No, you read it correctly. It’s not a typo. Bilbo Waggins is or was a rather famous canine “singer”.
 
I receive all sorts of correspondence, forwarded to me by my publishers, but this is one of the strangest and most humorous. In this festive season I thought I’d share it with visitors to the Ink Desk.
 
From Ron Bianco:
 
Hello,
 
It may interest you to know that I had a dog named ‘Bilbo’.
 
He was known, and actually became nationally known, as “Bilbo, the singing dog”, for he was a part of my show (I being a solo singer and guitarist).  He came at the “tail end” of my performance!  His full name was ‘Bilbo Waggins’
 
We were billed as “Ron Bianco and Bilbo – Keep Your Tail a-Waggin Show”.  Our recording of “Bilbo’s Doggone Sing-a-Long” got national airplay. There were little waggin-tail novelties made and passed about to all in our audiences who would wag them in the air at the show’s finale, who would then howl in imitation and tribute to his crooning’s (these waggin-tails were sent to numerous world leaders and celebrities everywhere along with his slogans).  In 1988 his running for president was humorously announced on local tv news … his platform being: “Keep the Whole World’s Tail Waggin'”; and, “A Bone In Every Home”.
 
He (and I with him) got to appear on many tv and radio shows in RI and MA (on ‘Talk of the Town’ in Boston, Matt Lauer was the host; and on ‘People Are Talking’, also in Boston, Tom Bergeron was the host).  Both of these men are now national tv hosts … so I like to say that having ‘Bilbo’ as a guest was the pathway to their rise in the tv world.  Our highlight show was an outdoor festival of several thousand (or more) opening for ‘Blood, Sweat, and Tears’.
 
‘Bilbo’ had been a stray dog.  He was left abandoned, tied to a pole, in front of the ‘Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Providence, RI’.  As my son and I were returning home from the church, it turns out the usher just then came out and untied him, and he came walking along side of us.  Returning to the church, I discovered all this, left my name, brought him home, and gave him a bath.  He was so happy that he ran round and round and round through every room, coming to kiss me each time he passed by me!
 
As a performer, to this day, while ‘Bilbo’ is long gone, I have my audiences howling at times and tell them at the show’s end, that they have been “a howling success!”
 
Ron
 
‘Yankee Magazine’ article (I think May 1989)