We took Toby downtown to experience being around people, dogs, strollers, bikers, etc. on the Pinellas Trail. Our plan was to sit on a bench and have people see him and talk to him and watch people go by. We found a bench and sat down. Toby, of course, wanted to sit with us, so he jumped up on the bench and as he turned around to face the trail, his back leg slipped through the slats and got caught. He panicked and started yelping. John sprained his thumb trying to press down on the slat to free his leg. I jumped up to get better leverage, and when I did, the slats go CLOSER together. I quickly jumped up on the bench and put all my weight on the one board and that created a gap large enough for Toby to pull his leg out. Surprisingly, Toby didn't bite as we tried to pull his leg out.
We decided to move on along since we were now the center of attention instead of the passive people-watchers we meant to be.
We walked among the shops and Pioneer Park. It was really crowded, and I think it was a lot of stimulation for Toby. As soon as we got within a block of the car, he made a bee-line to our car. He picked it out and went to the back where he gets in and out. I was impressed that he could find our car.
After some treats for Toby and an ice pack and ibuprofen for John, we settled back in to our home activities.
In the photo above, I liked the swirl pattern in the palm tree bark we found on the sidewalk during our downtown excursion.
Toby got lots of attention. We passed many dogs of all sizes without incident.
We brought Toby's dog bed into the dining room so he could watch the squirrels while we ate, but he preferred the floor. Notice the crossed paws.
We took a sunset walk around the neighborhood. The photo above reminds me of the state flag of South Carolina. We passed two dogs without incident. We are using treats both to distract him from focusing on other dogs and to keep him focused on us so that he won't pull on the leash. So far, it's working pretty well.
Miles walked: 6.1
Miles biked: 0
Enjoyed activity with Toby today. Good news. John, how is your injury??
ReplyDeleteThis post has made me laugh and laugh not at Toby’s potential injury nor John’s hurst thumb but how all three were trying to discreet and failed. Hope everyone is happy to be back home and I love Toby’s crosses paws.
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