally done with various sorts of sidebars, highlighted headers, professional looking tables, dividers, little corner boxes with graphics for “helpful tips”, “fun facts”, “historical facts”, “Health Alerts”, pros-cons sidebars with graphics, and 62 black and white Leonberger photos. The author is not only a good writer, but she also knows a thing or two about book design.
I’ve read more than a dozen Leonberger books and this is among the best Leonberger books I’ve read. I wish this book had existed when we got our Leonberger. I should say that we did not do everything right, but we got a lot right, and he lived exceptionally long for a Leonberger, 13 years. If we have had this book, maybe he would have lived even longer. I should add that we donated his DNA to Leonberger health research (upon request).
The reason I am not giving this book five stars is because of a problematic blooper in the middle of page 30. It says “….the dog is spayed or neutered once it reaches maturity (typically six months)”. Leonbergers aren’t fully matured until the age of two and should not be neutered/spayed until then. If you spay/neuter a Leonberger much earlier (six months) you will harm the dog. Yes, they are different from most dogs. I should say that we did not wait two years, it was not practical, but we waited about one and half year, which is much better than six months. If the author removes the faulty parenthesis, I will change my rating to five stars and update this paragraph and the title of the review. Assuming the book is print on demand you can update so that future prints here on Amazon will be correct.
So, in conclusion, this is a great Leonberger book with a lot of useful information, and I highly recommend it to Leonberger owners and prospective owners, but the blooper on page 30 prevents me from giving a perfect rating at the moment.
Back cover of the book the Complete Guide To Leonbergers by Vanessa Richie.
Ira Van Order or Velvy TheLion, which is her nick name, is a multiple Leonberger owner, a prominent member of the Leonberger Club of America, a volunteer for the Leonberger Health Foundation International and she is the administrator of the Grey Muzzle Award that was awarded to our Bronco. I think all of you who have visited this blog multiple times or follow this blog or have read my book know about the Grey Muzzle Award. She allowed me to use her beautiful Happy New Year Leonberger photo in my blog post. Thank you Velvy.
Caspian (Obi’s nephew), Austin (Obi’s son), Delfi (our 10 yr old, living with lung cancer), Obi (now 7 and a veteran), Digory, and Rilian (Obi’s son). They all wish everyone a Very Happy New Year!! Photo by Velvy TheLion.
Update from Velvy regarding Digory: He is a miracle, Leo. Two years and 8 months ago he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a very aggressive type of bone cancer. He was five years old at the time and had an amputation and chemo. This will typically give them another year to live. Velvy does not know of any other Leonberger that has lived more than one year post amputation. He is still with us two years and 8 months later. Velvy believes that an experimental treatment using a vaccine that he received via a Yale study is what made the difference. Velvy calls Digory a beacon of hope.
This blog is primarily about Leonbergers, especially our late Leonberger Bronco, or Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, which was his full name. I also review Leonberger books and sometimes I promote books that I love and this post is one of those. This time I am reviewing She & The Wolf: A Flash Fiction Collection Paperback – August 19, 2018 by Sara Kjeldsen. This paperback is 46 pages, ISBN 978-1719801263, item weight 2.88 ounces, dimensions 6 x 0.12 x 9 inches. You can buy it from Amazon, as a paperback or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $9.99 on Amazon. The Kindle version is $3.99 or free if you are part of Kindle Unlimited.
This book is a fascinating collection of historical fiction and fantasy short stories. I wrote a review on Amazon, which can be found here (Beautiful Stories That Will Stay With You), as well as on my social media.
Front cover of the book She & The Wolf by Sara Kljeldsen. Click on the image to go to the Amazon location for She & The Wolf.
Below I am posting my Amazon review for She & The Wolf a flash fiction collection.
Beautiful Stories That Will Stay With You
This book is a collection of 15 short stories mostly about women but also men living during dramatic times in the past, or more recently, as well as people and creatures living in imaginary worlds. The American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars are examples of historic settings in the book. She & the Wolf, the last story, is an example of an imaginary setting. The focus of the stories isn’t so much the time or the location, or even the events. The stories are about the emotions of the characters living through complicated and extreme experiences. The emotions are often dark, there’s depression, hostility, loss, tragedy, and death, but also hope, compassion and reconciliation (Pacific Ocean, 1814).
The stories are intriguing, poetic and above all beautiful. The characters are fascinating, and they are quite relatable despite their extreme situations. You really feel for them and with them. It’s a book that leaves you with feelings and thoughts about our existence. I highly recommend this unique collection of short stories.
Back cover of the book She and The Wolf by Sara Kjeldsen.
With this post I am adding a sixth Leonberger book that I recommend. It is a very short book, but it contains a lot of useful information. It contained a few inaccuracies, so I am giving it four stars instead of five, but it is still a good book.
The book Leonberger Dog by Lankford Marcus. Click on the book to go to the Amazon page for this book.
The book is Leonberger Dog: A Large and Friendly Leonberger for Your Family: Leonberger Dog Breed Origin, Behavior, Trainability and Facts by Lankford Marcus. The book is 57 pages, and the current price on Amazon for the paperback is $6.99 and the Kindle is $2.99 unless you have kindle unlimited in which case it is free. ISBN-13 : 979-8463499851, weight : 3.53 ounces and the dimensions are 6 x 0.15 x 9 inches.
This is my review for the book
Short Leonberger book packed with useful information but some inaccuracies
This is a short book. It has 55 pages of actual content. However, it is densely packed with information useful to Leonberger owners and those interested in getting one. The book is primarily addressing British readers, but it also mentions the Leonberger Club of America and give some advice specific to American prospective owners. It is quite useful to both American and European readers. The book feature 17 black and white photographs. I would have preferred the photos to be in color but that raises the printing cost, and some Leonberger books have no photos in them at all.
The book contains 11 chapters; Overview, History, Appearance, Temperament and Personality, Living Needs, Caring for a Leonberger, Feeding, Leonberger Health, Choosing a Leonberger Breeder, Average Cost to Keep for a Leonberger, How to identify a Leonberger. Almost all of the chapters were condensed but contained very useful information to Leonberger owners and prospective Leonberger owners. I especially cherished the “Temperament and Personality” and “Caring for a Leonberger” chapters. However, I had an issue with the two first chapters.
I would have given the book a five-star rating if it wasn’t for some incorrect information regarding the history of the breed. On page 4 it says that Heinrich Essig, the creator of the Leonberger breed, was the mayor of the town of Leonberg. Heinrich Essig was a prominent citizen of the town, and he was a successful businessman, farmer, innkeeper, horse and dog trader, large-dog enthusiast, dog breeder, and town councilman, but he was never the mayor of Leonberg.
On page 5 it says that after World War I there were only 5 Leonberger left alive. World War I was tough on the breed, but it was not quite that bad. After the war, Karl Stadelmann and Otto Josenhans, worked hard to save the breed, and they were able to find twenty-five Leonbergers whose owners were willing to cooperate in reestablishing the breed. Of these, only five were suitable for breeding. That’s where that info comes from. That’s a little different from saying that only five Leonbergers survived.
On page 6 it says that after World War II there were only 8 Leonbergers left. However, that is once again an exaggeration. However, there was indeed a “genetic bottleneck” of Leonbergers in the 1940s. This was largely because people repeatedly bred the dogs they thought were the best specimens in a misguided attempt to improve the breed. Scientific pedigree analyses demonstrate that the Leonberger has twenty-two founder animals, or animal ancestors unrelated to one another (ten males and twelve females). Again, a little bit different from “only 8 survived”. Another inaccuracy is that on page 2 the book state that the Leonberger have a tragically short lifespan of 6-8 years. First, all giant breeds have a very short lifespan and the lifespan of the Leonberger has improved partially due to the work of the Leonberger Health Foundation International. Today the Leonberger lifespan is 8-10 years. Ours lived almost 13 years (two weeks short of 13), so the Leonberger Health Foundation International wanted his DNA, which we provided.
This book is short, but it packs a lot of mostly accurate information that is truly useful to Leonberger owners. In that sense I think it is great. I wrote quite a bit about the few mistakes in this book, but I think it is important to point out inaccuracies. These inaccuracies frequently appear on-line and in other Leonberger books as well and they are not important to Leonberger owners. I feel I cannot give five stars considering these inaccuracies are in the book. However, I can still highly recommend this book to all readers interested in a short Leonberger book.
Leonberger Life 