When the staff’s in staff meeting, the dog will type

Hi! I’m Chico. I’m a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (“Toller” for short!) and I’m Farm Aid’s unofficial mascot. I come to Farm Aid three days a week with my mom, Jen. Although it’s not official, I have two main duties for which I feel responsible: Human Resources and the Waste No Food Campaign.

In the case of HR, I’ve got my paw on the pulse of this place and I am very conscientious about checking in with all staff throughout the day to see how they’re doing. If they’re stressed and need a break, I roll over and let them rub my belly or I bring them a toy to throw for me. In extreme cases of emergency, I’ll let someone take me for a walk around the block. Without me, some staff would never get up out of their chairs to take a break!

The Waste No Food Campaign is my own personal initiative to be sure that no tasty tidbits go to waste. Folks here are very good about making sure that everything goes to the compost bucket, but why should the compost heap get all the good stuff? I check all the trash barrels to be sure that no crumbs are tossed. Now that the staff has grown to 11, I’ve got a full plate (pun intended!) but I’m pretty good at multitasking—you’ve got to be at a place like Farm Aid!

Here’s the scoop: the best finds are in Wendy’s trash barrel—there’s always a coffee cup to lick clean and some scone crumbs to chew on. Jeni’s trash barrel never contains any food items but it does have some Powerbar wrappers that are good for a tasty lick! But I like to be proactive too… the best treats to sneak that haven’t been picked over by a human yet are in Carolyn’s office, in one of the many bags she brings each day. Usually I can steal a few choice items before she manages to disengage herself from the phone and shoo me out of her office! Then it’s off to the kitchen to beg for treats – Katie and Nahreen are total suckers and are always good for a lick of peanut butter or some carrots.

Sounds like staff meeting is wrapping up so I’d better sign off. Look for more posts from me, detailing Farm Aid from a dog’s eye view.

Chico out!