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
Tomorrow I will do book signing at Wautega Public Library here in Texas. I will read a short story from my book and present myself. I will also mention that all royalties from book sales go to the Leonberger Health Foundation International, or LHFI, a charitable organization working towards healthier Leonbergers and healthier dogs in general. Below is my is my 20 seconds video pitch.
Hi, I’m Thomas Wikman, author of the Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, a book featuring funny and informative stories about our Leonberger. It is a great book for all dog lovers. All royalties from book sales are donated to the Leonberger Health Foundation International. Their work gives us healthier dogs.
My 20 second video pitch.That’s me a few days ago.The Leonberger Health Foundation International. Click on the image to visit the LHFI’s website.
The Leonberger is an unusual and fascinating dog breed that is known for its size, affectionate nature, and intelligence. I know a lot about Leonbergers because my family was lucky enough to live with one for thirteen years. His name was Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle—but we called him “Bronco” for short.
Bronco wasn’t our only dog, but our world wouldn’t have been the same without him. For instance, he once saved the life of our pug by fending off an attack from another dog. He probably saved our Labrador’s life, too, by sniffing out an impending insulin shock before it happened. Then there was the time he scared off a trespasser who’d been terrorizing my wife and other women in the neighborhood.
This is me with our late Leonberger Bronco when he was still young, not even one years old.
Bronco is no longer with us, but even in his passing he was distinctive. Leonbergers tend to live less than nine years—but Bronco came very close to reaching his thirteenth birthday. In fact, he received an award for longevity called the “Grey Muzzle Award.” We already knew he was a special dog, but we sent his DNA to two labs for research anyway.
The Grey Muzzle Award is given to Leonbergers who reach the age of 12 years or older.
YouTube video featuring Grey Muzzle Awardees including Bronco, entry nr 10 out of 34 at 2 minutes. This is an emotional video for me, not only because of Bronco, but I was very familiar with many of the other dogs. Time marches on.Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award
A little over a month ago I found out that an article about me, our late Leonberger Bronco and my book about him had been published in the September issue of the Preston Hollow People’s Magazine. It was a very nice surprise. Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine, which calls itself the best community magazine in Texas (I totally agree), is a monthly magazine with 47,000 online or print version subscribers. I can add that Preston Hollow is a large historic neighborhood in the northern part of Dallas with many famous residents including former President George W. Bush, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, previous Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks, the late Presidential candidate Ross Perot and many others.
What I am posting about today is that I finally acquired a couple of print versions of the September issue of the Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine, so I am posting a few here. I am also including a link to the online article because it might be easier to read.
Front page of the September issue of Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the image to view the online version of the article.Page 10 of the September issue of Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the image to view the online version of the article.Close up of the article about Bronco in the Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the image to view the online version of the article.Close up of the article about Bronco in the Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the image to view the online version of the article.
If you own a Leonberger, or are interested in Leonbergers, and you live in North America you likely know about the Leonberger Club of America, or the LCA for short. You are about as likely to find a Leonberger at Petland/Puppy-Mill as you are finding an Elephant for sale there. LCA is very protective of the Leonberger breed and of Leonbergers in general. You typically buy/get a Leonberger dog from an LCA certified Leonberger breeder or from the Leonberger Rescue Pals, and if you don’t that might be a problem.
We bought our Leonberger Bronco (Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle) in 2007 from Julie Schaffert, a certified LCA breeder since 1992.
There are only about 3,000 Leonbergers in North America and about 2,000 Leonbergers in the United States but the Leonberger Club of America has more than 1,000 members. They publish the Leo-Letter, a quarterly Leonberger magazine. So, the Leonberger Club of America has a very prominent place among Leonberger owners. Click here to see a summary of the Leonberger Breed Standard.
Leonbergers have a long history in North America and the United States—despite the fact that until 1985, there were only seventeen Leonbergers known to be living in the United States.
See: Lusby, Leonberger, page 15.
Leonberger, Special Rare-Breed Edition, A Comprehensive Owners Guide, Madeline Lusby. Click on the image to see my five star review for this book.
In the 1870s, Leonbergers were brought to Newfoundland to invigorate the stock of Newfoundland dogs. Around the same time, two Leonbergers named Caesar and Sultan were purchased from Heinrich Essig’s kennel (founder of the Leonberger breed) and transported across the ocean to join the Wellesley-Sterling theater company in the United States as the stars of their productions. Then in 1879, Caesar and Sultan visited President Ulysses S. Grant, who called them the largest and most magnificent dogs he had ever seen and presented them with gold medals. During the years between World War I and World War II, a New Jersey family, the Wolfs, opened their home as a temporary refuge for Jews fleeing Germany: they also imported Leonbergers. Unfortunately, this introduction of the breed into the United States did not last, and it would be another fifty years before the Leonberger appeared in America again.
Leonberger, A comprehensive guide to the lion king of breeds, Caroline Bliss-Isberg. Click on the image to see my five start review for this book.
During the late 1970s and the 1980s, a few families—Waltraut and Klaus Zieher, Brian Peters, Manfred and Sylvia Kaufmann, Keri Campbell and Melanie Brown, and Mary and Reiner Decher brought Leonbergers to the United States. The Dechers had started a breeding program and were looking for a mate for their first dam, Viona. By chance their neighbor discovered through a newsletter that there was another Leonberger in the United States, and that led to the families’ finding and connecting with one another. I should add that the Dechers were careful to conform to the German breeding regulations and performed hip X-rays that they then submitted to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). Viona became the first OFA-certified Leonberger in America.
See: Bliss-Isberg, Leonberger, page 152.
On Saturday, November 2, 1985, eight of these Leonberger enthusiasts met at a hotel in Denver, Colorado, to found the Leonberger Club of America (LCA). This group of founders, which has since been dubbed the Denver Eight, appointed a registrar, formulated a breeding acceptability checklist, and instituted various policies, including the requirement that OFA certification is mandatory for breeding. LCA membership grew: it held social gatherings, began publishing LeoLetter, and imported an increasing number of dogs. Now the LCA has thousands of members across the country, and Leonbergers receive high ratings on health tests relative to other large breeds. For example, in 2000, the OFA reported that only 14.6 percent of Leonbergers tested positive for hip dysplasia, compared to 47 percent of Saint Bernards.
Another important historical event was the founding of the Leonberger Health Foundation International (LHFI), in 2000 (it was just called the Leonberger Health Foundation back then). According to its website, the organization was founded by Waltraut Zieher and other memers of the LCA’s health, education, and research committee to “facilitate the solicitation and distribution of donations given to support health related breed-specific research.” The LHFI also administers a program that collects DNA samples from Leonbergers to share with universities and research institutions, and of course it administers the Grey Muzzle Award (long living Leonbergers). Our Leonberger Bronco was a recipient of the Grey Muzzle Award, and we provided them with his DNA.
Bronco’s Grey Muzzle Award, which he received for being an unusually long lived Leonberger.
LHFI’s global biobank contains DNA samples from more than nine thousand Leonbergers. Among the organization’s notable achievements are the eradication of Addison’s disease among Leonbergers and the raising of nearly half a million dollars for research into conditions that affect canine health, including osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, glaucoma, cardiac diseases, thyroid diseases, and neurological disorders. Its research also supports healthful longevity and aging as well as population diversity. Another success is the fact that since 2011, no Leonbergers with two copies of the LPN1 gene mutation (which causes Leonberger polyneuropathy) have been recorded in LHFI’s biobank. LHFI is one of my favorite charities.
The end of the twentieth century marked not only the end of the Cold War but also the beginning of what I call the Dog Wars of America. In 1985, the American Kennel Club (AKC) registry comprised one-third of the world’s known dog breeds. But the AKC had recognized only a few new breeds since 1887—a period of ninety-eight years. So, the organization decided to change that policy, but this did not always go smoothly. The members of rare-breed clubs often did not want to be part of the AKC. For example, the Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) was very reluctant to join, so a relatively small splinter group, the United States Australian Shepherd Association, was formed and designated the official member club of the AKC, which was not welcome news to the ASCA. The border collie is another example. Charles Krauthammer, the late political columnist, called the AKC the politburo of American dog breeding.
See: Bliss-Isberg, Leonberger, page 159.
Similarly, in 2003, a new Leonberger club was formed—the Leonberger Club of the United States—with the goal of becoming the Leonberger member club of the AKC. This essentially forced the LCA’s hand, so they applied for membership in the AKC, a process that took years to complete. But ultimately the AKC approved the LCA as members in 2010: Leonbergers would officially become part of the Working Group. Fortunately, 90 percent of LCA breeders agreed to continue following LCA regulations regardless of whether the club would remain independent or become part of the AKC. Also fortunately, AKC membership afforded more opportunities for Leonbergers to participate in dog shows, which is important to many owners.
See: Bliss-Isberg, Leonberger, page 187
For information on the history of the Leonberger starting in 1830’s see this link
Three weeks ago, I made a post about our late Leonberger Bronco (and my book) being featured in a local Dallas magazine called the Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. This magazine has 47,000 subscribers. In that post I posted screenshots of the printed version. Today they posted the free online version of the magazine. Click here to see the article about Bronco, my book and me. Click here to see the front page of the online version of Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. The headline of my article can be found on the front page.
The page showing the article in Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the image to see the front page of the free online version of Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine.The article in Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the picture to go to the article in the free online version of the magazine.Bronco and me
Our Leonberger Bronco, well Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, and my book about him, as well as an interview with me by journalist Kersten Rettig was featured on page 10 of the Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. This magazine is mailed to 47,000 households in north Dallas. Below are pictures from the on-line version of Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. You can probably not read the text in the top picture. However, I added additional pictures which are enlarged/zoomed-in versions, and you may be able to read those. Also, if you click on any of the pictures you are taken to the magazine where you can zoom in and enlarge as much as you want.
This is the spread of Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine that feature our Leonberger Bronco and my book about him. Click on the picture to see the online page.
Just as an FYI, Preston Hollow is an area in north Dallas with a long history. Some of its residents include former President George W. Bush, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks, Dirk Nowitzki, Jordan Spieth, Tyler Seguin, and the late Ross Perot who once was a Presidential candidate.
The article in Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the picture to see the online page.Zoom-in of the article in Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. The illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt shows Bronco’s face as he is carrying two hamsters in his mouth. Click on the picture to see the online page.Another zoom-in of the article in Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the picture to see the online page.Another zoom-in of the article in Preston Hollow Peoples Magazine. Click on the picture to see the online page.
There is a World Wide Independent Leonberger Database (WILD) which features more than 166,000 Leonbergers. That is a lot considering that there are 30,000 Leonbergers in the world and if you go back in time there were many fewer. In fact, genetic research has shown that there are only 22 founder animals (the ancestors of all living Leonbergers) who lived soon after the Second World War. By selecting the search item from the menu and then typing in the name of your Leonberger you can most likely find your dog in the database. If your Leonberger’s entry does not have a photo you can email them a photo, which I did.
Click on the image to visit the World Wide Independent Leonberger Database (WILD).
Another update I requested and had approved was an update to Bronco’s name. We wanted to name our Leonberger Bronco. It was our son’s choice. However, the Leonberger community and breeders have rules about how to name your dog. My wife Claudia was told that Bronco would not work because the litter Bronco was part of needed to have names beginning with an ‘L’. You can see the full sibling screenshot below. So, Claudia said “Let’s do Le Bronco”. Imagine our surprise when his birth certificate stated that his name was “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Well, “Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” begins with an ‘L’. His birth certificate name including the unexpected preamble “Lets Do” made its way into the database. Fortunately, the World Wide Independent Leonberger Database recently updated his full name to “Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle” upon my request.
This is the old data base entry for Bronco. Lets Do Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle.This is the corrected data base entry for Bronco. Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. Click on the picture to visit Bronco’s database entry.
I should explain that the database entries feature not only name, birthdate and birthplace, kennel, etc. It also contains health related information including important tests, genetic defects and inbreeding coefficients (COI). Note that Bronco lived in Dallas, Texas, but he was born at Kennel Löwenhöhle outside Vancouver, Canada.
Bronco’s four full siblings (same litter). You don’t call it twins for dogs but that’s what they were. Notice that all their names start with an ‘L’.The database entry for Bronco’s father.The database entry for Bronco’s mother.The database entry for Bronco’s grandfather. Notice that he had 201 offspring. This was a kennel in Germany.
I followed Bronco’s ancestors back on his father’s side 22 generations. The last one with a photo was 17 generations back, born in 1922. However, ancestry is not a straight line along the father’s and the grandfather’s line. It is an ever-growing ancestry tree involving 2, then 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, etc., ancestors, so Bronco has many ancestors with photos.
This is Bronco’s great great great father etc., 17 generations back. Leo von der Sagamuhle. He was born February 20th 1922.Close up of Leo von der Sagamuhle, Bronco’s straight back ancestor on his father’s side, 17 generations (great great …. grandfather).Alma von der Niederhaid, a female ancestor on Bronco’s mother’s side from 1957.Leo von Hailtingen born in 1927, another of Bronco’s ancestors.Pasha von der Haardt born 1904, the farthest back Bronco ancestor I found that had a photo.
What about you? Do you know your dog’s or cat’s ancestry tree? How about photos, illnesses, and inbreeding coefficients? How about your own lineage?
With today’s post I just wanted to show a photo of a beautiful young Leonberger called Hachi with my book. Brenda Saito allowed me to use the photo, which I took from her review on the Canadian Amazon site. I am so grateful for this review. You can read the review by clicking on the photo, and you can view the entry for my book on amazon Canada by clicking here.
Photo of Hachi a young Leonberger in Canada. Click on the photo to see the associated review.
On Amazon my Leonberger book has 13 ratings including 11 reviews and on Goodreads I have four reviews and on Bookbub and Barnes & Noble none. All the reviews are wonderful and supportive five-star reviews. I am extremely grateful for this .💖
However, with this post I would like to shamelessly request additional reviews. The vast majority of readers do not write reviews. I know, I am the same way. It is hardly something you expect. But if anyone out there who has read my book and has not written a review somewhere, is willing to do just that, I would be very grateful. I would like to stress that the review certainly doesn’t have to be a four-star, or five-star review and they don’t need to be elaborate or wonderful or long. Short honest reviews between one-star and five-star would all be very helpful to me.
If you go to the Amazon page for my book and you scroll down until you see “Customer Reviews” on the left-hand side, there is a white button below “Customer Reviews” bars that says, “Write a customer review”. You can also get here by clicking on the small blue text near the top that says, “13 ratings”. Once you click on the “Write a customer review” button you will see four fields “Overall rating”, “Add a headline”, “Add a photo or video”, and “Add a written review”. “Add a photo or video” is optional, and I admit I have never used it. You can either type something in the “Add a written review” box or copy from, for example, Microsoft Word. Note that Amazon takes a few days to publish a review after it has been submitted.
It works similarly on Barnes & Noble but here you have a blue button towards the bottom on the left. On Bookbub there is a red button towards the bottom left and on Goodreads there is a black “write a review” button in the middle halfway down.
By clicking on any of the pictures below you can visit my book on Bookbub and Goodreads.
This is a photo of our late Leonberger Bronco lying in the grass in the front yard soon after a toe surgery. Click on the image to go to the Bookbub location for the book.This is a photo of our Leonberger Bronco at 3 months old (left) and at almost 13 years old (right). Click on the image to go to the Goodreads location for the book.
Leonberger Life 