Pug – Leonberger Life

Leonbergers Giving Gifts to Pugs

Esther’s writing prompt: 17th December : Giving

Dogs give gifts and do nice things for people and other dogs. In this post I am describing three occasions when our late Leonberger Bronco gave our Pug Daisy gifts.

Leonberger Shares a Gingerbread House

Our Leonberger dog Bronco (his full name was Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle) was an expert counter surfer, which is why we installed a pet gate to the entrance of our kitchen. Bronco knew how to open gates if they were not locked, so you had to make sure that you did not just close the gate but lock it. However, one December day I forgot to lock the gate. That was the day our daughter had made a gingerbread house and left it on the kitchen counter. Guess who ate half the gingerbread house? Guess who ate some of the other half? Bronco shared some with Daisy. He was always very generous. The photo below is what I saw when I got home that day.

A pug on the left, and Leonberger dog on the right. There are pieces of a gingerbread house on the floor. There is an open gate in the background. — The open gate behind Daisy and Bronco permitted their gingerbread-house raid.

Leonberger Shares a Baked Potato

I believe dogs have empathy, and sometimes they want to share—at least Bronco did. There was a time when we were in our home eating take-out food and Bronco stole one of our dinners, including meat, vegetables, and a baked potato. He started eating the meat, then he glanced at Daisy, who was sitting in the middle of the floor looking sad. Immediately he took the baked potato in his mouth and carried it over to her and dropped it right at her feet. I was going to get mad at him for stealing, but when I saw his kindhearted and unselfish act, I let it be.

Daisy our pug is sitting in front of a vent. — Daisy our Pug was sitting there looking sad, but she got a baked potato with bacon and butter. I should say that the photo is from another occasion when she sat in front of the vent because she was cold. But it is close enough.

Leonberger Saves our Pug Daisy’s Life

On another occasion, Bronco did something else amazing for Daisy. Despite having issues with his paws—this was around the time he was being treated for squamous cell carcinoma—he saved Daisy from an attacking German shepherd who was running loose.

We were at my wife Claudia’s parents’ house, just leaving, standing on their driveway, when one of their neighbors came out to drop some garbage in the trash can at the end of her driveway. With her was a young, probably adolescent, German shepherd, and he was not on a leash. As we were standing on the porch, I suddenly saw the shepherd flying through the bushes, his teeth bared. He quickly charged us—viciously.

First, he went for Daisy, but Bronco got between them to protect her. Essentially, Bronco saved her life. The shepherd bit his leg in return. Bronco was almost twelve when this happened, and he was not as strong as he used to be. A German shepherd would have been an easy opponent for Bronco just a few years earlier, but at that point he was old, and he did not need the extra stress.

I kicked the German shepherd in the stomach, and he ran off. Bronco’s legs were weak—he had recently had a toe operation, and his walking was unsteady—so seeing the shepherd going for the leg on which he had had his operation was very upsetting. The shepherd could have bitten me, of course, and I could have been severely injured, but I didn’t care. I was defending my dogs—who were all on a leash, by the way. If the shepherd had bitten me, the owner could have been criminally charged, and there could have been a lawsuit

The owner of the shepherd came over to apologize, but I cursed at her. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but she had a vicious and dangerous dog, and she intentionally let him run loose. In the end, though, there were no major injuries. Bronco’s leg was slightly hurt, but overall, he was fine. These days, whenever we talk about this incident, I jokingly refer to the neighbor dog as Cujo. I should say that we’ve had a German Shepherd who was a sweetheart, so this is story is in no way an attempt to disparage German Shepherds. They are typically wonderful dogs as well.

In conclusion, this third example was an example of Bronco giving up his safety and potential health to protect our Pug Daisy.

The photo shows our Leonberger Bronco standing in the backyard as a sun ray is shining down over his head. — Bronco was a hero saving Daisy’s life.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

Prompt : Small : Small Microscopic Subatomic and Strings
Prompt : Kind : Leonbergers Are Kind Dogs
Prompt : Charge : Electric Charge is not the only type of Fundamental Charge
Prompt : Promises : Promises To My Dog
Prompt : Shade : A Total Solar Eclipse the Ultimate Moon Shade
Prompt : Money : Ten Money Facts
Prompt : Edge : The Edge of the Observable Universe is 46.5 billion Light Years Away
Prompt : Fish : Ten Amazing Fish Facts
Prompt : Promise : I Promise Not to Post AI Generated Comments
Prompt : Respect : Respect your Dog

Daily Writing Prompt What is good about having a pet

Daily writing prompt

What is good about having a pet?

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Today’s writing prompt is “What is good about having a pet?”. I can easily think of many good and wonderful things about having a pet but let’s not forget that it also comes with responsibility. Having a pet is a lifelong commitment, well their lifetime at least, and you need to treat them like family. If you cannot handle the pet when it gets old, and you are not going to treat it like family, then don’t get it.

Our Pets

We’ve owned many pets in our life, fish in aquariums, bearded dragons and other lizards, snakes, rabbits, and hamsters. We’ve owned many dogs, and we’ve had a cat for a short time. Unfortunately, we found out that I was allergic to cats and my allergy was bad. Luckily, we found a good home for the cat. My wife and I were very sad that we had to part ways with the cat, but I just got too sick, so sick that it was dangerous. I should say I am not allergic to dogs.

We were not always good pet owners. Mistakes were made. For example, our five year old daughter brought home a dozen minnows that we put in an aquarium. They were basically fish that did not end up as bait. We did a lot of fishing for a while. We placed the minnows in a clean aquarium and fed them what we were told to give them. Our daughter named them Sally one, Sally two, Sally three, Sally four, Sally five, Sally six, Sally seven, Sally eight, Sally nine, Sally ten, Sally eleven, and Sally twelve.

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 four on the left and Sally five on the right. Minnows Asset id: 1182854671 by Rostislav Stefanek

As I mentioned, we were not always good pet parents. Our five year old daughter thought that the minnows needed a more interesting environment, so she poured cranberry juice in the aquarium. We were able to clean it out and save the minnows that time. But when she poured red paint in the aquarium, we were not successful in doing so. Our son also had a snake that needed to be fed subdued but live mice. We discovered that if you walk into a pet store and tell them you want to buy mice to feed your snake, they won’t sell the pet mice to you. Long story short we struggled with feeding the snake and eventually he died. We felt awful, but we realized that keeping a snake as a pet is not a good idea unless you really know what you are doing.

Our Dogs

The dogs we own and have owned have a very special place in our hearts. They’ve given us so much unconditional love, special moments, entertainment, and not to mention hilarious moments that we are still laughing about years after they happened. We used to have a Labrador called Baylor. Well, more correctly, he was one quarter Rhodesian Ridgeback but mostly a yellow Labrador. He was a funny and loving dog and the most skilled surfer counter I’ve ever witnessed. We also had a German Shepherd named Baby. She was also a rescue. She was a great guard dog and a loving stepmother to our Leonberger puppy Bronco. She fiercely protected him.

Our Labrador mix Baylor is lying down looking into the camera. He is on the left. Our German Shepherd Baby is lying down and looking into the camera. She is on the right. — Baylor our Labrador Rhodesian Ridgeback mix on the left and our German Shepherd Baby on the right. They were both old in this photo.

Bronco, or Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, was our Leonberger dog. This is a big dog and a rare breed related to Saint Bernards. We got him as a puppy from a Canadian breeder who likely is North America’s most prominent Leonberger breeder. Before we were allowed to buy him, we had to go through an interview to make sure we would be good dog parents. Bronco was a friendly, confident, loving, and funny dog. He was also very protective of our other dogs as well as our hamsters. He rescued run away hamsters on several occasions. He even put them in his mouth once and carried them to safety. He had a great sense of smell and one time he alerted us to Baylor having an oncoming insulin shock and on another occasion he saved our Pug Daisy’s life.

Color photo of Leonberger puppy. He is wearing a scarf. — Bronco our Leonberger at three months old.

Bronco is standing on a red leather sofa. I am standing next to the sofa and Bronco is reaching over giving me a hug. — Our Leonberger dog Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle when he was young. He is giving me a hug.

Claudia my wife sitting in a red sofa with our very big dog in her lap. — Our Leonberger Bronco sitting in my wife’s lap. He was 167 pounds at the time.

In addition to Baylor, Baby and Bronco we’ve had small dogs including our Japanese Chin Ryu, our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo who is still with us. Ryu and Daisy were funny and easy dogs and Rollo is very energetic, curious, intelligent and funny, but admittedly a bit of work.

A black and white Japanese Chin and a Pug are sitting inside a red suitcase that us on the floor. — Ryu and Daisy are protesting that we are leaving for a trip. We had someone watching them, but they still hated it when we left.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy peeking out behind a red sofa and looking straight into the camera. — Rollo peeking out behind the sofa.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd biting a Leonberger’s tail. — Rollo frequently bit our Leonberger Bronco’s tail, and he even swung in it like a swing. He climbed all over Bronco. Bronco was very patient with him.

What is good about having a pet?

Pets bring a lot of entertainment and joy and they add life to a home. They keep you busy and keep your mind off problems, conflicts and doom scrolling. Intelligent mammals, such as dogs, will also give you cuddles, unconditional love, and they can comfort you. For example, a few weeks ago I was watching a movie that was touching and bit sad and I got a bit emotional That’s when I noticed our dog Rollo staring at me with loving eyes as he tilted his head. Then he came over to me and gave me a dog hug (pressing his body towards mine).

Another advantage of owning a dog is that they need a walk every day. Walking your dog a couple of miles per day will keep you healthy as well. Studies show that dog owners live longer than other people. In addition, dogs can provide practical services such as alerting you when strangers approach your house, they can be guard dogs, sniff out diseases and seizures, in our case without any training.

Your Responsibilities as Pet Owner

You need to feed your pet, provide clean water at all times, wash those food and water bowls daily with soap and hot water, care for your pet, keep it healthy, wash it and clean it, pay for veterinary bills, play with it and provide opportunity for exercise. If your pet is a mammal or a more advanced animal, such as a dog, you need to love it, train it, and it needs to be part of the family. If you are going to keep it on a chain in the backyard, leave it to be lonely most of the time, or uncomfortable, or let it take its own walks without supervision, or return it to a shelter when it gets old and sick, then don’t get a pet, especially not a dog.

The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle

Finally, I would like to mention that I wrote a book about Bronco and Leonbergers. About 60% of the book is about Bronco’s daring and often hilarious adventures and 40% of the book is information on Leonbergers, breed history, breed standard, training, care, health, how to get one, and there is an extensive resource guide towards the end of the book.

The face of an old Leonberger, title, and author name. — This is the front cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com location for the book

The book is available in a lot of places including Amazon in the US, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and many other places.

Rollo is Seven Years Old Today

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is turning seven years old today (October 12, 2025). This evening, we sang to him, in English, Swedish and French, and he got a pupcake (cupcake specifically for dogs) and piece of filet mignon. Later today (October 12) he will get celebrated again and have more pupcakes.

To celebrate Rollo’s birthday, I am posting 20 photos I took of Rollo today, or rather earlier this evening (October 11), as well as photos from the recent past, and also photos that are a year or older. Some of the older photos are with our late Leonberger Bronco. The first six photos I took today. If you’ve been following my blog for some time, you may have seen some of the older photos already.

Washing Rollo

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is looking into the camera. He is wet. — Before the festivities Rollo needed a bath. He is getting washed in the sink. He was not happy.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd is looking into the camera as he is sitting in the sink getting washed. He is wet and not happy. — When are you going to be done with this washing stuff?

Birthday Photos of Rollo

Our daughter is putting a blue birthday hat on our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. — The birthday hat is coming on. He does not like the hat, so it did not stay on long.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd has his paws on the table and he is wearing a blue birthday hat. — We are getting the pup-cake ready, and we are going to sing Happy birthday in several languages. Rollo very much appreciates us singing to him in multiple languages, but mostly he appreciates the pupcake. A pupcake is a cupcake made especially for dogs. We humans had cupcakes.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is standing with his paws on the table, and he is looking to the right. He is wearing a blue birthday hat. — Rollo is ready.

Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd being fed a pupcake. — Finally Rollo gets his pupcake

Recent Photos of Rollo

Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd being sitting on a leather sofa and looking at a pupcake. — Rollo and a pupcake on a table.

Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd sitting on the floor in front of a Rolo candy. — Rollo and a Rolo candy. Rollo was not named after the candy bar Rolo as often incorrectly assumed. Rollo was named after the Viking king who sacked Paris. You can say he was on a roll.

Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd lying among the covers on our bed. — Rollo likes to sleep in our beds

Photo of our mini-Australian Shepherd being a bit wet — Rollo is wet, not from being washed today but from rain on another occasion.

Older Photos of Rollo

A mini-Australian Shepherd wearing a blue party hat. He is not looking happy. — This is an old photo from his fourth birthday. He is unhappy with the hat.

On the left there is a big Leonberger dog bending his head down to sniff a small mini-Australian Shepherd lying on the grass. — Rollo almost six years ago. He had just arrived at our house. Our Leonberger Bronco is welcoming Rollo.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd is lying on the grass and looking into the camera. — Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy.

A mini-Australian Shepherd puppy lying on a blanket and looking into the camera. — Close up of Rollo as a puppy.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy biting an orange volleyball. — Rollo playing with a volleyball.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd looking into the camera. He is next to a chewed-up shoe. — When Rollo was young, he loved chewing shoes. Here the artist is posing with his art.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd and a Pug and young woman in between them petting them both. — Our daughter with our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo and Pug Daisy.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd sitting in a stroller. — Sometimes there are scary sounds and Rollo wanted to sit in the stroller we bought for our Pug Daisy. We have not been using that stroller since Daisy passed.

To see the blog post from Rollo’s sixth birthday click here and Rollo’s fifth birthday click here.

Promises To My Dog

Esther’s writing prompt: 17th September : Promises

Click here or here to join in.

Dogs are domesticated wolves. To survive in our human society, they need to be taken care of. We often get them as puppies and all they know is how to live with people. When you get a dog, this is a lifetime commitment. Despite this fact a lot of people buying puppies bring them to shelters and many irresponsible breeders bring unsold puppies to shelters. In addition, 7% to 20% of dogs adopted from shelters are returned to the shelters, mostly due to behavioral issues or owners’ unrealistic expectations. Dogs who were returned for behavioral issues were also more likely to be euthanized.

Some dog owners don’t even bother to turn their dog into a shelter, they just abandon them. In the U.S., approximately 3.1 million dogs enter shelters each year. Many of these are abandoned, the offspring of abandoned dogs, or lost pets. In the U.S., about 60% of dogs entering shelters are strays. As a side note, abandoning a dog is illegal in almost every US state, including Texas where I live. We dog owners need to do better. We have responsibilities towards our dogs, to feed them, raise them, train them, exercise them, take care of them, and continue to shelter them when they get old and sick.

The Leonberger community has taken significant steps towards protecting Leonberger dogs from abuse and abandonment. First, the Leonberger Club of America certifies responsible breeders and work to prevent dogs from ending up with backyard breeders and puppy mills. Breeders are required to take back and care for a dog if it does not work out. All prospective Leonberger owners are interviewed and must sign a contract dictating how they should treat the dog. If they find out that you have mistreated a dog or failed to take care of a dog you cannot buy a Leonberger. To see the transcript for our Leonberger interview click here.

12 Promises to my Dog

Dear fur angel, I promise to feed you properly.
Dear fur angel, I promise to protect you from toxic foods such as raisins, grapes, chocolate, xylitol, birch sugar, onion and garlic.
Dear fur angel, I promise to protect you from toxic plants, dangerous household items and animals.
Dear fur angel, I promise to keep one or more water bowls always filled with fresh and clean water for you.
Dear fur angel, I promise to comfortably shelter you.
Dear fur angel, I promise to train you and care for your physical and emotional needs.
Dear fur angel, I promise to walk you every day (on days when this is possible).
Dear fur angel, I promise to take care of all your veterinary needs.
Dear fur angel, I promise to play with you, pet you, and throw balls.
Dear fur angel, I promise to never abandon you.
Dear fur angel, I promise to be there for you when you cross the rainbow bridge.
Dear fur angel, I promise to love you forever.

Puppy Versus Old Dog Photos

Below are some photos of our dogs. Except for the first photo, which is a photo of our Labrador Baylor and German Shepherd Baby at an advanced age, the photos are arranged so that the first is photo of the dog as a puppy followed by a photo of the same dog at an advanced age. I should say that we got Baylor and Baby when they already were adults and we don’t have puppy photos of them. What happened was that family members of ours had got them from a shelter and when those family members later needed to move, we offered to take care of them.

Both dogs are laying on their stomach. Baylor, a yellow Labrador, is on the left and Baby a brown and black German Shepherd is on the right. — Our Labrador Baylor, left, and our German Shepherd Baby, right. Both dogs are at an advanced age. I should add that Baylor was partially a mix. He was three quarters Labrador and one quarter Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Our Leonberger Bronco Puppy is sitting looking into the camera and wearing a red scarf. — Our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle at three months old.

Our Leonberger Puppy is sitting looking into the camera and wearing a scarf. It is a black and white picture. — Our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.

Our Leonberger is standing on the left. My wife is standing on the right and holding the Grey Muzzle Award diploma. — Our Leonberger Bronco received the Grey Muzzle Award for longevity at age 12. Leonbergers typically live 8-10 years. It was the Leonberger Health foundation International that gave him the award. My wife is holding the Grey Muzzle Award diploma.

Our soon 13 year old Leonberger Bronco is lying on the lawn in front of our house. He is looking into the camera. — Our soon 13 year old Leonberger Bronco.

Ryu our Japanese Chin is dancing with our daughter. He is looking into the camera. It looks like he is laughing. — Our Japanese Chin puppy Ryu loved to sing and dance when. Well, howl and dance.

Ryu our Japanese Chin is sitting and looking serious. — Ryu is old in this picture. He has an illness, and he is more serious.

Daisy, our pug, is in our son’s arms. He is wearing a red shirt. — Our pug Daisy in our younger son’s arms. She is a puppy in this picture. People typically assumed that Ryu was the female and Daisy the male, but it was the other way around.

Our pug Daisy, is wearing a pink party hat and she is eating a Pup Cake. — Daisy’s 15^th birthday. She is getting old. She is having a Pup Cake.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo puppy is looking into the camera. He is white and dark brown. — Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo as a puppy.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is sitting in a black and pink pet stroller. — Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is grown up but not yet old. Here he is sitting in Daisy’s stroller. Strange noises such as ducks quacking used to scare him and then he wanted to sit in her stroller.

Rollo Comforted Me

Something amazing happened this evening. I was watching a movie, Lion, about an Indian boy, Saroo who gets lost far away from home. He and his brother were riding trains, and they got separated. He is unable to get back home and ends up in an orphanage and is eventually adopted by a loving Australian family. However, once he becomes a successful adult in Australia, he sets out to find his biological family in India, a sort of mission impossible. I know it is not something parents of adopted children are thrilled about, but he has their blessing to go and try to find them anyway. It is a beautiful movie based on a true story and it is one of the most emotive and touching movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen the movie before, but it is difficult, even for me, not to get a bit emotional towards the end of the movie. I highly recommend the movie if you have not seen it. But you may need a tissue box.

I am sitting in the sofa, being a bit emotional, but I don’t think I was very emotional. I don’t think it was obvious. Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd is sitting in the same sofa, a few feet away. I look over at him and I see his big round sad eyes staring at me as he is tilting his head. I can see the love and concern in his eyes. He slowly comes over to me, lays his paw on my leg for a bit while looking into my eyes. Then he lays down next to me and pushes his body towards my leg as if to comfort me. It just felt exactly as if that was what he was doing. He was trying to comfort me. I wasn’t really sad, but the movie was touching my heart. So, I guess my feeling was pretty close to sadness.

Rollo our dark brown and white mini-Australian Shepherd is standing in the kitchen looking sad — This is Rollo. I don’t have a photo of him from today’s experience. This photo is from a different occasion when Rollo did not look happy because we told him we are leaving.

Can dogs sense when we are sad?

It is not just Rollo. Our Leonberger Bronco, our pug Daisy and our other dogs showed on several occasions that they could sense our feelings. When one of us was sad they tried to comfort. Especially Bronco was very sensitive to people’s feelings, and he tried to comfort. When our Japanese Chin Ryu died, we were sad, and Bronco and Daisy were sad, and I believe they could sense our sadness. The whole house was in mourning, including the dogs.

I can add that Leonbergers are known to be loving dogs and are especially in tune with people’s feelings. That is why they are very often used as therapy dogs. Dogs can even use their amazing sense of smell to detect emotions in people. “Can Dogs Sense Human Emotions?” is is an excellent article from “the Vets” on the topic. Check out the section under “Can dogs sense when we are sad? ”. I think you can recognize what just happened with Rollo. This is another interesting article from VCA Animal Hospitals. This post features a video about a therapy Leonberger called Scout.

Our Leonberger is standing on the large red leather sofa giving me a kiss. — Me and our Leonberger Bronco when he was young. He is giving me a hug.

Dogs can sense and detect a lot of things, our emotions, mood, fear, whether you are pregnant or not, illness, cancer, diabetes, whether you are a negative person, whether you are about to have a seizure, the weather, and they have an amazing sense of smell. You can read more about that here.

Recently Rollo impressed me with his amazing sense of smell. You can read about that here. Guess who had a truly amazing sense of smell? That was Bronco our Leonberger. You can read about that in the same post.

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

Today is Rainbow Bridge Day or Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day. We remember the dogs, or the pets that we’ve owned that passed over the rainbow bridge. I made a Rainbow Bridge post exactly one year ago today and since we have not lost any dogs since last year, I’ve decided to just reblog last year’s post. I am also adding illustrations of our lost pets.

Rainbow Bridge Day and the Dogs We Lost

The illustration shows a Labrador crossing a wooden bridge that has a rainbow over it. He is looking back a little bit. The text says “You were our favorite HELLO and our hardest GOODBYE”. — We lost our wonderful and brave Labrador-Rhodesian-Ridgeback mix under very tragic and unexpected circumstances. His untimely and cruel death has left us with a sorrow and regret that we will never overcome. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

The picture shows a brown-black German Shepherd looking up at a star. The text says, “You have left our lives, but you will never leave our heart.”. — Our German Shepherd Baby was like a mother to our Leonberger Bronco. She played with him, protected him fiercely, and care for him. She passed in 2009.

A black and white Japanese Chin is sitting at the bottom of stairways going up into the clouds where Baylor and Baby us waiting for him. The text says “Little fur angel at the Rainbow Bridge, we will always love you. Run and play little one.” — Our happy, lively and energetic Japanese Chin Ryu was a great singer/howler. He left us in February 2018. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Painting showing our Leonberger Bronco’s face. Like all Leonbergers he has a black mask and fluffy hair. — This is a portrait of our Leonberger Bronco who passed on June 16 2020. The portrait was drawn by Veniceme at Etsy (Natasha Dall’Ara) and it is based on one of our photos.

Our Leonberger Bronco is sitting in the middle of the illustration. To his left is Ryu and to his right is Daisy. Ryu says, “they are still talking about you”. Bronco responds, “I know”. — Our Leonberger Bronco lived a long life for a Leonberger, almost 13 years. He was a kind, brave, and friendly dog who loved and protected our other dogs. This blog and the book I write was started as a tribute to Bronco. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

Daisy our beige pug is laying in the grass and there are some flowers. — A painting of our late pug Daisy who passed away last April. It is based on one of our photos and created by Etsy. I believe by the same woman who made Bronco’s portrait (see above).

The Rainbow Bridge

According to an article in the Washington Post, the Rainbow Bridge is “a mythical overpass said to connect heaven and earth—and, more to the point, a spot where grieving pet owners reunite for good with their departed furry friends.” According to the article, it’s also a poem of unknown origin that spawned a pet-bereavement movement and even a worldwide Pet Remembrance Day, August 28. However, the part about unknown origin may not be entirely correct. Here is an article that tells us about the origin of the poem . The poem in its entirety follows.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special to them who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together

National Dog Day

This illustration, cartoon feature nine dogs in two rows. In the top row is a Dalmatian, Dachshund, Pug, and Jack Russel. The next row features a Chihuahua, Corgi, Great Dane, German Shepherd and a Pomeranian. — Cartoon dog pets with happy muzzles. Shutterstock Asset id: 2497974643 by Foxy Fox.

Today is National Dog Day. According to this website “Every year on August 26, National Dog Day celebrates the bond between humans and dogs while spotlighting the many dogs still in need of a loving home.”. It was Jacqui Murray who alerted me to the existence of National Dog Day. As a family we’ve owned six dogs including two rescues. They were:

Baylor our funny and brave Labrador Rhodesian Ridgeback mix.
Baby our nurturing and motherly German Shepherd.
Bronco our funny and loving Leonberger. He is the focus of this blog.
Ryu our Japanese Chin and energetic little opera singer (howling).
Daisy our calm and easy pug.
Rollo our rambunctious but loving mini-Australian Shepherd.

I should say we’ve been around many other dogs and owned other dogs further back in time. To celebrate National Dog Day, I decided to show photos of our dogs as well as dogs owned by friends and a few stock photos of dogs. A lot of the dog photos are of Leonbergers since this is a Leonberger blog. However, I would like to point out that we are celebrating all dogs, pure bred, as well as mixed breeds.

The illustration features four rows with five dogs each. Top Row: Komondor, Kooikerhondje, Korean Jondo, Korean Mastiff, and Korean Yellow Spitz. Second Row : Kromfohrlander, Kuchi Dog, Kunming Wolfdog, Kuvasz, and Kyrgyz Sighthound. Third Row: Labrador Retriever, Laekenois Belgian Shepherd, Lagotto Romagnolo, Lai Dog, and Lakeland Terrier. Bottom Row: Lancashire Heeler, Landseer, Lapponian Herder, Large Munsterlander, and finally the Leonberger. — Cartoon illustration of 20 dog breeds including the Leonberger. Shutterstock Asset id: 2658034883 by A7880S

Below are some of my previous Leonberger photo posts:

Miscellaneous Dog Photos

Ten Leonberger puppies sitting on a sofa. They are brown with black face masks. An adult Leonberger is lying in front of them. — Ten Leonberger puppies with mama. Shutterstock-ID: 561107650 by Akbudak Rimma.

Six Leonbergers with celebration hats are looking straight into the camera. — Six Leonbergers celebrating a birthday celebration. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.

A photo of a Leonberger puppy wearing a red scarf. — This is a photo of our Leonberger Bronco when he was three months old.

A photo of a Leonberger puppy wearing a scarf. He has his tongue out. — This is a black and white photo of our Leonberger Bronco when he was three months old.

Our Leonberger dog Bronco is standing in front of me and looking straight into the camera. I am sitting in the sofa. — Our Leonberger dog Bronco as an adult. He is coming up to me. He wants my attention.

Close up photo of Baylor our Labrador Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. He is looking into the camera. — Baylor is younger in this photo. The photo is from around 2005 or 2006. Baylor had a smile that would warm the coldest hearts.

Baylor our Labrador mix is seen swimming in big pool with clear water. — Baylor loved to swim in Claudia’s parents’ pool. Claudia is my wife.

Photo of our German Shepherd Baby at the dog park. — Our German Shepherd Baby was always a little wary at the dog park.

The photo shows a black dog on the left and our brown-black German Shepherd Baby on the right. — Our German Shepherd Baby is reluctantly playing with another dog at White Rock Lake dog park near Dallas, Texas.

Our daughter 9 years old is holding the paws of our Japanese Chin Ryu. Ryu is standing on his back legs, and it looks like he is laughing. — Our Japanese Chin Ryu with our daughter who was 9 years old at the time.

Our Japanese Chin Ryu is sitting on the wood floor. — Our Japanese Chin Ryu.

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.

Our pug Daisy is lying on her back on the gravel. There is also a toy duck. — Our pug Daisy loved to sunbath even when it was hot. Here she is catching some rays while lying on our old backyard porch, which had gravel.

Two Leonbergers standing next to each other and wearing party headwear typical for a carnival. — Digory and Obi are two Leonbergers. Digory was a very brave Leonberger who fought cancer. He was featured in the Leo-Letter a Leonberger Magazine Photo by Jen O’Keefe. Jen is a friend in the Leonberger community.

Photo of seven Leonbergers on the sand on a beach. — Digory with Leonbergers friends on the beach. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.

A Leonberger is lying on the floor, and my book is leaning against the dog. — Hachi is a Canadian Leonberger. Here he is featured with my book. The owner and photographers are Brenda Saito and her husband.

Photo of a Leonberger lying on a leather sofa with my book leaning towards his chest. — A Canadian Leonberger called Mak with my book. Photo by Debbie Ireland.

Our pug Daisy is on the lawn on the left. Our Leonberger Bronco is standing on the right. — Our Leonberger Bronco and our Pug Daisy

Rollo as a puppy peering out from behind a sofa chair. — Who is peeking out behind the sofa? The answer is Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd.

Our Leonberger Bronco is lying on the floor. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is lying on his side wanting to be petted. — Our Leonberger Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.

Rollo holding a soccer ball with his paw. — Rollo loves rolling and chasing balls.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is sitting in a pink stroller. — Rollo is anxious and easily frightened. Daisy’s stroller is a good thing to sit in for such occasions.

Bronco is lying in green grass. Our house and brick wall are in the background. — Our Leonberger Bronco is in the front yard.

Rachel kneeling on the floor and petting our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo who is on the left as well as our pug Daisy who is on the right. — Our daughter with our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.

Our Pug Daisy has a pink party hat on. My wife is feeding her a piece of cake. — This is a photo I took. It was Daisy’s 15^th birthday. I can add that this photo was stolen by the administrators of several Pug groups on Facebook and posted as if it was their own photo. Sometimes her name was Daisy but sometimes they made up new names for her including male names. They also used the approval feature to prevent you from complaining. This was very common. I was unable to find an honest Pug group on Facebook. Posting dog photos on a blog is much more rewarding.

Dog Books to Check Out

I wrote a book about our amazing and funny Leonberger . The book also features tips for care and training of Leonbergers and other large dogs, as well as a resource guide. The title of the book is The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger. You can buy the paperback version here or the Kindle version here. You can buy it on Canadian Amazon here. To find out more about the book and where else to buy it click here.

I would also like to recommend a great dog book, Sam: A Shaggy Dog Story by Sally Cronin. To read my review for the book click here.

Another recommendation I have is The Good Dog: A Novella by Laura Stamps. To read my review for the book click here.

I am also looking forward to receiving a new promising poetry dog book, King Copper: Our dog’s life in poetry by Lauren Scott.

What Does Rollo See Out His Window

Esther’s writing prompt: 20th August : Window

Click here or here to join in.

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo loves going out, whether it is for a walk, a car ride, or visiting grandma and grandpa. But we can’t take him everywhere. Sometimes we have to leave him at home and when this happens, we tell him “Rollo go and look out the window”, and he runs to the window, and he looks out. You may wonder, what does Rollo see when he looks out his window?

He sees the blue sky and the clouds; he sees birds flying and he sees the black crows walking on our lawn. He doesn’t like the black crows walking on our lawn, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

He sees the green grass, the houses, he sees the jagged edges of the roofs and the chimneys, and he sees workers repairing shingles on roof tops, which look scary, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

He sees rabbits running, cats hiding, children playing and laughing, and he sees squirrels running up the trees so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

He sees people walking by our house. Do they see him? Maybe not. But there, someone sees him, and he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

He sees people with dogs walking by our house and that makes him mad, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

Rollo looks out the window and he sees the world, and he knows that the world was made for him, but he has to stay inside, so he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

We left him alone in his despair for nearly two hours but now he sees us coming home and he runs to the door, and he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

We ask him, Rollo, what did you see out your window today? And he goes woof, woof, woof, woof.

Photos of Rollo Looking Out the Window

Rollo our dark brown and white mini-Australian Shepherd is standing in front of the window looking out. You can see the reflection of me and the rest of the neighborhood in the window, obscuring Rollo a bit. — Rollo is looking out the window. Unfortunately, there are reflections in the window.

Daisy and Rollo Looking Out the Window

Rollo grew up with two dogs, our big fluffy Leonberger dog Bronco and Daisy our Pug. Bronco sometimes stood and looked out the window, but Rollo and Daisy loved doing that together. They stood on the sofa and barked at everything they saw outside.

A pug and a mini-Australian Shepherd are standing on the sofa looking out the window. The joke goes: Daisy says : Rollo do you want to hear a joke? Rollo says OK. Daisy says Knock! Knock! They both start barking like crazy. — Daisy’s and Rollo’s knock knock joke.

Rollo standing in front of a Rolo candy. — Finally, I just wanted to point out that Rollo is named after the Viking king who tried to sack Paris, not the Rolo candy.

Leonberger Guiness World Record

With this post I just wanted to highlight a fun Leonberger YouTube video regarding a Leonberger who succeeded in creating a new Guiness World Record on the Britain Got Talent show. If you don’t know what a Leonberger is; it is a big fluffy, fun and friendly family dog originating in Germany. It was registered as a new breed in 1846 in the town of Leonberger by a prominent businessman named Heinrich Essig. Leonbergers are related to Saint Bernards, Newfoundland Dogs, and allegedly Great Pyrenees (or Pyrenean mastiffs). You can read about the history of the Leonberger here. I am sorry I realized now that the page is full of typos. I have to fix that at some point.

At the end of this page, I put a fun YouTube video of Leonberger named Hagrid who created a new Guiness World Record. Since I created my Leonberger history page when I had just launched this blog in 2022 and had very few followers many people may have missed the Hagrid movie, so here it is. I can add that I have also added some photos of our late Leonberger Bronco at the end of this post.

Leonberger Hagrid

Photos of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle

A Leonberger puppy wearing a red scarf. — Bronco our Leonberger at three months old.

My wife is sitting on a red sofa. Our Leonberger Bronco is sitting in her lap and she practically disappearing behind him. — Bronco the lapdog. He is sitting in my wife’s lap, all 167 pounds of him.

A big fluffy brown dog lying in the grass — Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle or Bronco as we called him.

On the left our Leonberger Bronco. On the right our Pug Daisy. Both are looking into the camera. — Our late Leonberger Bronco and his sister, the pug Daisy.

On the left a large Leonberger sniffing a small mini-Australian puppy on the right. — A new puppy arrives, Rollo, a mini-Australian Shepherd. Hello Rollo!

On the left is a black and white mini-Australian Shepherd biting the tail of a Leonberger who is on the right. — As Rollo got older, he liked to tease Bronco. He pulled and even swung in Bronco’s tail. He also walked over him and sat on him. Bronco was very patient.

25 Leonberger Pictures with People

This is another post with the “25 Leonberger photos” theme. This time the theme is “25 Leonberger Pictures with People”. I’ve selected photos and illustrations of our late Leonberger Bronco that also feature people. A few of the photos are stock images from Shutterstock but most of the pictures are mine. Below is a list of the previous posts using the theme 25 Leonberger photos.