Wednesday

While Toby was in doggie daycare (more on that in a moment), John and I rode our bikes and walked the causeway and then rode downtown to have lunch at the Olde Bay Cafe at the Dunedin Marina. We had mahi mahi with a salad, topped with strawberries and avocado. It was 79 degrees on the causeway with 53% humidity and a 10 mph breeze. Not bad at all. The meal was delicious. The fish was cooked perfectly and had a citrus glaze. The salad dressing was a mango vinaigrette.

The marina area was bustling with activity.

We had SPF on, so we chose to take the table in the sun instead of waiting for the shade

The city was doing some repair work on the bulwark.

The big event of the day was Toby’s orientation at K9 Adventures. The website said 15 minutes, so we assumed they just wanted to take a look at him and judge his temperament before his first official visit. The tech led Toby away and the receptionist said, “You can pick him up after 2:30 and before 3:00.” Apparently, the 15 minutes was for our time to fill out forms, but the orientation was for 4 hours.

It’s probably a good thing we didn’t know that ahead of time. After they took him away, we were both anxious. What if he attacks another dog? What if he gets attacked? We tried not to worry, but we were overjoyed when we picked him up and the tech said he did great, three times. On the intake form, we described his temperament as shy, passive, and playful. We were afraid he would make liars out of us! But the tech said he was shy at first of the other dogs and the people, but once he figured out this was not a veterinarian’s office, he relaxed. She said he actually started to play with the other dogs. 

I can’t overstate how happy that made us. We’ve never had a dog that we would ever dare take to doggie daycare because of their aggression issues. We were so afraid that Toby would turn out the same way because of a defect in our training. I think he’s turning out okay despite our inadequacies.

That’s a pretty aspirational mission statement. I do like their system though. Everything is done online for scheduling appointments. You sign up for a day without having to commit to a time, and you can make it a half or whole day on the fly. They are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. You can pick them up anytime, but you can’t drop them off from 12-2:00 p.m. because that’s puppy nap time. I don’t even want to think about how they pull off puppy nap time for dozens of dogs.

John was already thinking about how K9 Adventures could impact our life. We could rent a kayak and explore Caladesi Island for the day. There are miles of sandy bottom kayak trails on the sound side of the island. This exploration could help us decide if we want to invest in a kayak or just rent.

It was nice to have four hours of free time without worrying too much about Toby. Now that we know he likes it, it will be even more fun.

The water today was crystal clear. The weather was perfect.

After we picked up Toby, walked him, and scheduled his next visits, I headed to the gym on my bike to squeeze in a workout at Weaver Park.

The fall weather is awesome. The humidity is light and the angle of the sun changes, making for a softer light.

Last Toby walk of the day. His walking habits have drastically improved after our trainer got after us. The daycare playing helped to. He’s sticking right by us.

Look at this amazing picture John took on our last walk. It’s ethereal. Notice the roseate spoonbill along the water’s edge.

Today’s bike routes to the causeway, Dunedin Marina and later to Weaver Park 

Miles walked: 11.4

Miles biked: 15.93