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 morning at 10:20AM our pug Daisy died. She was 15 ½ years old. She had an enlarged heart, her back legs were giving out, and she had breathing problems. She took lots of different medications. Yet, the breathing crisis she had this morning came unexpectedly. Our veterinary told us it was time. We did not want her to suffer. I was holding her in my arms and my wife, daughter and doctor Sara Thomas petted her. Then when we were ready Dr. Thomas gave her the injections.
Daisy came to us a little pug puppy 15 ½ years ago. Our son David, eleven years old at the time, was holding her. Today I held her for the last time.
Daisy was a sweet, friendly and funny pug who loved cuddling, eating and sitting on the sofa. She also loved sunbathing as well as sitting in front of the vent when it was cold. All our dogs loved her, and our Leonberger Bronco saved her life once. He protected her from an attacking young German Shepherd. Our Labrador Baylor and our German Shepherd Baby loved her. Our Japanese Shin loved her more than anything. They were always together. They made mischief together, they escaped together, and they went for walks together and at the dog park Ryu wouldn’t let any other dog be too friendly with Daisy. Later, our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo loved her too. Unfortunately, Rollo is now alone. He is confused and sad like we are.
Rollo and Daisy in our red sofa. Rollo was one year old, and Daisy was 11 years old.
I wrote a poem in French, a language I am learning. I am not a poet. I think it is my first poem as an adult in any language. I chose French because everything sounds so much better in French. It rhymes/ I apologize for any errors.
Ce soir, il pleure dans mon coeur. (tonight, tear falls in my heart, pleure & coeur rhyme with fur)
Notre belle carline Daisy est mort (Our beautiful pug Daisy is dead)
Il est temps, dit notre docteur (It is time said our doctor)
Tu es parti dans un coup du sort (You are gone in a twist of fate)
Nous nous souviendrons toujours (we will always remember)
Ta gentillesse. Tes yeux aimants (Your kindness. Your loving eyes)
Tu auras pour toujours notre amour (You will forever have our love)
pour nous tu étais comme un enfant (to us you were like a child)
Below are two YouTube songs that express how I feel. The first one is in French “Je suis malade..” / I am sick without you, I am ugly without you, …. Warning this one is very sad. The second one is your love….to feel your love again… to feel you close once more… (no lyrics in song) by Ennio Morricone.
Je suis malade / I am sick … without you
to feel your love againDaisy on the sofa after an exhausting day of doing nothing.Our pug Daisy when she was young.Daisy our new pug puppy with our son David.Daisy liked to sit in front of the vent when it was cold or alternatively too hot.Daisy loved sunbathing.Daisy in sunglasses.Ryu and Daisy jumped into our suitcase to protest that we were leaving for a trip.Daisy is taking Ryu for a walk.Daisy sunbathing on our patio in the backyard.Daisy standing on our kitchen floor.Daisy on the red sofa.Once when we came home Daisy met us in the doorway with a tissue box over her head. She had gotten her head stuck in a tissue box.Daisy decided to leave because Bronco our Leonberger was taking up too much room.Daisy resting her head on Claudia’s knee.Bronco our Leonberger, Ryu our Japanese Shin, and then Daisy our Pug.Daisy’s 11th birthday.Daisy is sitting on our bed.Daisy and Rollo in the sofa.Our daughter is petting Rollo and Daisy.Daisy and Rollo barking at the mailman + a joke.Daisy’s 15th birthday.Towards the end of her life Daisy had to wear diapers with suspenders.Towards the end of her life Daisy had a hard time walking so she sat in a stroller during our walks.
With this reblog I just wanted to remind everyone that in Texas dogs can drive. If your dog does not have a driving license, please contact DMV and get him one.
Today is National Puppy Day. Therefore, I am posting 25 puppy photos. It is mostly Leonberger puppies but there are also puppy photos of some of our other dogs. Most of the photos in this post are mine but I am including a few Leonberger puppy photos from shutterstock. If you want to check out the Leonberger book I wrote click here, or look to the right if you are on a desktop or at the bottom if you are on a mobile.
Our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.Our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.Our Japanese Shin Ryu when he was young.Our son David with our pug Daisy when she was a puppy.Our son David is holding our pug Daisy when she was still a puppy (now she is 15 ½ years old).Two Leonberger puppies. Shutter stock Photo ID: 2294202331 by Olga Shusters.A Leonberger puppy running in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2056502327 by Nikky de Graaf.A Leonberger puppy standing in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2390810457 by VeronArt16.Another Leonberger puppy. Stock Photo ID: 561111403 by Akbudak Rimma.Ten Leonberger puppies. My guess is that they are about two months old. Shutterstock-ID:561107710 by Akbudak Rimma.Leonberger puppy. My guess is that he is around two months old. Shutterstock-ID: 629624396 by TOM KAROLA.Two light colored Leonberger puppies playing. My guess is that they are three months old. Shutterstock-ID: 2141564415 by AnetaZabranska.Our German Shepherd Baby playing with our 4 months old Leonberger Bronco.Our Leonberger Bronco about 9 months old is lying on his back on the floor.Bronco our Leonberger at the dog park. He is about one year old. He is maybe not a puppy but far from an adult. He is an adolescent, which is why he looks so thin and gangly. Our Labrador Baylor is in the background.Our Japanese Shin Ryu sleeping next to our pug Daisy.Our Japanese Shin Ryu licking our pug Daisy’s ear.The day we picked up our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. He was nine weeks old. The other puppy is an English bulldog puppy.Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.Our pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.Bronco and our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo.Our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy Rollo playing with an orange ball.Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is playing with our Leonberger Bronco’s tail. Once he even dangled in it like a swing.
Today, Tuesday, February 20, 2024, is National Love Your Pet Day. So, I thought I would show some photos of our current dogs and dogs from the past, naturally including our late Leonberger Bronco. I think the photos I am displaying show some of our love for them.
Our Leonberger Bronco when he was a three-month-old puppy.On the left our Labrador Baylor and on the right our German Shepherd Baby. Baby took care of and protected Bronco when he was a pup, just like a good mother.Our young Leonberger Bronco is giving me a hug.Our niece Jessica giving Bronco a kissOur Leonberger Bronco sitting in my wife Claudia’s lap. He was the perfect lap dog.Our Japanese Shin RyuOur mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo as a puppy.Our daughter petting Rollo and our pug DaisyOur pug Daisy’s 15th birthday.Rollo and Daisy own the best furniture.The 2019-2020 Grey Muzzle Awardees. Bronco is on the second row from the top and second from left. Click on the picture to visit the YouTube video. Bronco is at two minutes.
Video showing 32 2019 & 2020 Grey Muzzle Awardees (Leonbergers). Bronco at two minutes in.
It was a rainy day today, but we didn’t just sit here all day. In the morning my wife Claudia and I had a French lesson. It was over zoom. We discussed tourism including tourism to cities. I spoke about my visits to Paris and Aix-En-Provence. Daisy, our Pug sat and slept under the computer desk during the class. Her snoring was audible to the rest of the class. Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd is very afraid of the sound that rain makes on the roof and on our skylights, so he was very nervous.
Falling in mud
After the class it was no longer pouring, but it was still raining. However, Rollo still wanted to go for a walk so I took them for a walk. Daisy is old, 15+ years old, and she has a problem walking. Therefore, I put her in our pet stroller and raised the hood of the stroller over her. It was wet and muddy and after walking a quarter mile I slipped badly, feet straight up, and landed on my behind and back in a muddy puddle. Daisy’s stroller fell over but luckily, she did not fall out. I was not so lucky though. I was soaking wet; it was cold and my back and behind was covered in mud. I tried to nudge Rollo to go home, but he insisted on continuing. I was worried about what people who saw me would think but we took a long walk.
My muddy jacket and jeans after the walkWet pup at the doorRollo after the walkDaisy in her stroller
A little video of Rollo by the door.
Behold, the vaccine is killing us all
When I came home, I had a text from one of my Swedish aunts. She thanked me for a Holiday Card I had sent, and that she had just gotten. What’s wrong with the post office? She also warned me about the covid-19 vaccine (Pfizer)s, which she claimed have killed 17 million people and given 567 million people injuries for life. In other words, one in ten people who received the vaccine worldwide was injured for life. I know about people in my circle who died from Covid-19, but I don’t know of anyone who died from the covid-19 vaccine. I don’t even know anyone who was injured by it. How is that statistically possible? In addition, my family doctor, who is an extremely good and caring doctor, recommends it, and thinking about it, so does every doctor I know. Most importantly, there are no reliable sources backing up her claim. Her claim was bunk of course.
So, I told her that her information was false and not to worry. When I was young, I did not want to contradict people, but I’ve come to realize that we are drowning in misinformation, and it is very common that people blindly believe whatever seems to support their preexisting beliefs. Therefore, it is important to contradict misinformation when we know that it is false. It is a public service.
Daisy after an exhausting day of doing nothing.
We don’t pick up dead animals
After doing the laundry I noticed that the city had picked up our recycling, finally. They are supposed to pick it up once a week, but it took them three weeks. Last week I tried to file a report about the missed pick up. I was not able to do that using the city’s cryptic website, and search yielded nothing useful. I know you can file a report because I’ve done it before. Therefore, I started the chat, and I got a chatbot.
The bot: How can I help you?
Me: The recycling has not been picked up and I would like to make a report.
The bot: We don’t pick up dead animals.
End of chat……
So, the chatbot was useless. It seems like they are always useless. I’ve gotten restricted on Facebook several times, for selling beer outside the marketplace and without stating the price, when all I did was write a beer review in a beer review Facebook group. When Facebook still employed people for those tasks I could complain, get the restriction revoked and an apology. Once all that remained were bots that ended.
It was Daisy’s birthday (pug in the middle). Rollo is growling at Oslo sitting at the end of the table. It is an old photo.
After I gave the dogs dinner Rollo came to sit next to me on the sofa. He loves sitting next to me and pushing his back towards my side. It seems very cozy, but there’s a problem. Rollo is very possessive and jealous, and he gets aggressive towards others he thinks may threaten his position. Yesterday, he started showing his teeth and growling at Daisy as he was snuggling with me, and I immediately put him down on the floor. He screamed like a choleric two-year-old as I did that. This is one major reason we are hesitating to get another Leonberger. We don’t know how that would play out with Rollo. We have a behavior problem with Rollo that we need to solve. We also set up another baby jail for Rollo.
Rollo’s Baby JailPhoto from the past. Our Leonberger Bronco is sharing the sofa with Daisy.
Towards the end of the day Rollo and I played with his duck, and then he asked for a belly rub. When Rollo wants a belly rub, he lays down on the floor on his side , a couple of legs up, and then he barks one time and then he waits. If no one comes he loudly barks one time and then he waits. Eventually he gets his belly-rub.
I’ve been, or am, a member of several Facebook dog groups. I’ve found that most of them are awful. Take for example the Pug groups. I’ve joined a few Pug groups so that can post about Daisy. What I’ve found is that almost all of the Pug groups have preapproval turned on for all posts. Most other groups (Leonberger groups, beer groups, discussion group, etc..) do not. It would not be a bad thing if it wasn’t for the fact that the administrators/moderators of several of the Pug groups take weeks before they approve a post, all while shamelessly doing constant self-promotion, promoting products, and spamming the group they are supposed to moderate. I am a moderator or administrator in several groups, and I certainly don’t behave that way.
Another thing that annoys me is that they copy the photos that members post and then repost them in multiple places and multiple groups without attribution. Look at my photo from Daisy’s birthday below. That photo was copied (not shared) without attribution in lots of groups, multiple times, receiving several thousand reactions and thousands of comments, which is something I only found out about by accident. Who knows how far and wide the photo was spread. Unless someone explained it to you, you would think that it was their pug and that it was they who took the photo. I assume they do this because they want to get attention and be social network influencers. I’ve never complained, that probably would get me banned from the groups in question. However, I don’t think that is the way to run a group. I have not yet found a decent Pug group.
Photo from Daisy’s 15th birthday on October 22. This photo has been spread all over Facebook without attribution.
This brings me to the seven Leonberger groups that I am a member of (there are many more). I’ve listed them below. Only one group does post pre-approval and they typically approve posts within a few hours. None of moderators/administrators of these groups spam their groups, try to push products, or copy members photos/posts without attribution. People have friendly informative discussions, and they get to know each other. The Leonberger community is smaller, and the owners/administrators/moderators of the groups are more mature and responsible. I think it makes a difference that Pug groups tend to be run by attention seeking youngsters. I wish I could find a Pug group that was more like a Leonberger group.
Leonberger’s All Colors Worldwide
LEONBERGER
Leonberger Double Digit Double Club
Leonberger Forum
Global Leonberger Lovers
Leonberger Lovers
Frontier Leonberger Club of the Southwest
I think my favorite Leonberger group is the Leonberger Double Digit Club. It is a group for Leonberger owners with Leonbergers who ten years are old or older. Leonbergers tend not to live very long so that is why this is an exclusive club. It was one of the former administrators (and founder) of this group who suggested to me that I write a book about our Leonberger Bronco.
Below I am posting a few screenshots of my posts from the Leonberger Double Digit Club.
Jacqui pointed out to me in a comment below that you can take action when people are using your stuff without attribution. A photo that took me a second to take may not be a big deal, even though it is bit rude to use it as if it is yours. However, when people copy artwork, as had happened to a few commentors below we have a more serious situation. So anyway, here is the link that Jacqui posted in her comment. (You can also visit the comment).
October 2019 was a tough month for us and especially for our Leonberger Bronco. He had a toe amputation due to a cancer growth on his toe, mysteries sores on his paw that wouldn’t heal for a long time, a tornado destroyed our neighborhood and damaged our house (cost $50,000.00), and then Bronco had a heart failure. All in one month.
Bronco lying in front of our fence, which was damaged by the tornado. His paw is in a bandage and there’s a plastic bag around it. I can add that we only put the plastic bag on while he was outside. If you keep it on longer than 15 minutes you may have problems with condensation.
Our veterinarian’s office had been destroyed by the tornado, so we took Bronco to the veterinary surgical center (where he had his toe amputated) for bandage changes (amputated toe and mysterious sores). After a few visits, the technicians suggested that we do it at home to save time and money. More important, it would be easier on Bronco. So, they gave us instructions, and we started doing it at home.
Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt of Bronco running with a cast.
But changing Bronco’s bandages wasn’t as easy as just rolling out some gauze and tape. First, we had to clean the sores with chlorhexidine, an antiseptic solution. Then we had to apply a healing ointment, such as manuka honey or QuickDerm. This involved spreading it on an Adaptic pad (breathable and nonstick), then wrapping the pad with a Telfa pad (or gauze pad). After that came the soft bandage, then the outer bandage, then something sticky to hold it all together. The latter was necessary because bandages easily slip off dog hair.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd on the left. Le Bronco our Leonberger on the right. The outer bandage is purple in this picture but we also used green.
I did most of the bandage changes, but my wife Claudia and the children helped, and even Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd helped. He was very curious: he stood by and watched everything I did as if he were checking to see that I didn’t forget anything. He loved Bronco’s bandage changes and seemed to think that they were very interesting. He followed every move I made with my hands and it seemed like he wanted to help. It was never a problem—except for the time he drank the chlorhexidine.
Rollo carefully inspecting the bandage change.Rollo making sure I don’t forget anything.Rollo thinks the Hypafix tape, chlorhexidine and manuka honey is very interesting.
Therefore, I think that Rollo was a little bit like a dog nurse.
Walking our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is often an adventure and so was today’s promenade. Daisy, who is fifteen years old and has arthritis walks very slowly and cannot walk far. Therefore, I let her sit in a pet stroller on our walks. However, I let her walk a little bit, go to the bathroom, well the grass, and sniff around a bit. She also has incontinence problems and wears a dog diaper inside the house. I take it off for our walks.
Daisy in her pet stroller
Rollo our mini–Australian Shepherd, on the other hand, is very energetic and fast, and unfortunately very misbehaved. He is the worst behaved dog that we’ve ever had, and he growls and barks aggressively at every dog we meet. Yes, I know that is our fault and we need to fix this problem, but it requires some time and discipline. He also does not seem to understand that he is too small to take on large dogs like Bernese Mountain Dogs. Perhaps, he acquired that belief because our Leonberger Bronco was so patient with him.
Rollo pulling Bronco’s tail. Once he even bit it and swung in it like a swing. Bronco’s patience with him was great.
So, what happened today?
During our walk I stopped to let Rollo go to the bathroom and I also let Daisy down, who also went. Right at that moment a woman with her two Bernese dogs approached us and Rollo went crazy. He barked loudly and the Bernese dogs barked loudly back. As Rollo ran towards them Rollo’s leash got stuck around the stroller wheel and he tipped the stroller over. As I tried to fix it, I made it worse, and the stroller tipped upside down. Luckily, when the woman saw this, she turned and went a different way.
Our neighbor Dave, who is a nice guy, had watched the commotion from his window and came out to help. As he ran towards me, he shouted, “Thomas are you OK?”, “are you OK?”. I thanked him and I was able to turn the stroller over and I put Daisy back in the stroller. As I did this Daisy peed all over me, but other than being wet and in need of a shower, I was back in business. I was annoyed with Rollo, but I did not say anything. I wonder what will happen on tomorrow’s walk.
Finally, a few words about Daisy’s pet diaper. It is a diaper with a hole for the tail. I think it is a great idea. Dogs eventually get old, and they may have bathroom problems. You cannot get angry with the dog when they pee on the floor or the carpet, they already feel bad about it. A diaper will solve the problem and make them feel better about it. They will quickly understand how it works. However, one problem with the diapers is that they easily slip off and to solve that we got suspenders with Velcro holding the diaper. You can buy this stuff from online pet stores, Amazon and many other places.
Today is Daisy’s fifteenth birthday. She is indeed a little old lady. She spent her first 12 years with her big brother, our Leonberger Bronco. Bronco saved her life one time, when a very aggressive lose German Shepherd attacked us and went after Daisy. Bronco stepped in between and saved her life. She also grew up with a Labrador, Baylor, a German Shepherd, Baby, a Japanese Chin, Ryu, and now Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd. Everyone loved her and wanted to protect her. We no longer have Bronco, but we still have Daisy and Rollo.
Bronco and Daisy in our leather sofa. Daisy decided that Bronco was taking up too much room and moved.
Today we visited my wife Claudia’s parents where we celebrated Daisy’s birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to Daisy. Daisy and Rollo ate pupcakes and hot dogs.Today we visited my wife Claudia’s parents where we celebrated Daisy’s birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to Daisy. Daisy and Rollo ate pupcakes and hot dogs.
Below are some photos from today’s celebrations.
Daisy sitting in Claudia’s lap eating some pupcake.Daisy sitting in Claudia’s lap.Daisy in Claudia’s lap.We are singing Happy Birthday to Daisy. Claudia’s parents are sitting. Claudia is standing up.
Below are some photos from previous birthdays
The picture below has a story to it. We were celebrating Daisy’s 13th birthday and we had visitors from Los Angeles who came with their dog Oslo. Unfortunately, Rollo had not been socialized well when he was little (our fault) so he does not like dogs he does not know. Oslo came over to me and I made the mistake of petting him, which prompted Rollo to attack Oslo. We handled the situation, but it was an unpleasant surprise. I guess in his mind, I committed petimony. “You shall not pet any other dogs but me, well Daisy is OK”. We tried telling Rollo to behave but Oslo was obviously afraid of Rollo. Later, when the dogs were sitting around the table eating their pupcakes, Rollo was growling at Oslo who just looked away.
Daisy is telling Rollo to behave.This photo is from Daisy’s 11th birthday. Bronco was celebrating with Daisy. We did not yet have Rollo.
Below are some other photos featuring Daisy
Daisy after an exhausting day of doing nothing.Daisy loves sunbathing. She lays out in the hot sun and soaks in the sun rays.Daisy is old and has arthritis so when we walk the dogs, we let her sit in a stroller. We lift her out so she can sniff.Daisy as a nurse, helping to nurse Bronco back after a toe amputation.Daisy and Bronco sharing a gingerbread house that Bronco grabbed.We are going on a vacation, but Ryu and Daisy didn’t like that. This is their protest.Daisy’s and Rollo’s knock knock joke
Leonberger Life 