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.
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.
Also, if you have not checked out my superfactful blog yet feel free to do so.
25 Leonberger Pictures with People
This is a photo of our family. It is a few years old. From left to right, our oldest son, our Japanese Chin Ryu, my wife Claudia and I am standing behind her, our Leonberger Bronco, our younger son, and our daughter with our Pug Daisy. I would like to add that since then I’ve gotten in better shape.Our one-year-old Leonberger Bronco wants to give me a hug. He wanted to give hugs all the time. We also danced a lot. He was a good dancer.Bronco’s direct ancestor on the male side Leo von der Sagmuhle in Germany about 100 years ago (18 generations). I got this information from the World Wide Leonberger Database.Leonbergers are muscular, big and strong. Bronco is pulling our daughter along the ground as she is desperately trying to hold on to him. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Bronco is chasing off a peeping Tom who was terrorizing the women in the neighborhood including my wife. The trespassing peeping Tom never came back. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.This illustration depicts an occasion when Bronco was not so well behaved. We saw a dog across the street and our Leonberger Bronco became wild. He started barking and jumping around and he accidentally pushed our German Shepherd into a storm drain. I had to get her out while holding onto an agitated Bronco. The man across the street lifted his dog and ran as fast as he could down the street. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Once Bronco had a toe amputation due to cancer and the doctor put a full leg cast on him. He told us that he should not bump the cast, and that he should not go for walks for ten days. But Bronco was begging to go out, so my wife finally took him for a walk. She did not use the leash because she thought that he could barely walk. A few minutes later I heard screaming, and I opened the door and saw this. Bronco was chasing our neighbor and his two corgis as Claudia was running after him and screaming at him to stop. The cast went bump, bump, BUMP, in the sidewalk. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Our Leonberger Bronco got tired of watching the kids play games all day long. So, one day he calmly walked over to their laptop and bit the laptop hard. That was the end of the laptop. You could see the bite marks on the laptop. I took it back to Best Buy where the Geek Squad guy really wanted to know what happened. He said he had never seen anything like it. Luckily, they replaced the laptop. It is written Nerd Brigade instead of the Geek Squad in the illustration because of potential copyright issues. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Our Leonberger Bronco at the dog park at five/six months old. He is wearing a bandage on his knee because he got a condition from growing too fast. The two ladies are the owners of the little dog.Our Leonberger Bronco is sitting in my wife’s lap. He was 167 pounds at the time. Silly Bronco thought he was a lap dog.My wife Claudia with Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award. Leonbergers typically don’t live long and therefore Bronco’s long life was unusual. The Leonberger Health Foundation International awards Leonbergers who live longer than 12 years with an award called the Grey Muzzle Award.Bronco lived very long for a Leonberger. The typical lifespan is 8-9 years. As mentioned above, the Leonberger Health Foundation International gives out a grey-muzzle award to Leonbergers who have lived 12 years or longer. Here Bronco is receiving his grey-muzzle award.Photo of our Leonberger Bronco when he was very young. Less than one years old. He is sleeping on the floor. The kids are playing in the background.Our niece Jessica is giving Bronco a kiss.Our oldest son and our daughter are sitting in the sofa. Our Leonberger Bronco is in the foreground. In the back is our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.My wife Claudia with our Leonberger Bronco.Me and Bronco during Covid-19 times.Claudia with Bronco and our pug Daisy down by White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.A nurse is putting on a bandage on Bronco’s paw. This was because he had a toe amputation due to a cancer cyst on his toe. The cancer was not aggressive and did not spread. The toe amputation took care of it. First, he had a cast. Then he had bandages.Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is giving Bronco a kiss. Our son is overseeing and petting them both.Young Leonberger, probably less than a year old. Leonbergers aren’t fully grown until they are close to two years old. Stock Photo ID: 2089116934 by cynoclub.Young Leonberger and woman in front of white background Asset id: 2022376910 by cynoclub.A little boy is playing with a giant dog in the garden Asset id: 1044912799 by Lolostock – by Apex Studios.RONNEBY, SWEDEN – JULY 05, 2014: Blekinge Kennelklubb international dog show. A Leonberger dog and a female handler running in a show ring. Asset id: 204221011 by ImfotoA woman and her Leonberger dog. Asset id: 1741753382 by Elena Podrezenko
This is another post with the “25 Leonberger photos” theme. This time the theme is “25 silly Leonbergers”. The post feature Leonbergers looking silly or being in funny situations. A lot of the photos are of our late Leonberger Bronco but there are also Leonberger photos provided by friends as well as a couple of Leonberger stock photos. Below is a list of the previous posts using the theme 25 Leonberger photos.
Also if you have not checked out my new superfactful blog feel free to do so.
25 Silly Leonbergers
The first photos are not really silly, but they are photos of Leonberger puppies and they are cute and act silly. The first photo is of our Leonberger puppy at three months old. It was a chore to get him to sit still.
This is a photo of our Leonberger Bronco when he was three months old.Two light colored Leonberger puppies playing. My guess is that they are three months old. Shutterstock-ID: 2141564415 by AnetaZabranska.The silly Leonberger puppy is kissing a chihuahua who is getting annoyed. Stock Photo ID: 2166660069 by cynoclub.Baby our German Shepherd is playing with our four months old Leonberger Bronco. Baby loved Bronco as if it was her own puppy. They were playing all day long. Silly dogs.Our Leonberger Bronco at the White Rock Lake dog park at about five/six months old. He is wearing a bandage on his knee because at the time he had a condition from growing too fast. He had fun playing with the little dog. The two ladies are the owners of the little dog. As you can see one of them has an issue with her knee, just like Bronco.Our one-year-old Leonberger Bronco wants to give me a hug. He wanted to give hugs all the time. We also danced a lot. He was a good dancer and a silly Leonberger.Our Leonberger Bronco is sitting in my wife’s lap. He was 167 pounds at the time. Silly Bronco thought he was a lap dog.
A Leonberger in Action Illustrated
For a couple of weeks there was a peeping Tom who trespassed on our property and sat outside our bedroom window shouting obscenities and threats primarily at my wife. As it turned out the peeping Tom was doing the same thing to a lot of other women in the neighborhood. He had been quite busy looking through bedroom windows at night.
The police were not able to do anything about it, so I hired private detectives. The plan was that they were going to catch him in the act and turn him into the police. They sat in our backyard behind the bushes with a whole bunch of instruments, cameras, recording devices, and metal detectors. They also hid in a dark car parked nearby our house. My father-in-law was surprised that I was able to find the detectives. He did not think people like them existed and he asked me “how did you find them?”. I found them in the phone book (phone books still existed back then). They reminded us of the Ghost Busters with their enthusiasm, dress, and all their instruments.
Unfortunately, Ghost Busters, I mean the detectives did not catch the peeping Tom, so I had to let them go. However, that’s when Bronco stepped in. One night we heard a shuffling outside the house, and I sent Bronco out to chase him. It worked. The peeping Tom was really frightened, and he never came back. Bronco probably just wanted to say hello and lick him, but the peeping Tom did not know that. Bronco saved the entire neighborhood. Well Bronco was not the one who was silly this time, but everyone else was including the detectives.
Bronco is chasing off a peeping Tom who was terrorizing the women in the neighborhood including my wife. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
Back when Bronco our Leonberger was young, the kids had pet hamsters—Moldova and Montenegro. The hamsters escaped from their cages sometimes, but Bronco usually helped us find them whenever they did. Claudia would tell him, “Bronco, find the hamsters,” and he would go around the house sniffing until he found them. 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 us with his two hamsters while he and his family went on vacation. A couple of days later, Claudia noticed that the two hamsters were missing from their cage. The next thing she noticed was that Bronco’s cheeks looked puffy, so she said, “Bronco, drop it!” Out came the two hamsters, both unconscious.
In a panic, Claudia started performing CPR on the unconscious hamsters. She put one hamster at a time in her hand and gently compressed each tiny chest using the finger of the other hand. Fortunately, one hamster revived right away. The CPR didn’t seem to be working on the other hamster, but Claudia put both of them back in their cage, and soon the second hamster also woke up. We decided to keep the incident to ourselves. Hamsters don’t squeal. In this case I think Bronco was silly, even though he might have been a hero.
Bronco’s puffy cheeks hold two hamsters he probably was trying to save. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
On yet another occasion Bronco was really silly. He had a toe amputation, and we were instructed to keep him inside for ten days and keep him as still as possible. We were to make sure he wouldn’t bump the cast. This was, of course, almost impossible to do, but we were going to try.
However, Bronco really wanted to go out, which he showed us in various ways, such as scratching at the front door. After a week or so, Claudia suggested that we take him outside a little bit, just in our driveway. I agreed. When I handed her the leash, she said, “He can barely walk; do you think he’s going to run off without it?” We laughed, and I agreed that it didn’t seem like we needed it this time. So, Claudia walked out with Bronco slowly limping beside her.
Less than a minute had passed when I heard shouting outside. I opened the door and looked outside to see what was going on. First I saw our neighbor and his two corgis running down the street as fast as they could. Our neighbor was screaming at the top of his lungs, “Get him off me! Get him off me!”
Behind him, Bronco was running with his cast going kabonk-kabonk-kabonk as it hit the sidewalk. Behind Bronco ran Claudia, who was also screaming at the top of her lungs. “Bronco! Sit! Stay! Stop!” Finally, Bronco stopped, and Claudia grabbed him. Holding his collar, she led him back in. This time Bronco was really silly.
This is an illustration showing Bronco running down the street while wearing a cast. He was not supposed to bump the cast. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
Another time that Bronco was silly was when he started barking and jumping around when he saw a dog across the street. In the process he accidentally pushed our German Shepherd baby into a storm drain. I had to lay down on the ground and lift Baby out of storm drain all while holding onto Bronco. The owner of the other dog lifted up his dog into his arms and ran as fast as he could down the street. That was embarrassing and stressful. Silly Bronco.
Once when Bronco was not so well behaved. He pushed our German Shepherd into a storm drain and I had to get her out while holding onto an agitated Bronco. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
Additional Silly Leonberger Photos
Bronco our Leonberger get washed off at a fairly young age. He liked water.Bronco standing by the kitchen gate. The kitchen gate was there to keep him from going inside the kitchen and do counter surfing.Bronco and our Pug Daisy. Daisy is leaving because she thinks Bronco is hogging the sofa.Our Leonberger Bronco is sleeping on our big leather sofa.Our Leonberger Bronco in the bushes.Our Leonberger Bronco in the backyard. He was a saint. This time it is me, the photographer, who is silly.It is Bronco’s 11th birthday.After a toe amputation due to toe cancer, Bronco needed to wear a cone, a big soft cone. Unfortunately, he frequently cleared tables as he swung the cone back and forth. Here he has just pushed a pile of books and papers off a table.Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo. Bronco is nicely welcoming our new puppy, but the size difference is silly.
In the photo below it is really our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo who is being silly. But he is very silly pulling Bronco’s tail. He even swung in it like a swing.
A rambunctious Rollo is biting Bronco’s tail. Bronco was very patient. One time Rollo swung in his tail as if it was a swing.
Below is a photo of silly gingerbread stealing dogs.
Bronco our Leonberger with Daisy our Pug in the Kitchen. Bronco says, “look what Daisy did to the gingerbread house that stood on the counter”. Actually, what really happened was that Bronco grabbed the gingerbread house and shared it with Daisy.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.Five Leonbergers including Digory on 4th of July 2023. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.Six Leonbergers celebrating a birthday. Photo by Jen O’Keefe.
Onions, garlic, alcohol, chocolate, coffee, macadamia nuts, raw bread/pizza dough, foods containing the sweetener xylitol (birch wood), salt, moldy food, currants, grapes and raisins can cause poisoning in dogs. Grapes and raisins are especially dangerous, potentially causing kidney failure, or even death.
Until recently, I did not realize how serious this is. We used to have a very large dog, a Leonberger named Bronco, who weighed 140lbs when he was not overweight. He seemed to have a stomach made of steel. On one occasion, Bronco got hold of a box of chocolates in the shape of small gnomes. Each gnome was filled with liquor—some with gin, some with vodka, some with whiskey, and some with rum. It was a gift from Rachel, our daughter, who had just come back from a visit to China. She had bought the present for us at the airport in Hong Kong.
What happened was that Bronco ate the entire thing—tinfoil wrappers, chocolate, liquor, and all. We were afraid he might get very sick, and we carefully monitored him, ready to rush him to the emergency clinic if necessary. Fortunately, nothing happened, except he threw up a little bit of tinfoil. I guess he had a stomach of steel. Below is a picture from Bronco’s gingerbread house raid. We laughed. It was just funny.
Our Leonberger Bronco raided the kitchen and partially ate a gingerbread house. He shared it with his little companion, the Pug Daisy. The open gate behind Daisy and Bronco permitted their gingerbread-house raid.
What this experience did not teach me is how dangerous certain foods can be to dogs. Bronco was fine eating the chocolate gnomes, and gingerbread houses, and you can laugh when it all ends well. However, recently Claudia and I witnessed the death of a dog who had eaten raisins. This was a shocking experience. It reminded us that knowing what food is dangerous to dogs is very important and preventing them from eating food that is dangerous to dogs is crucial. If you are not willing to keep track of this, don’t get a dog.
The Death of a Dog
Warning: The Story Below Can be Triggering to Sensitive People, Skip if Needed
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we took our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo to the emergency. We took Rollo to the veterinary emergency because he had thrown up three times within six hours. He had been chewing on a lot of rawhide which is a bit risky, so we were worried. He got an X-ray and various blood tests. However, everything was normal. It was probably just a stomach flu or upset stomach. He received anti-nausea medication, and another medicine.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo with a soccer ball.
We like this emergency clinic because you can remain with your dog the whole time and participate in everything they are doing. The drawback is that you are in a big room with a lot of other dogs and their owners, and you’ll see everything that is going on, which sometimes is not pleasant, and this time we witnessed a shocking tragedy. We had to wait a long time because almost all of the attention was given to a dog who had eaten raisins. We were there from about 1:00AM to 5:00AM. We were clearly not a priority, but we did not complain.
About the same time as we came in a man and a woman brought in a sick dog. They also had a very tired little boy with them. He was maybe three years old. The dog was throwing up, and he was lethargic and obviously very sick. We overheard that he had eaten raisins. Suddenly the dog had a seizure. The nurses/doctors took blood samples. Then he had another even more severe seizure, and then another. It looked bad. The tests showed that his kidneys were shutting down. After a while the veterinarian informed the couple, and the boy, that the dog was dying a painful death and that the best might be to euthanize him.
They took the dog and the rest of the family to a private room. After a while the woman ran out of the room. She was crying hysterically as she ran out of the emergency clinic. She couldn’t control herself. The man and the boy came after, also crying, but they were calmer. The man paid the bill at the front desk, and they left. Claudia and I and Rollo, we just sat there, and we watched it all. We saw them bring out the dead dog from the room. It was a show that we had not anticipated and that would stay on our minds, maybe forever. We were told Rollo’s tests were fine and that his stomach was fine, and we paid, and we left. It was quiet in our car on the way home.
When I came home, I walked over to the pantry and I grabbed the raisins box and was about to throw it in the garbage, when I decided to just hide the box far into the pantry and never buy raisins again. I don’t like throwing away food.
Summit view from Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Resort Asset id: 2135906083 by FashionStock.com
I just wanted to announce that I am back from our family trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. I am now ready to post again, reply to comments and visit other people’s blogs. I had to ignore all blogging for a week because I skied every day and the rest of the time I spent with my family. On the trip it was me, my wife Claudia, our oldest son Jacob and his wife, Ashley, our younger son and his girlfriend, and our daughter. That makes seven people. However, it was really eight of us because Ashley is pregnant. Claudia and I are going to be grandparents. Ashley did not ski. It is not safe when you are pregnant. However, Jacob and she did other things, such as dog sledding, sledding, and snowshoeing. Jacob also did some snowboarding. The rest of us did mostly skiing.
About Breckenridge
Breckenridge and Vail are the two most popular ski resorts in North America with 1.5 million annual visitors each. Keystone comes in third place with 1.4 million annual visitors. Keystone is located nearby Breckenridge, and you can easily see it from Breckenridge. All three ski resorts are located a little less than two hours west of Denver along interstate I-70. The Breckenridge Ski Resort boasts 187 trails spread across five huge peaks, totaling 2,908 acres of ski-able terrain. Breckenridge is also an old gold mining town known for the 13.5-pound gold piece found here in 1887. The piece of gold was named Tom’s baby, which is also the name of one of the ski slopes.
Piece of gold Asset id: 133307360 by macrowildlife
One thing that I think is great about Breckenridge is the variety of ski slopes. There are lots of green, lots of blue, lots of black, double black diamonds as well as extreme terrain. It is great for families as well as expert skiers. The town of Breckenridge is small and yet it features 100 restaurants and a brewery as well as a lot of interesting stores, a crepe place, and many great hotels. This was the fifth or sixth time we visited Breckenridge. The first time was twenty years ago (see the photo below).
This photo from Breckenridge in 2004 shows our daughter in the foreground and our younger son in black to the right. The lodge in the background is called Ten Mile Station.
Imperial Express Superchair
Breckenridge is home to the highest chairlift in North America, in fact the highest ski lift in all of the western world, the Imperial Express Superchair, leading to the top of peak 8. It will take you 13,000 feet, or 4,000 meters above sea level. Just like last time we visited Breckenridge I took the Imperial Express Superchair and I skied the Imperial Bowl. The Imperial Bowl lies above the tree line and the view from up there is spectacular. The Imperial Bowl is wide, steep, quiet, peaceful and typically features powder snow. It is not easy skiing, and the air is thin, but the skiing experience is magical.
When it is clear you can see a very large area of Colorado from up there, including several dozen mountain tops, the town of Breckenridge far below, the town of Frisco in the distance, the Keystone ski resort, and around there is lots of bright white powdery snow stretching for several hundreds of yards in all directions. You are on top of the world. I did not take a photo this time because there was a snowstorm when I was there. The photo at the top of this post shows the view to the south-east of the Imperial Bowl taken from what must be the Imperial Bowl. The photo below is taken from another slope on another peak (Devil’s Crotch) and shows the Imperial Express Superchair. It is important to note that what looks like the base of the mountain is not. It is just a forested portion of the mountain.
Imperial Express Lift in the distance Asset id: 1636898575 by Steve Boice
What About Rollo ?
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is very difficult to leave. It was easier when our Leonberger Bronco and our Pug Daisy were still alive because in addition to a dog sitter, he had friendly dog company when we left. Rollo is not comfortable with people he does not know so it is more difficult nowadays. However, we found a good solution. A veterinary technician at the Royal Veterinary Clinic where we usually take him for veterinary visits does dog sitting on the side, and she is willing to stay overnight with the dog. Rollo knows her and he is comfortable with her, and her fee is reasonable. While we were gone, she sent photos of him every day and below I am sharing a few.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd at home with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd at home with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd in the living room with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd on the backyard patio with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).
I try to avoid politics on my blogs but considering the circumstances I think this is OK. The picture you see above and below is from Trine Helen Løken. Thank you for letting us use it, Trine. It was passed around in various Leonberger Facebook groups and other Leonberger places back in 2022 and now it is in vogue again. It is to show the Leonberger community’s support for Ukraine. I added a couple of somewhat less artistic photos using a couple of photos of our late Leonberger Bronco and a Ukrainian flag that I got from pexels.com Photo by Engin Akyurt.
Art by Trine Helen Løken. This picture is popular in the Leonberger community.Our Leonberger BroncoOur Leonberger Bronco, the hero. He found runaway hamsters, saved our Pug Daisy from an attacking dog, and detected an oncoming insulin shock in our Labrador.
Rollo the Politician
Rollo, our mini–Australian Shepherd is not easy to walk. Sometimes he sits and refuses to walk and sometimes he barks his head off at other dogs. Therefore, we started bribing him, and this works. On several occasions, I asked Claudia, my wife, “should I bribe him?”. So, he ended up learning the word “bribe”. Now when you say the word “bribe” he comes running hoping for a handout. In other words, we accidentally taught him to be a politician. Below are a few photos of Rollo.
Rollo, our mini–Australian Shepherd as a puppy.Rollo with his duck toy.Rollo loves sleeping in our bed, especially on my side. He is taking over.
Canis Lupus Familiaris, the dog, is a close relative of the grey wolf. Dogs and wolves share a high percentage of DNA and are in fact the same species. They can mate and produce offspring referred to as wolf dogs. However, keeping wolves or wolf dogs as pets is not recommended. Our late Leonberger dog Bronco was in fact accused of being a wolf by a little boy and he was accused of being a bear by a neighbor. The boy was very close to being right.
Leonbergers are big dogs, and little boys may think they are wolves, but Leonbergers are very friendly.Mini Australian Shepherds like our dog Rollo may look like wolves but are rarely mistaken for wolves. A quacking duck can be very scary to little mini–Australian Shepherds.
Are Big Dogs Wolves ?
The short stories below are from my book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger”. A Leonberger is a large type of dog, a so-called giant breed, closely related to Saint Bernards, and allegedly also Great Pyrenees dogs Newfoundland dogs. Bronco weighed 140 pounds when he was not overweight.
Bronco was a big dog. Once when I was walking Bronco around the neighborhood, a neighbor who always let his black Labs run loose saw us. He shouted to his wife, “Honey, get the dogs inside! Someone is walking a bear out here.” I guess letting your large dogs run loose isn’t a problem until someone walks a dog much bigger than yours.
On a number of occasions, we’ve met people who said to us that Bronco is the biggest dog they’ve ever seen. However, there are bigger dogs. We’ve met bigger English bullmastiffs and bigger Great Danes.
One day I took Bronco into PetSmart, and after I did my shopping, he and I were standing in the checkout line. Bronco was very quiet and well-behaved, but a boy ahead of us in line became quite alarmed when he saw us. He shouted, “Look! A wolf, a wolf, a wolf!” He pointed his finger at Bronco. His mom tried to calm the boy, but he would not stop shouting. He didn’t seem to be afraid of Bronco, but he was really concerned that there was a big wolf in the pet store. I tried to explain to the boy that Bronco was not a wolf. He was just a big dog.
Since our neighbor called Bronco a bear, I am including a second image from Kevin’s post that I think illustrates what our neighbor saw as I walked passed his house. Well, I had only one Leonberger/Bear and I don’t have antlers or a beard, and our neighborhood does not have that many trees. Other than that, it is spot on.
Finally, a beautiful Nordic Lullaby sung by Jonna Jinton. Jonna Jinton is a Swedish singer who lives nearby Örnsköldsvik in northern Sweden, which is the town where I am originally from (now I live in Dallas, Texas). So, if you watch the video, the nature you see is from my old neighborhood.
The Lullaby is about a wolf who is hungry and cold, but he can’t have the singer’s baby for dinner. But she could offer a pig tail. What some may find remarkable about the Lullaby is that the mother being threatened by the wolf shows the wolf empathy. The existence of the stomach creates conflict between us creatures. To see the English translation turn on subtitles.
It is easy for me to answer the daily prompt “What are your favorite animals?”, it is Canis Lupus Familiaris, or dogs of course, especially Leonberger dogs.
ur Labrador Baylor and German Shepherd Baby. They were both rescues.
Dogs are very social and often quite intelligent. They are loving, loyal, fun, innocent, playful and they can provide protection whether it is physically or just via their barking, which alerts us to the presence of strangers. Dogs provide companionship and encourage physical activity since you need to take them for walks and play with them.
A black and white photo of our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.Our Leonberger Bronco is in the front yard.
Among dogs my favorite breed is the Leonberger. Leonbergers are confident and brave gentle giants. They are great with children, very social and good companions and they can also be guard dogs. They are not aggressive and were not bred for that purpose, but their size, strength, courage, protective nature and acute senses make it a natural role for them. Our Leonberger Bronco protected the entire neighborhood by chasing off a peeping Tom. Leonbergers are double-coated, and they have webbed paws, so they’re natural swimmers as well. They are sometimes used in water rescue operations. But be careful, they are big, full of energy, and can be rambunctious when they’re young.
Below are various photos of our dogs
Our Leonberger Bronco and our Pug DaisyOur Japanese Chin Ryu with our daughter who was 9 years old at the time.Our Japanese Chin Ryu.Our pug Daisy loved to sunbath even when it was hot. Here she is catching some rays while lying on our old backyard porch, which had gravel.Our daughter with our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.A gray wolf on the left. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo sitting in a stroller on the right. Whenever there was a sound that scared him, such as quacking ducks, or someone banging on something, he wanted to sit in Daisy’s stroller.Our Leonberger Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.
All official dog breeds have a breed standard. If you want to show your dog your dog has to closely match the breed standard. Below is the breed standard for the Leonberger.
The physical breed standard for the Leonberger. There is also one for character/behavior. The AKC / the USA has its own breed standard for the Leonberger but it closely resembles the international one.
In regard to the daily prompt “What is good about having a pet?” Pets can give you so many things, love, company, adventure, memorable moments, hilarious moments, protection, and playing with them or taking a dog for a walk is good for your health. We have dogs and have had dogs for decades. According to this article from the Mayo clinic dogs are good for your health. Dogs reduce work related stress, help manage stress, increase activity and help combat loneliness.
In addition, our late Leonberger dog Bronco protected us and our neighborhood from a trespasser and a peeping Tom who was terrorizing my wife and other women in the neighborhood. A Leonberger is very large dog, like a St. Bernard. The police could not solve the problem. The private detectives I hired did not catch him, despite the fact they were hiding in our backyard at night. However, one time when the peeping Tom showed up, I sent Bronco after him and that took care of the problem. Bronco probably just wanted to say hello, but a big bear-looking dog dashing towards you in the darkness can be unnerving. That scared him off for good. Bronco saved the neighborhood.
Bronco also saved other dogs and pets on several occasions. He detected when our Labrador Baylor was about to have an insulin shock. He protected our pug Daisy from an attacking German Shepherd. He found our runaway hamsters on a number of occasions. Below are some photos and illustrations of our dogs.
Our Leonberger Dog Bronco at 3 months oldMe with our Leonberger Bronco. He was not yet fully grown.Our large but cuddly 167lb Leonberger Bronco is sitting nu my wife Claudia’s lap.The stalker / peeping Tom is sitting on a lawn chair and looking through our bedroom window at night. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.After the police and private detectives all failed our Leonberger Bronco is chasing off the intruder for good. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Our Leonberger Bronco is carrying two hamsters in his mouth. Don’t worry they were fine. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Our Labrador Baylor and German Shepherd Baby. They were both rescues.Our son with our pug Daisy when she was a puppy.Our Japanese Chin Ryu and our Pug Daisy are protesting our travel by sitting in our suitcase. They want to come with us.Our Leonberger Bronco with our new puppy Rollo, a mini-Australian Shepherd.Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd could be a pest. He loved biting Bronco’s tail and even swung in it as if it was a swing.Our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd barking at people passing by our house. Notice the joke.
Today, October 20, 2024, is the 5-year anniversary of the EF3 Tornado that ravaged our neighborhood. Our chimney was smashed by a piece of concrete flying off a neighbor’s house, our roof was damaged and needed to be replaced, our garage door was destroyed, and the wiring and pipes in the attic were destroyed. In addition, our fence was damaged, and my grill flew across the yard. The cost of the repairs was $50,000.00. However, we were lucky compared to many of our neighbors whose houses were destroyed.
A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21st, 2019.Another neighbor’s house. This house was about 100 yards from our house. It took a direct hit from the tornado.
The house of my wife’s parents was more severely damaged than our house. The wind from the Tornado lifted my 89-year-old father-in-law up in the air and he was hit by a broken marble table that injured his back. He had a sore that was about one foot long. He did not go to the hospital. The school where our boys used to go, St. Marks School of Texas, was badly damaged and the walls of the gymnasium blew away. The neighborhood looked terrible afterwards.
Inside Claudia’s parents’ house. This was the morning after. We are walking into their house to check on them (that’s my wife).
It was also a tough time for our Leonberger dog Bronco. He was more than 12 years old, which is old for a Leonberger, and he had various age-related illnesses. Earlier in October he had amputated a toe due to a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. One week after that we discovered a large deep ulcerous sore on the same paw a few inches above the surgical scar. Fortunately, it was not cancerous, as we first thought, but we would have to treat this sore in addition to nursing him back from his amputation. In addition, he also had the first signs of geriatric-onset laryngeal paralysis polyneuropathy (or GOLPP).
Bronco our Leonberger and Daisy our Pug the evening before the big storm. None of us suspected what was about to happen.
We lost power for four days due to the tornado and about one week after the tornado Bronco had a congestive heart failure. He eventually recovered but October 2019 was a very difficult month for him.
Bronco had just had a toe amputation. He did not blow down our fence.We had to change Bronco’s bandages every now and then but Rollo, our mini–Australian Shepherd made sure we did it right.Bronco and Rollo a few days after the Tornado.
I remember October 20, 2019, as if it was yesterday. I was sitting outside in my backyard drinking my favorite SMASH IPA, Yellow Rose, from Lone Pint, Texas, ABV 6.8%. IPA stands for India Pale Ale, a type of beer that contains a lot of hops. SMASH IPA is an IPA brewed with one type of Malts and one type of Hops (Single Malt, Single Hop). The single hop in this case is Mosaic. My phone started making a loud sound. It was an alarm announcing a tornado warning and, in the distance, I could hear a faint tornado siren. At first, I thought it was nothing but when I saw the lightning approaching, I decided to go inside. Two minutes later a hailstorm made things very loud, the wind was strong, and the house shook, and then we heard a loud explosion. That was a concrete block that had smashed our chimney.
I was sitting in my backyard drinking Yellow Rose my favorite SMASH IPA, not knowing that a tornado was advancing down the street nearby.
After the wind had died down a bit, I opened the door to the backyard, and what I saw shocked me. My gas grill had flown across the patio. There were bricks and pieces of concrete all over the patio and the lawn. There was a big sheet of metal lying on the patio. Big tree branches covered the lawn. There was debris everywhere. We had also lost power. It turns out that the EF3 tornado had gone through our neighborhood and passed within fifty to one hundred yards of our house.
Another neighbor’s house (a bit further away from us).
My wife Claudia asked me to go check on her parents. I drove about 50-100 yards when a neighbor’s roof lying across the road stopped me. I turned around but this time I was stopped by a large pile of trees lying across the street. So, I started walking, but this time I was stopped by a group of firemen telling me that it was too dangerous to be outside. They told me to go back home, and I did.
This is the next-door neighbor of Claudia’s (my wife) parents.
I can add that we got some unexpected help from our congressman at the time, Colin Allred, congressional district 32. My wife left the neighborhood in her car, but the police would not let anyone back in. This made it difficult to, for example, go shopping. I complained about this on Colin Allred’s Facebook page and within hours I received an email from Colin Allred’s legislative director (Judith). They had contacted city hall and the police and now the police would allow residents back in the neighborhood as long as they could show ID. Colin Allred’s office had my email from a previous communication. I did not leave that with my Facebook comment. My wife was happy since she now could go shopping.
Below are some additional photos that I took, showing the carnage in the neighborhood.
The remains of the Gap, a store at a nearby shopping center.Destroyed house in the neighborhood.View of the shopping center in our neighborhood.This was a school bus belonging to the school where my boys went.Streetview from the neighborhood.Another house in the neighborhood.The remains of the veterinary clinic where we used to take our dogs. Luckily there were no animals staying overnight at this time.Our street, just two/three houses down from us.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd turned six years old on October 12, 2024. However, we were at a wedding in Chicago, so we had to miss his birthday. We celebrated when we came home. In the past we’ve put a funny birthday hat on him. Unfortunately, he hates hats so this time I took pictures without a hat. To celebrate Rollo’s birthday, I am posting 20 photos I took of Rollo through the years, including some with our late Leonberger Bronco. If you’ve been following my blog, you will have seen many of these photos already but not all of them, certainly not the ones I just took.
Rollo eating a pupcake from our daughter’s hand. A pupcake is a cupcake for dogs.Rollo reaching for a piece of a pupcake on the sofa.This is an old photo from his fourth birthday. He is unhappy with the hat.Rollo almost six years ago. He had just arrived at our house. Our Leonberger Bronco is welcoming Rollo.Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy.Our Leonberger Bronco with little Rollo.Close up of Rollo as a puppy.Rollo on his first walk. It wasn’t really a walk. More like carrying him around the neighborhood.Rollo peeking out behind the sofa.Rollo playing with a volleyball.Rollo rolling a soccer ball.Rollo frequently bit our Leonberger Bronco’s tail, and he even swung in it like a swing. He climbed all over Bronco. Bronco was very patient with him.When Rollo was young, he loved chewing shoes. Here the artist is posing with his art.When we left the house we put Rollo in his baby jail for his own protection. We were afraid he would bother Bronco so much that Bronco lost his patience. Rollo ended up loving his baby jail. It was his own special house and no one else was allowed in.When Bronco had a toe amputation and we had to change his bandage every day, Rollo helped out. He was a dog nurse.Rollo liked to play with Bronco. Here he is asking for a belly rub.Our daughter with our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo and Pug Daisy.Sometimes there are scary sounds and Rollo wanted to sit in the stroller we bought for our Pug Daisy.Two friends.Daisy our Pug and Rollo are watching something from the window.
Leonberger Life 