Where does the time go? This past week we had a Board meeting, attended not one, but THREE Rotary meetings (nice people, but, alas, no bacon) AND spoke to 300 kids at the O’Neal School regarding our upcoming annual Miles for MIRA FunRun/Walk. Oh, yes, we also attended a breakfast meeting at Penick Village where Bob spoke to about 30 very nice men and I looked appropriately Ambassadorial ( until someone dropped a piece of bacon, that is)  Oh, I love those breakfast meetings….

Also late in the week we visited with the wonderful folks at the Village Chapel in Pinehurst, where we had a yummy dinner before Bob spoke to the group.(Well…of course, the humans had a yummy dinner, but I still managed to enjoy myself, in spite of being pretty tired by then)

Over the week end we manned a table at the annual Moore County Kennel Club dog show. Now, that’s my kind of assignment. I met a lot of nice dogs, including a couple of Berners like me, however, the most fun was when the shar-peis decided to start sporting MIRA scarves! Something about all of those wrinkles just makes me laugh (in a good way, of course…) The other highlight was when AJ and Samantha showed up on Sunday with their MIRA dogs, Martin and Gale. I love those guys. Martin is just a really calm, cool dog, and Gale is as sweet as Sammie herself. I was so proud of both of them as they guided AJ and Samantha around the grounds and kept them safe. They are still young dogs, you know, but already they recognize the importance of their work.

So, needless to say, we were all pretty tired by the end of the week-end, but I am not complaining. Life as a MIRA dog is about as good as it gets.

Love,

Devon ( Top Dog) Baillie

My Friends Bob and Dixie

It’s hard to believe that last Monday was a holiday, because the rest of the week we sure made up for it. I  didn’t know that you could cram so much into four days of work!

This was the week starting on Tuesday: early morning meeting for Bob re personal business, (of course I am there, too), Doctor’s appointment, to the office for a few hours, back to another outside meeting. Wednesday: 7:00 am Rotary meeting, another Doctor’s appointment, followed by the rest of the day in the office. Thursday: conference call, Aberdeen Lions  luncheon meeting, outside meeting for several hours. Friday: breakfast meeting to kick off Belk’s Fall Charity Sale, (whoa…somebody “accidentally” dropped some bacon – be sure you shop at Belk’s from now on, folks…) speak at Penick Village, outside meetings all afternoon, dinner with Beth and Chris (I love them…) Saturday: drive to Raleigh and speak  at NC Council of the Blind. (Lots of other guide dogs there, but no one looked like me, so I knew right away they were not MIRA dogs!)

I got out of the car at home on Saturday afternoon and I was exhausted…. I don’t know how Bob does it. I guess he is lucky he has Elaine and Miss Dixie Doodles (my Carolina dog girlfriend) and me and all of his other good friends to support him. Without friends, where would we be?

Love,

Devon

Wow…who ever knew that Pennsylvania was such an interesting place!  We had so much fun there on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday morning we toured the Hershey chocolate store. I have never seen so much chocolate  in my life. Too bad I couldn’t sample it, but we all know what happens when you put dogs and chocolate together and its not a pretty sight. So…I had to be content with “meeting and greeting’ as the MIRA Ambassador while I used my fine sense of smell to at least savor the aroma of chocolate.

After we left the store we took a bus tour of Hershey Park. I must have really been a celebrity because the tour guide mentioned my name at least three times and people kept asking to pet me , speak to me, and take my picture.  I can’t get over how funny humans are: haven’t they ever seen a dog ride a bus before?

And then I hit the mother lode. Rick and Bob decided to go looking for some of that world famous Lebanon bologna and I must have done something right that morning because- you guessed it- I was given some bologna !  Forget chocolate, folks, Lebanon bologna is the new “it” food!

Monday night Bob and I were the guest speakers at the annual dinner for a very fine Foundation called World Blind Outreach. (Well, of course, Bob did the speaking while I kept him safe and looked appropriately Ambassadorial ) Our hosts were Dr. and Mrs. Albert Alley and Amy and Brooks Tresgar. They are such nice people. I love them.

Tuesday morning we toured the Susquehanna Foundation for the Blind as guests of their delightful Executive Director . What a wonderful place. They employ about 200 blind and severely visually impaired individuals at their huge work facility. Even I was impressed.  It is so important for the world to know that just because a person is blind it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve the opportunities that others have, and the fine people at Susquehanna realize this truth. I think I speak for both of us when I say Bob and I were very grateful to have met such fine people.

At Tuesday lunch we met about 100 area Rotarians and Lions. Bob did his speaking thing, I did my Ambassadorial routine, and, thank God, some kind soul just “happened” to drop some food my way. It was bliss. The Rotarians and Lions are the best!

We wrapped up our stay by meeting a wonderful young man named Max. Max is ten years old and blind, but that doesn’t stop him from playing all kinds of sports and being a straight A student. He would like a MIRA guide dog when he is old enough, and so I did my very best to show him how his life will change. Bob and I even agreed to let Max hold my harness while I walked him to the door. It was a happy moment for all of us, and I was very proud to have done my part. I love being a MIRA guide dog. There is never, and I mean never, a dull moment.

Gotta Rest,

Love,

Devon :)

Well…..what are people trying to do to me? We just had a super fundraiser at the Sly Fox Pub in Southern Pines courtesy of owner Mark Elliot and the nicest manager in the world, Andy Heisinger. Tons of people showed up, we had celebrity bartenders including the Mayor of Southern Pines, Mike Haney, and his pretty wife, Carol (and no, I didn’t try to lick her ankle when she came by) and one of my favorite radio personalities, Rich Rushforth of Star 102.5, HOWEVER, do you know the torture of being a dog in a pub ( a place where they serve a lot of beef, lamb, and chicken, in case you didn’t know) and not being able to get a single morsel to eat? Hmph….I think you can tell from the accompanying picture that I was, shall we say, a little frustrated.  Good thing no one tried to give me a bowl of ice because I was definitely not in the mood for that sort of appeasement, believe me.

Although we all had a lot of  fun for a wonderful cause ( and I was really pleased to learn that the event was named in my honor: “Drinks for Devon”) , I think that darned sly fox should have slipped me the beef and then I could have called this post “The Sly Fox and the Grinning Dog.” Don’t you agree that would have been better all around?

Love,

Devon (your humble -make that hungry- servant) Baillie