Tuesday

This afternoon, we went to Petsmart for Toby's Brain Games class. His two other classmates didn't show up, so he got private tutoring this week. He was awesome!

He can now spin with the word sign without us using hand motions or voice commands. 

It is fun to watch him figure out what to do based on the letters on the sign, which he can't really read, but he sees symbols that mean something, so it's almost like reading.

He did it for both of us.

He also read "sit" and "down" and did accordingly.

Our trainer recommended we give Toby fish oil for his skin issue. We ordered some tonight. It's supposed to help with eyes, joints, heart, and skin. But for us, it's supposed to help with itchy skin due to seasonal allergies and well as dry skin. A bonus is it's good for their coat, making is silky and shiny. It's so convenient to go online, do research, and then order what you need from Amazon. No driving around looking for the right store, parking, and looking for the right product. Just click, while sitting in your own home.

The most awesome thing he learned today was to "Get in your bed" upon hearing a knock on the door. He learned it so fast that even his trainer was impressed. 

First, we reminded him of the command "Get in your bed."

Then, we associated it with a knock on the door.

Next, we were able to get him to get in his bed upon hearing a knock on the door, without any commands.

Lastly, we had another store employee to come knock on the door. We couldn't answer the door without him getting into his bed on his own. He did it on the first try. We were so shocked, I forgot to open the door, which made us all laugh. It was so funny watching him looking at John (who had the treats) and back up trying to find his bed. He wouldn't take his eyes off of John, so he used his back foot to search for the bed and guide him into it. It was hysterical.

We couldn't believe how fast he learned to do this.

Once he was in his bed on the second try, I opened the door and greeted our guest. Toby stayed in his bed until we used his release word.

Of course, this will be much more difficult to do at home, but with practice, he should be able to do it.

For homework, Toby got his entire dinner hand fed to him while he was in his bed.

We told our trainer of Toby's DNA makeup. She wasn't surprised. We all got a good laugh at the 2% chihuahua. Every time he did something boneheaded, we said it must be the chihuahua in him.

He got to practice finding "Laverne," "Candi," and we added "Sam" to the game. Sam is a bird (Toucan Sam).

In our golf cart, on the way to somewhere . . .

This morning, we rode our bikes to the causeway and walked.

We came upon a woman who struck up a conversation with us. She said, "You guys walk every day. I saw you last year when I was here. You're still here walking this year." She told us that she was from Philly and comes here to spend the winters each year. Her mother bought a condo on the causeway 30 years ago for $70,000, and she's been coming every winter to look after her mother. She said she's not so altruistic to come for the full year, only for the winters. We laughed. She says she walks, swims, and kayaks during her mother's twice-a-day naps.

About that time, the three of us (the lady, me, and John) came upon a group of women who were listening in on the conversation as we overtook them walking. One of the ladies said that she also saw us every morning on the causeway and asked if we were brothers. (Afterwards, John and I noticed that we had inadvertently worn the same Treasure Island t-shirt.) John, said, "No, we're married," to which the woman replied: "Well, that's very related." We all laughed and felt in good company. "How long?" the woman asked. "Thirty years!" I replied. "Oh, my gosh, that explains why you're wearing identical shirts" she noted, "and finish each other's sentences. That will do it."

As the three of us pulled away, the lady from Philly brought up the senate runoff in Georgia. She was excited to learn the results. John gave a diplomatic response: "I hope the best man wins." We've learned that in a 50/50 county, you can't so easily assume what someone's political affiliations are as you could in Durham, or Philadelphia for that matter. We could tell that she was stumped, not knowing what to say. Finally, she said, "My friends all say why do you want to go to Florida? The people down there are crazy."

I hope we run into to her again. She was very talkative and interesting, and I'm pretty sure that she's was rooting for the Democrat to win.

The water tower artist has begun the sea turtle on the western side of the tower, now that hurricane season is over. It is over, right?

Miles walked: 9.7

Miles biked: 5.50