This article about a winery service dog who became blind won a Maxwell Award in the 2014 Writing Competition sponsored by the Dog Writers Association of America. Cori received the Maxwell Medallion as well as a Certificate of Nomination for excellence in the category of Online Article – Any Other Topic. The awards were presented in New York on February 15, 2015.
Here is an excerpt from the Maxwell Award article Toby: A blind dog’s journey:
Every once in a while, I come upon a story that is so inspiring and moving, it really resonates with me. Such is the case when I was visiting Ecluse Winery and met Toby, a blind dog that is the inspiration for the winery’s second label, Blind Dog Wines.
It is not the wine, but Toby that reaches out and engulfs you with her true spirit. Toby was a guide dog helping her human companion, Duane Robertson, through life, and as she reached her senior years, she herself needed the assistance of humans to give her what she bestowed onto others. She touched the lives of many who visited the winery as you watched her smile, showing you that she was a very happy little girl.