Wine Dogs

“It's a known fact that behind every great winemaker sits a loyal, dish-licking, taste-testing, lawn-watering pooch and it's our job to document it.” — winedogs.com   

There are two types of wine dogs.  There are working wine dogs and there are the kind of wine dogs that love winemaking time because they love their people.  Working wine dogs are used for their sniffing acumen.  Some sniff the vineyard for mealy bugs to protect the vines, some sniff the grapes for fungus, and some sniff in the wine room for cork taint in wood to protect the finished product.  

My two doodles, Monday and Yuri, are always underfoot when we are making, bottling, and racking wine or just cleaning the winery.  Monday sneaks to steal labels, paper towels, and tasting notes (entirely for the chase), or lies on the cool wine room floor usually right where I’m working.  

Yuri walks on the wilder side of the job.  He is the crush crew greeter.  He greets the crew with open paws, open heart, and if you are a dog loving human — big wet kisses. His thievery style is different than Monday’s, as he grabs from your hand while on the run.

This past Tuesday, I came home from the vet with an empty leash.  The dog Yuri was so excited to see, didn’t come home with me. There is an underlying deeply heartfelt empathy that dogs have for their owners.  It is quite possible that Yuri is putting my pain before his right now.  

Monday did.  Monday put his love and dedication to me,  before his own pain.  He ate breakfast that morning, we took our short walk, and he barked at every movement that occurred at the neighbors house. His behavior made me think he wasn’t as sick as he really was, but we went to get his breathing checked anyway.  An hour later he was gone.  Just like that.  

We know that about dogs, though.  We love them anyway, with all our hearts. They are here for such a short time but they can teach us so much, if we let them.  They live and breathe with unconditional love.

Yuri has some very big shoes to fill as the head wine dog now.  He is not as wily as Monday was, nor as wise merely by his youth. He spends more time running around than he does lying on the wine room floor but his demeanor has changed greatly since this past Tuesday.  It’s with a full heart that I will watch his role he morphs into as the Head Le Garage Wine Dog.