Another thing that Katie and I, and our wineries, have in common is dogs. We love them, and they are a big part of our lives and businesses. Since it is officially the "dog days of summer," and I haven't been questing much farther than my air conditioned living room, it seems a good time to introduce you to the dogs of Wenwood.
Let's start with Shaggy, since he's actually been with us the longest. All of the dogs we've had have actually just arrived at our doorstep one day (the main reason we started our Wenwood Woof Fest Benefit), and Shaggy came with four siblings. The night before our summer festival about 5 years ago, I spotted the litter of puppies near our winery. I got Tom, we went back and gathered them up. It took forever because they had NO socialization at all and were a bit afraid of us. But we got them back, set them up in a barn stall with food, water and bedding, and played with them on a regular basis (after the festival - we were a bit busy!) until they became friendly and comfortable around people. We were preparing them to go to the Humane Society and get adopted, because we really couldn't keep 5 dogs - we already had 3!
Anyway, (warning - sad content coming!) the night of our festival, I came home and found that our wonderful, beautiful Golden Retriever, Oscar, was in very bad shape. He was very old, and it was obvious his time was near. The v et came out to our place and helped Oscar on his journey. Tom and I mourned - Oscar h ad been rescued in Wisconsin and moved to Missouri with us - and the puppies helped distract us and cheer us up. But when we drove them in to the Humane Society, we got sadder and sadder as each one was photographed and sent to the back,
and we just couldn't give up the sweet, golden puppy, Shaggy. It almost seemed that the universe had sent him our way to help us deal with Oscar's loss. So, off he went with us to PetCo and then home. (Happy note: all his siblings were adopted!)
Now Shaggy hangs out at the winery and loves to play outside with visiting dogs and his buddy Corky. Here are a couple more photos of Shaggy, being his cute self.
Now I'd like to introduce Corky,
who is very familiar to many people who visit Wenwood. Shaggy usually stays at home on busier days, but Corky is always around and takes his job as official greeter very seriously. For every car that pulls in to the parking lot, Corky heads to the car, and walks our visitors to our tasting room. He won't walk anyone out - either he doesn't want you to leave or he knows there is no more chance for treats from them. I prefer to believe it is the first!
Corky has elevated begging for snacks to an art form. He is extremely polite, doesn't get in your face, and knows how to work a room. He'll move from table to table, never outstaying his welcome, and just use the big brown eyes trick. Works nearly every time. However... he has one, umm, flaw. He believes that any food that has been left unattended at a table is obviously no longer wanted, and therefore his for the taking. This makes for a problem if people get up to dance, or the time we had the small wedding ceremony behind our pavilion - you don't want to know what happened when the wedding party got up to say their vows under a tree. I was mortified.
That's when we posted the wanted signs.
But everyone still loves Corky.
He is almost scarily intelligent and has a way with people, so even with his Wanted status, he is a true winery dog. After all, his name is Corky!
And I can't finish the story without telling you about Olive. Olive is actually our friend Lee's best buddy, but when Lee works at the winery Olive loves to come along. And she rules the roost!! She bosses the bigger dogs around and lets everyone know what is what. She is a super sweetie and a real part of our world. So if you see a little white cutie around the winery, give her a pat and say hi to the Princess of Wenwood!
Happy Trills (and Tails!)
Laura
Glad to see my baby, Olive made it to the dogs of Wenwood! She'd feel so left out if not, and being the princess that she is, she'd let us know for sure! She does love visiting her buddies, (Corky and Shaggy) and sometimes bossing them around, and swimming in the spring! Cheers to man, AND woman's, best friends!
Posted by: Lee of Envisage Vintage Jewelry | 07/27/2012 at 11:02 AM
Olive is definitely a fixture at Wenwood!
Posted by: Katie | 08/01/2012 at 06:14 PM