Tuesday

Happy Valentine's Day!

We took Toby in the golf cart to Downtown Dunedin for the evening. There was a guy doing karaoke on the main stage in Pioneer Park. He was really good.

He had a snazzy jacket and cool sound system. It sounded like he had an entire band backing him up.

We had a few disasters. First, Toby got loose from John at the intersection of Main and the Pinellas Trail, one of the most congested corners in the city. People, bikes, dogs, cars, golf carts everywhere. John gave him the "come" command and Toby turned around. (I think he was heading to Bark Place for ice cream!) Once he turned around, I threw a handful of treats on the ground. Fortunately, he came running back to gobble them up and we were able to secure him. One young woman said, she was getting ready to go grab him.

We made it past Bark Place and headed to HOB. We were going to get one of their Impossible Burgers. I had the leash this time when we entered HOB's patio. Suddenly, Toby lunged and the leash slipped out of my hand. Off he went towards some dogs. The patio was full of them. He got to one and halted and walked away. We called him and he came running back.

Bottom line: we each lost him in Downtown Dunedin, but we got him back safely. We did create quite the drama both times. He is very quick and strong-willed. Much more difficult to control than at home and in less stimulating places.

A bit rattled, we learned that HOB's food trucks aren't open on Tuesdays, so we headed back downtown trying to think of a dog-friendly restaurant. We almost gave in and headed home, but we didn't want to admit defeat, yet.

We ended up at the Dunedin Smokehouse, as you can see in the pictures above. We got blackened cod in a Po'Boy. John got fries with his, and I got a salad. Toby was moderately well behaved. There were five other dogs on the patio and dozens walking by on the sidewalk. He left them all alone, even when a few of them barked at him and growled. He had a couple of folks come up to pet him. He was shy and tolerant, but only for so long. Then he either backed away or barked or both. Everyone could tell that he wanted to play because it was a muffled bark and he bowed down. One guy was very patient and kept petting him and giving him space.

We learned that we have a lot more work to do in the wild.

We returned to Main and the trail to practice some obedience.

We had an early morning walk around the neighborhood after we took the golf cart to Lake Saundra to escape the newly paved streets.

We waited an hour to ride our bikes to the causeway to give the sun a chance to warm things up first. 

The temperature was in the lower 60s.

After lunch, we headed to Stirling Park with Toby in the golf cart.

He got to play fetch.

And run.

And practice some commands.

After Stirling Park, I headed to Weaver Park on my bike to exercise. Pinellas County workers were working on the Cedar Creek bridge, making it smoother.

It was a good workout after having a three-day break. Monday was just too cold. Today, the high was 73 degrees.

When we got back from downtown, my Columbia rain jacket had arrived via Amazon.

Love it. I've been needing this for years. It will make walking the dog in the rain much easier.

Today's routes to the causeway and Weaver Park

Miles walked: 10.1

Miles biked: 10.91