Thursday

Here are some Florida Christmas lights from our evening walk. It was 73 degrees but we felt the wind blowing in cooler air. The rain started while I was putting this blog entry together.

We added our neighbors' smoked chicken to our super salad. Wonderful flavors. We added pears from Mom & Dad (Harry and David's box of pears).

While we eat, Toby gets in his bed beside the table. He either sleeps or watches the squirrels and bunny rabbits. In the photo above, he has his eye on a bunny.

 

We took a ride in the car out to the island today at the beginning of puppy mania. (People were swimming in the gulf.) Because we were all together, Toby was up for a walk. That tired him out. He did very well today.

We took a lot of walks today. It was 75 degrees, and we knew that cold weather was on the way for the next two days. 

We took Toby downtown in his bike trailer and ran into a friend on the Pinellas Trail. I learned that she went to Wake Law School and practiced law in several North Carolina cities.

We decided that Toby's injury from yesterday was healing nicely and didn't need stitches. I really didn't want to have to see our vet so soon. He's going to think we're nuts.  Toby's recent injury prompted us to  make a list for posterity. Here's what we have so far:

1. Bruised shoulder from slamming into the wall at full speed chasing a ball (ER trip)
   
2. Hives breakout either from his harness or a peanut butter allergy (Vet)
   
3. Gouge on leg from jumping through a bike in the garage, catching his leg on the sprocket
4. Bee sting on his wiener
5. Road rash on the mouth from slithering out of his bike trailer while in motion
   

We had the most delicious lunch. Turkey and Swiss on toast and for dessert: Navel orange, pear, apple, mandarin orange, and raspberries on a bed of strawberry Greek yogurt and topped with vanilla Greek yogurt.

This is John trying to get me NOT to take his picture. Didn't work. 

 

We are both SO in love with Toby. He is the sweetest dog, very cuddly, soft fur, and a body like a jelly roll. When he walks, his spine moves like a slinky toy, and his butt jiggles, totally out of sync with the rest of his body. When he sits down, his excess skin puddles at the base of his spine.

I had an appointment for blood work this morning at 7:45 so I couldn't have coffee. Therefore, instead of getting up at our usual 5-5:30 wake-up time, I stayed in bed. Toby got up at 5:00 with John and got his breakfast and then crawled back in bed to snuggle until 7:00.

It's also nice to be with Toby all day and not having to leave him to go to work. Unlike our other two dogs (whom we also loved), Toby is NOT an alpha dog, so he's much more manageable and passive. We've decided he's content to be a homebody. No activities get him excited the way Dexter and Dee Dee got excited. Toby will do car rides, go for walks, play fetch, ride in his bike trailer, go to dog parks and other parks, but he doesn't show any particular excitement. Same way with food: he loves to eat and he finishes every meal, but he does it at a calm pace. He never begs to be fed. If we forget, he doesn't eat. Neither previous dog would ever let us forget.

It's a new experience for us. John keeps saying that he's broken and that something's wrong with him (joking). 

On all our long walks today, we left Toby in the house, loose. He did great. Nothing destroyed. We preferred putting him in his crate, but he gets so pitiful and submissive that we can't muster the discipline to force him into the crate. We even went grocery shopping without crating him.

Today's Bike Route to Downtown

Miles walked: 8.4
Miles biked: 6.55