Dunedin Diary: Monday

Toby graduated from his Advanced Education class this afternoon. More on that later . . .

After we walked Toby around the neighborhood, we put him in his crate and took the cart to Stirling Park for a short walk to Curlew and back to Michigan and back to the park. The picture above is from the Pinellas Trail bridge over Curlew Creek, looking west.

It was a beautiful morning, with temperatures in the mid 70s. We enjoyed a shaded walk.

John got this picture of wildflowers growing along the trail.

John had an appointment at 10:00, so we cut our walk short. I rode my bike down to Weaver Park to exercise at the outdoor gym.

I liked exercising before lunch. The light hits the trees at a different angle in the mornings. It was also much cooler.

I got this picture of a momma duck and her ducklings. We learned that the alligator got out of the lake, probably frustrated that no mate had arrived to join him. Animal control found him walking on Demaret. Unfortunately, they had to euthanize him. The good news: the ducks can swim freely.

We practiced training with Toby in the front yard and then we took him to Lake Saundra to do some more training practice before class. We hardly ever see him wagging his tail, but he really wags his tail on the cart and waiting to get on it. He won't get off the cart until he's sure that we're both getting out. Even then, he runs to get back on if it looks like we aren't going inside. He doesn't want to get left behind. We're glad to find something that really makes him happy, other than playing with other dogs.

We had lunch and relaxed a bit. Toby fell sound asleep in this weird position.

After a short Toby nap, we all got in the cart and headed to Hammock Park to walk him and ourselves. A couple of neighbors have teased us that we are getting lazy now that we have a golf cart. We laugh and tell them that we are just expanding our walking territory, which is true!

The pictures above and below are from the Fern Trail boardwalk at Hammock Park. It's a mile and 1/4 through ferns. Before the elevated boardwalk, the trail was boggy and messy.

Walks in Hammock this summer are going to be a life saver for Toby and us. We used to have to drive him 3/4 mile to the community center to find shade. Now we have several park options, as well as downtown.

Even though Toby earned his Advanced diploma this afternoon, it wasn't easy. He got stage fright during his training. All the other people and dogs were the audience, lined up with John who took the picture above. Toby just sat and stared at them, like he does on his walks when he finds something strange or unusual. He wouldn't listen to me. The shot above was during his 13 commands and captures my struggle.

He eventually got through them all, but we all had to be patient. He earned the applause at the end. Considering that he wouldn't do anything without treats just a few weeks ago, I consider this real progress.

In addition to the 13 required commands, we did some stand alone commands as a warm up. He did great with wait and come, stay, wait/come/stop, and stay/walk away.

He did great with walking in a line by dogs and people who were making noises without giving them attention. He stayed in a sit/stay while someone walked by with a squeaky toy. He stood by John's side while a stranger approached to have a conversation with John and ignoring the dog. He let a stranger pet him, check his ears, paws, mouth, and tail. He did some loose leash walking with (some) automatic sits.

Our trainer said he's not ready for the next class which is a "super advanced" class, and he's not ready for the Canine Good Citizenship test. But she says she'll be happy to include us in the next advanced class. Petsmart has a policy that allows a dog to repeat a class as many times as necessary. One of today's graduates is a 4-time graduate from advanced. She likes the socialization and the class forces her to keep working with her dog. Our trainer got teary-eyed when she gave us our diplomas.

After dinner, we took Toby in the golf cart down to Stirling Park and walked the Pinellas Trail to Curlew. This shot is from the old par 3 course bridge looking west towards the trail and Alt 19 beyond.