Saturday

 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Halloween decoration in the neighborhood.

It's a tense weekend waiting for election day. Democracy hangs in the balance.

We rode our bikes and bike trailer to the Dunedin Community Center for a walk around the pond. It was 84 degrees.

Chicken salad sandwich for lunch

We took the car to the Coastal Addition of Wall Springs Park this morning to walk Toby. It was a cool 63 degrees.

Great park. Beautiful views.

The water was clear enough to be able to see the bottom.

 

Veggie burgers, potatoes and peppers for dinner. 

We took an early evening walk around the neighborhood. Toby got to play with a neighbors' dog. People were outside waiting for trick or treaters. Some had dog treats, so Toby really enjoyed the walk.

Miles walked: 4.3

Miles biked with Toby: 2.53(we are still breaking him in)

Friday

 

The city of Dunedin took back control of the old par 3 golf course and turned it into Stirling Park. Recently, as a part of the revamping, workers removed the tall grass surrounding all of the ponds. Before, you could not see the water. John and I cringed when the heavy machinery starting digging, knowing that lots of animals were losing their homes. But I can't deny that the park looks much better. John used to call the ponds "snake pits" and wouldn't walk Dee Dee past them. 

We rode Toby down to the park in his new wagon hitched to the back of the bike.

It was a beautiful day: 70 degrees this morning and 74 degrees this afternoon. Long sleeve weather.

 

Toby enjoyed the ride, only whining a little. John suggested I go faster to see if that forced him to settle down. It worked. Sort of counter intuitive, but whatever works.

There's a little bird in the middle of the lake. It has a red beak, but I couldn't get a good shot.

 

 

 

John took Toby to the causeway this morning while I finished my coffee. I just couldn't get going this morning. He brought back this picture. 

Play time with Toby

Chicken, turnips, baked potatoes, and squash for dinner.

 

Miles walked: 7
Miles biked: 2.43

Thursday

It was 77 degrees this morning on the Dunedin Causeway, a great day for a kayak over to Caladesi Island. I can see two kayaks in our future, with room for Toby. I've seen pictures of the mangroves canopies that cover miles of canals on the mainland side of the island.  The water in the kayak trail is clear and the bottom is sandy. I can't wait to explore them.

 We walked Toby a little bit.

 

 Dunedin removed this artistic bike rack, repaired it, painted it, and re-installed it.

After we got back from our causeway walk, we got Toby in his new trailer and took off to the Dunedin Fine Art Center. This was only his second trip, and I think he did really well. He whined a little, clawed a little, but mostly sat and looked out or laid down. John rode beside him to keep him company.

 

He's pretty easy to bribe. 

 

Later in the afternoon, we loaded him back up in his trailer and headed to Lake Saundra. He was much better this time. He was smiling and taking in the view and the breeze. It was 86 degrees, but much cooler in the shade.

All sorts of birds were enjoying the lake and hillside: ducks, geese, roseate spoonbills, and egrits.

Toby has had three successful short rides in his new Burley Tail Wagon. I think he's going to really enjoy it; I know we will. Look at that face!

Great salad for dinner!

Miles walked: 4.5
Miles biked: 3.49

Wednesday

 

Here's another great picture!

Before lunch we took Toby on a short walk around the neighborhood. He's a funny dog. He likes to sit and lay down on his walks, often without notice. I think he believes he'll get a treat every time he sits. I think he lies in the grass because it's comfortable and he needs to rest. We are looking forward to the arrival of his chariot so that we can take him with us on our bike rides without putting too much stress on his growing bones. He's eating a lot! He eats the same amount of food each day as Dexter did, and Dexter weighed twice as much.

He likes to eat acorns on the walk and there are lots of them. Their shells are hard so he has a tough time cracking them open. We try to distract him with yummy bacon treats. Now he thinks that the more acorns he can put in his mouth, the more bacon treats he gets. It's a fine line between training a dog and the dog training you!

We are placing him in his crate a few times each day and leaving the house, hoping this will give him practice with being alone and learning to calm himself when he's anxious. He has had two episodes of puppy craziness, once one morning when I was with him alone and once at night when he was with John a day or so ago. He gets ramped up and runs all over the house, biting and shaking his toys, and anything else he can get his mouth around--like an arm or leg. The more you try to hold him, the wilder he gets, but left unrestrained he's a danger to himself and us. Hence, the crate training. The trick is to get him focused on something that will slow him down so that you can coax him into the crate because once he's ramped up it's like trying to catch a greased pig.

Our vet gave us this device. It's the size of a salad plate. If you smear peanut butter or wet dog food on this, it will occupy a dog for 20-30 minutes, easily. The bottom has suction cups, so the dog can't run off with it or eat it. All he can do is lick, and with all those crevices, it's a time consuming task.

 

 

This ball came from the foster parent. The opening is the perfect size for a Milk-Bone dog treat, once you squeeze the ball to widen the hole. I put half of the treat in the ball, the other half hanging out. I do the same thing to the other side. Then I get Toby's attention and roll the ball across the floor. It takes 5-10 minutes for him to get the treats out, but usually he'll keep playing with it afterwards. 

Our morning causeway walk began at 8:30 when it was 77 degrees. It's supposed to be 89 degrees again today.

 

It must be prime sailing season because we got stopped at the drawbridge again. Four sailboats passed through together. The wind was blowing between 10 and 12 miles per hour.

 

 

We spent the afternoon waiting for the A/C maintenance person to show up. Therefore, we had lots of time to sit around reading and taking pictures. Toby, look left.

 

 

Toby, look right.

 

Toby, look straight ahead. (Can you tell that we were bored waiting for the A/C maintenance check up?)

 

When Toby gets out of the car, he crawls out like this on his belly. He doesn't like you to pull him out. He likes to do it himself. It takes patience. Once he's out of the crate, he'll let you help him down (without peeing on you, thank goodness).

 

Toby's chariot came late this afternoon. It's a Burley Tail Wagon. Toby helped me to put it together. John got him to go inside with treats.

 

 

It was pretty easy to assemble. We were going to attach it to the electric bike, but the nut on his bike was too tight, and I was afraid I'd mess up the engine, which is in the back wheel. So I attached the hitch to my mechanical bike. It is very light. I didn't even know it was back there on my inaugural ride.

 

 

We used his car crate pad for padding.

 

We tossed treats inside, shoved him in, locked him in, and off we went parading around the neighborhood. He whined a little bit and dug a little bit, but quickly settled down for the ride. John rode behind us, so he could talk to him and give Toby something to look at. We rode around the block and came home and celebrated with treats and hugs. It was already getting dark.

 

He liked it enough to jump back in to get a treat. 

 

Success!

 

We'll investigate the leash attachments in the daylight tomorrow and plan our first excursion (short).

Miles walked: 6.2

Miles biked: 1