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.
Tag: The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle
Our late Leonberger Bronco’s birthday and the two years anniversary of the release of my book about him was at the beginning of July. Therefore, I decided to have a promotion for the month of July. I lowered the price of both the paperback and the kindle version on Amazon by two dollars in all countries (or close to two dollars). For the United States I lowered the price of the Kindle version from $4.99 to $2.99 and for the paperback from $19.95 to $17.95. In Sweden I lowered the price from 180 Swedish Crowns to 150 Crowns or 159 Crowns with VAT.
This is a reminder of that promotion. Since I sort of forgot about my promotion and this reminder is late I am extending it three more days until the end if August 3rd, midnight Central Standard Time.
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 paperback version of the book.
This is the back 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 kindle version of the book.These are the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to got to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.
In this book you’ll read about some of Bronco’s amazing feats: the night he scared away a prowler; the day he performed a hamster search and rescue; the time he stumped the Geek Squad; and the late night he snuck into the kitchen and ate a two-pound bag of dog treats, a box of pastries, a loaf of bread, a grilled chicken, and a Key lime pie, all in one sitting. You’ll also read about his unflappable calm during a north Texas tornado and his stoicism as he endured health challenges in his later years.
In addition to entertaining stories, these pages contain a wealth of practical guidance, including:
a history of the Leonberger breed;
advice for the care of very large dogs;
breed-specific health and genetic information;
training and feeding tips;
suggestions for finding a breeder;
the official breed standard; and
an extensive resource guide.
Below is a list of places where you can get my book.
I am overjoyed to see this very beautifully written and supportive review of my book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle.” Please take a look at this blog post.
It should be noted that I did not see a reblog button on the post so I hope it is OK that I just link to it here.
Park Cities People and Preston Hollow People Magazine here in Dallas (Preston Hollow) received 15 awards in this year’s National Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest. The National Newspaper Association (NNA), founded in 1885, has over 2,300 members, making it the largest newspaper trade association in the United States. There are slightly more than 100 categories and there is a first price, second price, third price, and an honorable mention, so a bit more than 400 opportunities for an award. Considering that there are 2,300 newspapers I think winning 15 is quite impressive. It is certainly a high-quality magazine. They earned three first-place awards, two second places, five third places, and five honorable mentions. One of the honorable mentions was for Best Book Review. That book review was written by Journalist Kersten Rettig and the book in question was “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.
This is a photo of the page of Preston Hollow People Magazine where the review appeared. If you click on the picture (or click here) you can see the online version of the book review in Preston Hollow People Magazine.
A screenshot of another online version of Preston Hollow People Magazine where the review appeared. If you click on the picture (or click here) you can see it online.
It is certainly not my accomplishment. It is the newspaper’s award and Kersten Rettig’s accomplishment, but I am very happy about this for myself as well, since I wrote the book, and that is kind of exciting.
Close up of the review in Preston Hollow People Magazine.Close up of the review in Preston Hollow People Magazine.
I’ve written about this book review before back when it was published in September/October last year (2023). You can click here or here to see those blog posts. Finally, a reminder. To celebrate Bronco’s birthday (July 3rd), for the month of July I am lowering the price of the paperback on Amazon from $19.95 to $17.95 and I am lowering the price of the kindle from $4.95 to $2.95. That applies to all countries. By clicking on the pictures below you can visit the Amazon locations for the book.
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 paperback version of the book.This is the back 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 kindle version of the book.These are the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to go to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.
Below is a list of places where you can get my book.
I was overjoyed to see this very supportive and beautifully written review of my book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle.” It is detailed and filled with helpful information. Please take a look at this blog post.
Our late Leonberger Bronco’s birthday was a few days ago, and so was the two years anniversary of the release of my book about him. It is a special occasion and therefore I’ve decided to have a promotion for the month of July. I lowered the price of both the paperback and the kindle version on Amazon by two dollars in all countries (or close to two dollars). For the United States I lowered the price of the Kindle version from $4.99 to $2.99 and for the paperback from $19.95 to $17.95. In Sweden I lowered the price from 180 Swedish Crowns to 150 Crowns or 159 Crowns with VAT.
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 paperback version of the book.
This is the back 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 kindle version of the book.
If you’re thinking of getting a Leonberger, or if you’ve already owned one and know how rewarding the experience can be, or if you are just a dog lover, then you’ll want to read the story of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, called Bronco, who came to live with us in Dallas, Texas, in 2007. Bronco, a recipient of the Leonberger Health Foundation International’s Grey Muzzle Award, lived an unusually long life for a Leonberger—almost thirteen years. We believe that what helped him exceed his breed’s normal life expectancy was his brave and loving heart.
These are the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to got to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.
In this book you’ll read about some of Bronco’s amazing feats: the night he scared away a prowler; the day he performed a hamster search and rescue; the time he stumped the Geek Squad; and the late night he snuck into the kitchen and ate a two-pound bag of dog treats, a box of pastries, a loaf of bread, a grilled chicken, and a Key lime pie, all in one sitting. You’ll also read about his unflappable calm during a north Texas tornado and his stoicism as he endured health challenges in his later years.
In addition to entertaining stories, these pages contain a wealth of practical guidance, including:
a history of the Leonberger breed;
advice for the care of very large dogs;
breed-specific health and genetic information;
training and feeding tips;
suggestions for finding a breeder;
the official breed standard; and
an extensive resource guide.
Bronco’s fearlessness, tolerance, and affectionate nature warmed the hearts of everyone who met him, and his sometimes uncanny adventures with his human and canine companions will bring a smile to the face of every dog lover.
This is a sample spread from my book (The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle). It is page 24 and 25. The illustration (by Naomi Rosenblatt) showing Bronco with puffy cheaks depicts him holding two rescued hamsters in his mouth.This is another sample spread from my book. It is page 92 and 93. The spread contains the story about when Bronco was chasing our nice neighbor while wearing full leg cast, despite the fact he was not supposed to bump it. The illustrations were made by Naomi Rosenblatt.This is another sample spread from my book. It is page 102 and 103. The other dog is our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.
Below is a list of places where you can get my book.
Our Leonberger Bronco was born in British Columbia, Canada (nearby Vancouver), on July 3rd, 2007. That was 17 years ago today. His full name was Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. His father’s name was Priamos Vom Dreiburgenland and his mother’s name was Justus Aria Von Drevas. He had four full siblings, or twins, Little Jonah, Love Ryan, LRV’s Moose, and Lakeisha Makita. That was his litter. Notice that all names begin with an ‘L’. He had 83 siblings in total. The breeder’s name was Julie Schaffert, who is a Leonberger Club of America certified breeder (since 1992), and arguably North America’s most prominent breeder.
Bronco’s entry in the Leonberger Data Base. Click on the picture to visit the Leonberger Data Base.
About 8-9 weeks later he came to Dallas, Texas to be with his new family. That was us. 13 years later he passed away. The name we picked for him was Bronco. However, we were told that his name needed to begin with an ‘L’, so my wife said, “Let’s do Le Bronco”, intending it to be “Le Bronco”. It took us several years to change his name from “Lets Do Le Bronco”, which also begins with an ‘L’, to “Le Bronco”.
Bronco’s original birth certificate from LCA (Leonberger Club of America). His name at this time was “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.Close up of his name, which incorrectly was “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.Bronco at the age of three months and at the age of almost 13.
Bronco quickly grew to become a big dog. At one point he was 167lbs but his ideal weight was 135lbs. When he joined our family, we had two other dogs, a Labrador (or Labrador mix) called Baylor and a female German Shepherd called Baby. Baby was like a mother to Bronco, and she was fiercely protective of him. We would soon get two more dogs, a Japanese Chin called Ryu and a pug called Daisy. Once Bronco was older, we would get one more dog, a mini-Australian Shepherd called Rollo. Bronco loved all the other dogs, and he was very protective of them. He saved the life of our Labrador by sniffing out an oncoming insulin shock and he saved our pug Daisy from an attacking German Shepherd.
This is Bronco and me. He is about one year old. Not yet fully grown but still big.Bronco when he was 167lbs sitting in my wife’s lap. He went on a diet after this photo.Bronco with our pug Daisy and Japanese Chin Ryu.Bronco with our pug Daisy and Japanese Chin Ryu again.The portrait was drawn by Veniceme at Etsy (Natasha Dall’Ara) and it is based on one of our photos.
One thing that we are proud of is that Bronco lived very long for a Leonberger. The typical lifespan for a Leonberger is 8-10 years. Giant breeds tend to have a short lifespan. The Leonbergers who live at least 12 years are awarded the so-called Grey-Muzzle Award by the Leonberger Health Foundation International, and Bronco was a recipient. The Leonberger Health Foundation International (LHFI) is supporting research that aims to solve health issues in Leonbergers and other giant breeds. All proceeds from the sale of my book are donated to the Leonberger Health Foundation International. I can add that when Bronco passed away, we sent his DNA to the University of Minnesota to be used in research. This was facilitated by the LHFI.
Bronco was a very special dog, and he also gave us many amusing stories. Some of the stories were great, like when he chased off a trespasser / peeping Tom who had been terrorizing my wife and the other women in the neighborhood, but that the police and the private detectives I hired could not catch. Or when he saved runaway hamsters or saved the lives of other dogs. He also gave us some embarrassing stories, such as when he put our neighbor’s head in his mouth, like the circus lion trick, or pushed our German Shepherd into a storm drain. After Bronco passed, I decided that the world needed to know about Bronco, so I wrote a book about him. It is a tribute to him as well as a collection of funny stories. I also added information about Leonbergers in the book, their origins, care, training, health, etc.
Bronco is chasing off a trespassing peeping Tom who had been terrorizing the women in the neighborhood at night. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Bronco with hamsters in his mouth. When he dropped them, they were unconscious, so my wife gave the hamsters CPR. They were fine. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.Bronco acting wild pushing our German Shepherd into a storm drain. I am trying to get her up. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
Finally, I would like to give an overview of my book about Bronco and Leonbergers. I intended to release the Book on July 3rd, 2022, on what would have been Bronco’s 15th birthday. However, Amazon was quicker than I expected. The Kindle version became available on the day I uploaded it July 1st, 2022, and the paperback version July 2nd, 2022, but I did not tell people about it until July 3rd. Well today it is July 3rd again. To read more about my book click here.
In July of 2022 my book was the number one new release on American Amazon in the category “dog breeds”This is a sample spread from my book (The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle). It is page 102 and 103. The other dog is our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo.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 paperback version of the book.This is the back 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 kindle version of the book.These are the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to got to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.
If you haven’t already, please take a look at my book
In the past I’ve made a few posts featuring 25 photos of Leonbergers around a certain theme. This is one more of those posts. This time it is photos of Leonbergers in nature, whether it is in a park, in our yard, on top of a mountain, swimming in a lake, a forest, etc. The first half of the photos are of our Leonberger Bronco or Leonberger photos by a friend. The second half of the of the photos are shutter stock photos. Below are the previous 25 photos of Leonbergers posts.
Our Leonberger Bronco at a park close to our house. On his right front leg there is missing hair from a surgery he had (toe amputation).Our Leonberger Bronco on our front lawn.Our Leonberger Bronco in the bushes.Our Leonberger Bronco is swimming in White Rock Lake nearby Dallas, Texas.Our Leonberger Bronco is standing in White Rock Lake nearby Dallas, Texas.Our Leonberger Bronco in the backyard. He was a saint.Amie, a female Swedish Leonberger on top of Skuleberget (Skull Mountain) in northern Sweden.Amie, a female Swedish Leonberger on top of Skuleberget in northern Sweden (Norrland).Amie and her owner had climbed the mountain.The view that we and Amie had from the top of Skuleberget in northern Sweden. The area is referred to as the High Coast.The Leonberger Digory with friends at the beach some years ago. Photo Jen O’Keefe.This photo was provided by Jen O’Keefe, Urgent Animal Care of Arlington. From left to right; Obi, Delfi, Aslan, Gryphon, Digory.Caspian (Obi’s nephew), Austin (Obi’s son), Delfi (our 10 yr old, living with lung cancer), Obi (now 7 and a veteran), Digory, and Rilian (Obi’s son). They all wish everyone a Very Happy New Year!! Photo by Velvy TheLion.Shutterstock-ID: 959582 by Ingvald Kaldhussater.Leonberger standing in snow. Shutterstock-ID: 705193912 by Eric Isselee.Leonberger puppy. My guess is that he is around two months old. Shutterstock-ID: 629624396 by TOM KAROLA.A majestic Leonberger. Shutterstock-ID: 731020957 by Peter Josto.Leonberger on the beach. Stock Photo ID: 1110805445 by Lolostock.Two Leonbergers swimming. Stock Photo ID: 1989806678 by Taibomaus.Sitting Leonberger. Shutterstock-ID:1333669760 by Britta Paasch.Sitting Leonberger. Shutterstock-ID:1333669760 by Britta Paasch.Leonberger and pug running in the snow. Shutterstock- ID:1659034960 by AnetaZabranska.A Leonberger puppy running in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2056502327 by Nikky de Graaf.Two light colored Leonberger puppies playing. My guess is that they are three months old. Shutterstock-ID: 2141564415 by AnetaZabranska.A Leonberger puppy standing in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2390810457 by VeronArt16.Leonberger standing in river. Photo by Stephanie Lucero on Unsplash.
Note, I am going to a CCL conference this weekend and the beginning of next week, so I will not be posting or do anything related to blogs for a while.
Today, or rather yesterday, since it is past midnight, was a wild day here in Dallas. We had severe thunderstorms with strong winds ripping up trees around the neighborhood as well as our patio parasol and one of our small trees. There were large hails, lightning and thunder, flash floods, as well as a tornado. Luckily the tornado was not anywhere near us, but we lost power during a significant part of the day, just like more than 650,000 people here in Dallas. Oncor said it will take 8 days to restore power to everyone. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is very afraid of bad weather, so he had a bad day. I am sure many other dogs had a bad day too.
A so called supercell but without a tornado. Stock Photo ID: 1768468151 by Laura Hedien.
When I talked about the weather with friends and family, I realized that many people do not know the difference between a tornado and a hurricane, so I thought I would explain. A hurricane is a big rotating storm system originating in the ocean that sometimes makes landfall and devastates our coasts. Hurricanes are big, thousands of square miles and even a million square miles. A hurricane has wind speeds of 74 miles per hour (mph) or higher. That’s 119 kilometers per hour or 33 meters per second. They are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and the northeast Pacific, and Typhoons in the northwest Pacific, and otherwise just cyclones.
Satellite photo of hurricane approaching Cuba and Florida. Stock Photo ID: 2202605185 by Emre Akkoyun.
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cloud. They originate with thunderstorms, especially supercells, and are more of an inland phenomenon even though hurricanes can sometimes generate tornadoes. They are much smaller than hurricanes in area, almost always much smaller than a square mile, or just 10 or 30 meters across. The reason they can be as deadly as hurricanes is that they tend to have stronger winds and they appear and disappear quicker thus taking people by surprise. Tornadoes can happen anywhere, but they are more common in North America and especially in tornado-alley. Despite tornado alley’s small size, a quarter of all significant tornadoes in the world occurred there according to a study (1921 – 1995).
A tornado. Stock Photo ID: 2369175167 by g images.com.
Below is a list of how hurricanes (Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) and tornadoes (original Fujita scale) are classified. The unit is miles per hour (mph). Also note that as the wind speed doubles the force quadruples, so an F5/261 mph Tornado has a force that is 2.8 times stronger than category five/155 mph hurricane.
Hurricane category one: Winds 74 to 95 mph. Tornado F1 : 73 to 112 mph
Hurricane category two: Winds 96 to 110 mph. Tornado F2 : 113 to 157 mph
Hurricane category three: Winds 111 to 130 mph. Tornado F3: 158 to 206 mph
Hurricane category four: Winds 131 to 155 mph. Tornado F4 : 207 to 260 mph
Hurricane category five: Winds greater than 155 mph. Tornado F5 : 261 to 318 mph
Map showing Tornado Alley. It includes north Texas / Dallas. Stock Vector ID: 1719764089 by Adansijav Official.
The weather today reminded me about what happened on October 20, 2019. An EF3 Tornado ravaged our neighborhood, and it came close to our house, about 100 yards, and it damaged our house. Our chimney was smashed by a piece of concrete flying off a neighbor’s house, and our roof was damaged and needed to be replaced. In addition, our garage door was destroyed, and the wiring and pipes in the attic were destroyed, our fence was damaged, and my grill flew across the yard. The cost of the repairs was $50,000.00.
Bronco had just had a toe amputation. He did not blow down our fence.
However, we were lucky. Several of our neighbors’ houses were totally destroyed and my wife’s parents house was a lot more damaged than our house was. 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. The school where our boys used to go, St. Marks School of Texas, was badly damaged and the walls of the gymnasium blew away.
A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21st, 2019.
I was sitting outside drinking a beer, a Yellow Rose, when 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 our chimney being smashed.
Another neighbor’s house. This house was about 100 yards from our house. It took a direct hit from the tornado.
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 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.
Inside Claudia’s parents’ house. This was the morning after. We are walking into their house to check on them (that’s my wife).
I can add that October of 2019 was a very difficult month for our Leonberger Bronco. He was getting old. He was twelve years old, and he had the first signs of geriatric-onset laryngeal paralysis polyneuropathy (or GOLPP), which made his breathing a bit labored and affected his gait. In addition, he had developed another case of squamous cell carcinoma, a toe-nail cancer, and this time on his right rear paw. We amputated his toe on October 3—the day he turned twelve years and three months old.
We had to change Bronco’s bandages every now and then but Rollo, our mini–Australian Shepherd made sure we did it right.
The surgery went well, but after around ten days it was discovered that he had 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. Then on October 20 we were visited by the tornado. One week after the tornado Bronco had his first heart failure. So, something bad happened every week in October 2019. It was a dark time for Bronco. However, he took it very well, he kept his brave and positive outlook on life, and he was able to recover.
Below are a few more photos from that day.
Bronco and Daisy the evening before the big storm. None of us suspected what was about to happen.This is the next-door neighbor of Claudia’s (my wife) parents.Destroyed house in the neighborhood.View of the shopping center in our neighborhood.A store at a nearby shopping centerThis was a school bus belonging to the school where my boys went.Streetview from the neighborhood.Bronco and Rollo a few days after the Tornado.
I once apologized to our neighbor Sam because our Leonberger Bronco had been barking. To my surprise Sam told me not to worry, let him bark he said, it scares the bad guys away, and is good for the entire neighborhood. I think the story below, which is an excerpt from my book might explain his thinking.
Our Leonberger dog Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle when he was young. He is giving me a hug.
A quiet and spooky evening alone
It was a quiet evening, and I was home alone. My wife, Claudia, was visiting her parents a few blocks away with Rachel, our daughter. Our son Jacob was meeting with his debate team; our other son, David, was visiting a friend.
I was making myself a ham sandwich in the kitchen when I suddenly felt a hand on my right shoulder. I startled and turned my head to face what I feared was an intruder, and there he stood on his hind legs—our Leonberger, Bronco. His big paw on my shoulder felt for a moment exactly like a human hand.
Bronco looked at me with his kind, wise eyes, then he looked at the sandwich. Then he turned his head toward me again and held my gaze. At that moment I understood what he wanted. I cut the sandwich in two and gave him his half.
The night stalker
I should explain that we had a problem with a trespasser at that time, which was the reason I was startled. This trespasser would sit outside our bedroom window at night and make threats and shout obscene comments at Claudia when I was not present. At first, though, we didn’t know where the threats and comments were coming from. I doubted Claudia’s accounts of these incidents, especially because she thought the voice might be coming from within our bedroom, perhaps via an electronic speaker. I thought she was just having nightmares.
Then one night I heard it myself—a voice screaming, “I am going to burn your house down!” Just as Claudia had said, it sounded like it came from within our bedroom, almost as if it were right next to me.
After Claudia and I went through our “Oh, so now you believe me” routine, I started looking under our bed and inside the heating and air-conditioning vents for hidden speakers and/or microphones. It was hard to believe that someone had planted these things in our bedroom, but that seemed to be the case. Then it finally dawned on me. Next to the headboard of our bed, on Claudia’s side, just inches from her pillow, is a window. At night, when the blinds are lowered and the slats are partially open, you can see in, even if we have just a few lights on in the house. But of course under these conditions, you can’t see anything that might be outside.
The nightly stalker or voyeur looking through our bedroom window. Illustration by Naomi Roseblatt.
I ran out the front door and around the back of the house, and there, right in front of our bedroom window, was one of our lawn chairs. The trespasser had climbed our fence, taken the chair, sat down in front of the window, and spied on us. Whenever I left the room, he would shout obscenities and threats at Claudia. When his face was planted in front of our window, he was just two or three feet away. This was why the voice felt so close. This had been going on for two weeks. We were happy to have finally figured it out, but we realized we had a problem.
We talked to our neighbors about the situation, and they told us that the trespasser had terrorized them as well. He had been quite busy looking through bedroom windows at night. People in the neighborhood were scared. I called the police, who told us they could do nothing unless the man was caught in the act or he committed a crime other than trespassing.
The detectives
Therefore, I decided to hire private investigators. I found them in the phone book. Phone books still existed back then.
The investigators told me that they typically spy on people suspected of cheating on their spouses, so this would be a more interesting job for them. The plan was for them to hide behind the bushes in our backyard and in a dark car parked on our street. When the man appeared, they would record him on video. They had a lot of fancy equipment and instruments, including big microphones, cameras, and metal detectors. They reminded us of Ghostbusters with all their technology and enthusiasm. They clearly loved their job. Unfortunately, though, the trespasser didn’t show up, so after a couple of days I decided to let the investigators go.
However, I soon figured out who the trespasser was. I started paying attention to what was going on in the neighborhood, and one evening, I noticed a strange-looking but relatively young man, apparently homeless, who seemed to be stealthily roaming our neighborhood. I did not confront him, because I had no proof.
Bronco saves the neighborhood.
But a few days later, I heard shuffling noises outside our bedroom window. The trespasser was finally back. This time I sent Bronco out to chase him, and he did. Like the detectives, Bronco was enthusiastic but didn’t catch him. Still, he chased the man off. Having a big bearlike dog rushing toward you at night is probably a bit unnerving, even if the dog just wants to lick you. We never experienced or heard about the problem after this event, so Bronco may have helped the entire neighborhood.
Bronco chasing off the intruder who would not return. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.
A couple of weeks later, while walking Bronco on a neighboring block, I saw the homeless man across the street, at a bit of a distance. He stared at us in fright. Bronco just calmly looked at him without barking. The man was clearly terrified of Bronco, and he ran away. But despite the nightmare the homeless man had inflicted on us, I felt sorry for him. My guess is that he was suffering from mental illness and that he had had a very tough and lonely life.
Read this review of my book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Bronco was my best friend and I love when someone loves the book about him.
Leonberger Life 