From antiquity, these days have been known as the “dog days of summer.” In recent years, we’ve lost touch a bit with just why they are called that. Officially, these dog days are only from July 3 to August 15, but I grew up feeling like all of August and most of September here in the Tampa Bay area wasn’t fit for a dog, because the weather is generally so hot. With the widespread use of air-conditioning in modern times, it becomes much more tolerant, which probably explains the population explosion here in the past couple of decades.

The name “dog days” stems from ancient Greece, when folks noticed that the star Sirius (we also call it the Dog Star) rose about the same time as the sun does this time of year. Being right on the Mediterranean Sea, it gets pretty warm there, and so over time, these Greeks and Macedonians blamed their gods for the hot weather that was associated with Sirius. They would hold an elaborate ceremony where an innocent little brown dog was sacrificed to appease the gods in the hopes that Zeus or some other god would cool things down.

Beyond these simple historical oddities, some other happenings around here have convinced many people that we’re going to the dogs — and it’s not just the last of the Dog Days that triggers such a remark.

All summer, there have been a number of dogs in the news here. It all started early in the summer when an innocent Labrador retriever survived his master’s suicide leap from the Skyway Bridge that links St. Petersburg with Bradenton. Other cases of dogs being rescued from storm sewers and all sorts of scrapes have convinced some that we really have gone to the dogs this summer.

The latest incident is bizarre but has the happiest ending of all. On Sunday, August 9, a couple from Madiera Beach, Julie Parsons and Andrew Block, had been enjoying the Gulf of Mexico in their 29’ cabin cruiser. Their dog, Coco, was also along, enjoying the brisk sea air. They were about ten miles off shore and went swimming. After reboarding the boat, Andrew started the engine and engaged the propeller while they stood on the deck, showering with fresh water. Suddenly an unexpected wave rolled the boat, and they both fell overboard, totally naked and watched as their boat moved away from them, a little too fast to catch up. So there they were, unprotected with no life jackets treading water, miles from shore. Coco, safely on board, watched them disappear as the boat headed south with about 8 hours of fuel.

Twenty-one hours later, a coast guard helicopter on a training mission spotted Julie, then found Andrew about one mile away. All of this happened about 11 miles west of Clearwater Beach.

A search was mounted for their cabin cruiser and Coco, with four boats and planes volunteering in the search, all to no avail for two days. Then, late Wednesday evening, a full three days later, a sponge fisherman motoring to his favorite fishing grounds spotted the boat off Anclote key, about ten miles west of Tarpon Springs, far north of the original search area.

Coco had survived, saved probably by the cuddy awning for shade and some fairly hefty rain showers in the gulf that provided a little fresh water. It’s an amazing story just in the fact that Andrew and Julie had managed to swim for nearly a day before being saved, much less the good fortune to find their boat safe and Coco, very thirsty and hungry, but otherwise OK. Remember, both were naked and had no flotation or survival gear! All they could do was tread water and they stayed close until Julie decided to make a concerted effort to swim toward the coast line.

Another interesting story in the last few days, concerns a beagle being used at Tampa International Airport to help sniff out all sorts of illegal foods and pests that could be harmful to Florida’s vast agricultural products. Her handler, Wendy Beltz, a regional manager for the U. S. Department of Agriculture describes Texanna as “like a portable X-ray machine.”

One next-to-last dog, is my personal, up-front encounter with an animal I never felt warm towards when I grew up. My life as a child centered around cats. I still love the eccentricity of the feline world and feel that I can communicate with most cats. Dogs are another breed. Not being a dog person, I am a bit reticent when around friends with dogs. However, Montana, the Rat Terrier, (in the photograph) has warmed my heart considerably. Montana only comes around occasionally — whenever Ashley or her husband, Steven, visit or need a dog-sitter. Ashley is the daughter of my wife, Patricia. Stephen presented Ashley with Montana as a Christmas present, and I have to admit that my attitude towards dogs has improved immeasurably.

And I learned recently that my son John and his sweetheart Danielle have recently had a little dog named Scully come to live with them. I introduce her as the final dog of my story about dog days in Tampa Bay.

Perhaps we really have gone to the dogs this summer, myself included. So I can try to endure the balance of Tampa Bay’s dog days of summer until that first cold front slides all the way into the Sunshine State sometime in October to cool things down.

More about that, when it occurs.

Would you like more stories like this? Send me some comments. Any suggestions are welcomed and encouraged.

Photo courtesy Patricia R. Calvert
Montana courtesy of Ashley Calvert Yeager
Scully courtesy of John M. Bailey
Copyright © 1998, John L. Bailey

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Bailey has considerable historical knowledge of Tampa and is available for walking tours, guided tours via automobile, etc. Please contact Bailey for more information .