Maite 
May 2009
Maite of Azienda Agricola La Magia in Montalcino, Italy, greeted us as we made the final turn along a 3 kilometer dirt road off of SP14, the main road through the Montalcino countryside. Maite was right at home, but it took quite a journey for her to get there as a puppy. Maite was born in March 2005 in Granada, Spain, where she was discovered by an Austrian family who brought her home to Innsbruck. Not knowing her breed, they thought she wouldn’t grow too large, but day by day she was becoming a very big dog—too big for their small apartment, so they had to place Maite in a kennel. As fate would have it, the Schwarz family (Mom is German; Dad is Austrian) of La Magia was looking for a dog and their Austrian importer, knowing that, asked to take Maite for a visit to the La Magia winery in Tuscany in November 2005. The rest, as they say, is history.
Maite is a Spanish name in keeping with her birthplace. She is a very kind and lively dog. Maite must be a royal dog, because she doesn’t like to work in the vineyard. She prefers to sleep under the Tuscan sun and stay cool in the warmer months by spending time in the swimming pool. Maite sits atop the winery’s hill, watching the family work in the gorgeous vineyards below, and she is always ready to play when the family takes a break from work. She knows she is a beautiful dog and she often uses her beauty to obtain a piece of chocolate from a willing family member or visitor.
Many thanks to the family for sending us some additional photos of Maite to supplement ours.
Maite checks to see what the winery guests want.
Maite guards the house.
Maite gets some lovin’.
|
Comment RSS
Filed Under: Wine Dog of the Month
Comments (3)
May 1, 2009 at 10:04 am
Gina said:
Go Maite! I’d give you a piece of chocolate any day!
Diana Hayes said:
You know, if you have a happy friendly dog walking around, it’s got to be a good friendly place (good happy cats work too – we’ve got both).
Bettie Infante said:
I was drawn to your article on Maite becasue she looks just like my dog Roxanne. Although Roxanne is a medium size dog and has a question mark for a tail she and Maite have identical portraits. I do caution readers to be careful with chocolate and dogs, the combination can be toxic. I learned this one day when Roxanne got into several Trader Joe’s chocolate bars my son had left in his room. Luckily the vet said she had not eaten enough to be toxic but to keep an eye on her. We too do not know Roxanne’s breed, she was a stray, and has turned out to be the sweetest mutt ever.
