Loki, the 10-month old pitbull from Friends of Strays, enjoys the shelter’s Doggy Day Out program, the first and only animal shelter in the Tampa Bay area to offer such a program.
Carrie Pinkard | The Crow’s Nest
By Carrie Pinkard
Loki sat in the shade of Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg, his massive tongue drooping to the side.
He seemed to smile at everyone who walked by. Behind him, dolphins skirted along the surface of Tampa Bay.
The 10-month-old Pitbull mix spends most of his time at a local animal shelter, Friends of Strays. But today he got to explore St. Petersburg thanks to the shelter’s “Doggy Day Out” program.
The program, which started in May, allows anyone interested in a canine companion to take them out for a day.
This gives people a chance to see if a dog is right for them, and it gives the dog a chance to experience life outside the shelter.
Holly Clare, communications manager at Friends of Strays, said the dogs are happier when they return to the shelter. She said the happiness isn’t just visual — it’s scientific.
“Maddie’s Fund is an organization that gives out grants to a lot of shelters,” Clare said. “They gave a grant to study the Doggy Day Out program, where they measured the serotonin levels in the dogs’ brains before and after they went out.
“All the results came back showing the dogs were much more calm, relaxed, happy and less stressed. So we know that it works.”
I picked up Loki at 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday. He was so excited to leave the shelter he nearly knocked me over with his front paws.
The employees at the shelter handed me everything I needed for a day out with a dog: a leash, collar, towel, ID tag, dog seat belt, water bowl and crate.
I also received a coupon book, filled with discounts for both human and dog treats at businesses around the city who sponsor the program.
Our first stop was Vinoy Park, where I paraded Loki, adorned in a green “adopt me” bandana, along the waterfront.
People lounging in hammocks noticed the green-eyed dog right away and said how beautiful he was. I traded their compliments for a Loki business card, with information on where they could find him and, hopefully, adopt him.
After jogging through the park in the 93-degree heat, Loki was ready for some air conditioning, so we headed to Mad Hatter’s Ethnobotanical Kava Bar.
There, we both tried something new. For me, it was “unicorn kava,” and for Loki, it was a chicken and blueberry-flavored doggy ice cream. Patrons at the kava bar came over to pet Loki and send texts to their spouses asking if they could get “just one more” dog.
Our third and final stop was Pinellas Ale Works, also known as P.A.W., a dog-themed bar in downtown St. Petersburg.
I challenged Loki to a game of Dog-O-Poly, but he preferred the more physical challenge of demolishing a Jenga board.
After an afternoon of belly rubs and bonding, it was hard to say goodbye. However, after seeing the amount of attention Loki got during the day, I left confident he would be adopted soon.
Clare said 13 dogs have been adopted directly from the people who have taken them out, and even more have been adopted from bystanders who met the dogs out in the community during their day out.
The dogs range from $50 to $300 to adopt.
Friends of Strays is the first and only animal shelter in the Tampa Bay area to offer a Doggy Day Out program. Clare said St. Petersburg is the perfect city for it.
“The big surprise on my end was the community support we got behind the program,” she said. “All of these places gave us financial support. I didn’t ask one business who turned us down.
“We just live in such a good place for something like this, because we live in such a dog-friendly city.”
