Sunday

John captured this shot of a butterfly outside our house.

This morning it was 60 degrees at sunrise on the Dunedin Causeway. We had to break out the leggings, long sleeves, and windbreaker. Sunrise was at 7:42, but we got there a little after 6:00.

John took this picture from our last sunset walk in the neighborhood. It got up to 72 degrees today, perfect weather for Halloween. The trick or treaters were making their way around. Many folks set up tables at the end of the driveway. Toby got lots of practice sitting and being patient while we engaged in small talk.

Miles walked: 8.3

Miles biked: 0

Saturday

Toby graduated from intermediate puppy training this morning. We are so proud of him.

Our trainer, pictured above in blue, invited Toby to come to her Tuesday afternoon intermediate classes to keep working on a few things. That class started a few weeks after ours. She saw us practicing at Petsmart this week and said, you’re going to be here anyway. Toby’s favorite dog (Gracie) from our beginner class is in the class, so we will already know someone.

Next Tuesday, before his new class at 1:30, Toby is scheduled for doggie daycare that morning. We will pick him up and go directly to training. That will either be perfect or a perfect disaster. Can’t wait to find out!

Bottom line: the extra classes won’t cost anything and it will keep us practicing. The advanced class doesn’t begin until the new year.

Toby is exhausted, as are we.

One challenge in class today was to clump together by the front door of the store (where there are lots of distractions), get our dog in a “down/stay,” move to the end of the leash, and have them stay there for a minute without getting up and without giving them treats. Toby was the first dog to reach the goal! The trainer dismissed us to the classroom while the others kept trying.

Happy, tired dog

On our morning Toby walk before class, we passed three dogs and their owners, regulars on our route. Toby was in a heel, walking beside me with a sense of purpose looking at me and ignoring the dogs. As we passed by, a man said, “Toby’s doing great! I wish I could get my dog to heel like that.”

I told that story in class when we go around and report on “highs” and “lows.” Right after that, Toby started barking at Smudge who for some reason he doesn’t like. Maybe it’s because Smudge took Gracie’s place?

Our trainer reminds us it’s a process, but demonstrated how to get in front of Toby and tell him to “knock it off!” in a stern voice. John did it at the end of training today and got rewarded with candy. Honestly, I think he deserved it as the most improved human.

We all voted on most improved dog with a secret ballot. Cosmo, the bulldog/pit, won. He was runner up in the beginner class—a really sweet dog. We’ll get to work with him in the advanced class next year.

We put Toby in his crate to take a nap while we drove out to the causeway for a walk. It was 70 degrees with a brisk wind, but we did it in short sleeves, unlike our early morning walk when it was 60 degrees.

It sprinkled lightly at one point but it felt good. 

The water was as smooth as a lake.

By the time we finished walking, the skies were clearing and the sun came out. The high temperature today was 72 degrees.

Chinese takeout for dinner: curry chicken and chicken & broccoli 

We keep branching out, trying new dishes.

Slowly drifting off to sleep.

No Toby games tonight.

Miles walked: 11

Miles biked: 0

Friday

 

The cold front pushed the high temperature down to 79 degrees today. It was 65 degrees on our morning causeway walk with 15-20 mph winds. 

The palm trees were showing their expertise at withstanding strong winds. It took a lot of effort to walk without swaying.

Whitecaps were everywhere.

Waves were crashing into the sea wall.

My hair got tossed.

But it was a beautiful walk and worth the extra effort.

After lunch, I drove to the outdoor gym at Weaver Park to exercise. A brief rain shower was forecast and it was too windy to ride my bike without a lot of effort. The shower moved through just as I finished.

We took Toby to the community center to walk and then practice his commands for tomorrow’s last intermediate training class.

He did great. 

He worked on his puzzles for dinner.

We had a Juan’s burrito takeout for dinner.

Miles walked: 9.4

Miles biked: 0

Thursday

It’s been an overcast day today with an intense storm passing through after lunch. We got a lot of rainwater for the lawn, the toughest time of the year. These new plants do not seem to be happy here. They should be lush and spreading, not sure what the issue is. They are supposed to like full sun.

Mas Fina is coming tomorrow, so I took advantage of the cloudy 81 degrees to rake up some leaves, after taking an afternoon nap.

We’ve walked a lot today. We drove to the causeway to walk this morning because of the strong winds and threat of rain. We came home and walked Toby on another long walk in the neighborhood before lunch. It’s nice to be able to walk in the neighborhood without worrying about the sun and hot pavement.

These new plants are thriving and beginning to spread.

Toby’s had an excellent day today. He waited patiently for his dinner, didn’t play any of his games, played with his toys from the basket for a short time until we took them away, walked great on the leash, and ignored other dogs. He even whined at the door to go out and pee. (He usually tries to get our attention by being obnoxious and we have to figure out why.)

Miles walked: 13

Miles biked: 0

Wednesday

Toby went to puppy daycare today while we went walking on the causeway and shopping at Bealls’s outlet. John got this throw that looks like Toby. 

I got a couple of t-shirts, standard attire in Florida. John got a new hoodie for the upcoming cold weather.

We also looked at this outdoor furniture store next to K9 Adventures. We liked this style, but it may be too wide for our sunroom.

Toby came home with a few scratches, but that’s to be expected. Everything shows on his short, white fur and pink skin. Reports were that he and Penny (mixed breed) really hit it off and played together the entire time. 

He has been very calm this afternoon.

The morning sky on our first walk of the day. It was a chilly 63 degrees before dawn, but it warmed up to 72 degrees by the time of our first big walk. The high today was 82 degrees.

I made it to the outdoor gym. I found some more shoulder and neck exercises on the internet, so I was able to practice some of them at the gym, the others at home. I haven’t had any neck or shoulder pain in several days.

We picked up this canvas toy basket for Toby’s toys. The idea is to place it on the floor for Toby to pillage when he’s in the mood to play. Then after a period of time, put them all back and out of reach. Of course, the trick is to make sure he is calm and well-behaved before rewarding him with toys.

The sky was amazing on our last walk of the day. The sun was setting in a sky filled with small cotton ball clouds.

So beautiful!

A winter storm is due tomorrow with strong winds and rain.Temperatures will still be in the upper 70s in the day - low 60s at night for the next several days.

Miles walked: 11.5

Miles biked: 5.64

Tuesday

Yesterday’s rain made a nice reflecting pool for the kayak rental on the Dunedin Causeway.

At 9:00 a.m., it was 79 degrees with 79% humidity. The wind was blowing at 7 mph out of the north, northwest, an unusual direction but greatly appreciated on the ride up Palm Boulevard. Florida is not flat, regardless of what people think.

Our shoes are still drying from yesterday’s downpour, so we did the walk in back up shoes.

After lunch, the three of us took an hour nap. Then walked Toby around Lake Saundra.

We spent the afternoon house cleaning.

For dinner, we tried chicken chow mein and home style bean curd from our favorite Chinese takeout restaurant.

This Lake Saundra picture came from our last walk of the day. I like the reflections in the still lake water.

Toby was a snuggle monster this morning.

Miles walked: 10.5

Miles biked: 5.42