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The
Saga began in 1996 when our 30 acre vineyard on the Westside of
the Paso Robles appellation was planted. Our property caretaker,
Duane Robinson, lived on the property with Bingo, his longtime,
faithful companion who, due to glaucoma, was blind. They were
simpatico companions as Bingo would bark to alert Duane, who was
very hard of hearing, and Duane would be Bingo's eyes. In 1998
Bingo had aged. We searched for a true assist dog for Duane and
found Dogs for the Deaf in Oregon. |
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They are a terrific organization
that rescues dogs and trains them as assist dogs. After passing the
application process, Duane was matched with Topaz, a spunky little
lab/terrier mix. Topaz became Toby to Duane and all of us here at the
Vineyard. She was a great help to Duane as his hearing assist dog and a
wonderful addition to the vineyard. As Toby aged we discovered she was a
Diabetic. In the summer of 2008 Toby lost her sight - a true irony to
have two blind dogs on the property and especially for Toby, since she,
herself was an assist dog. But as with Bingo, nothing deters Toby from
enjoying life amongst the vines! |