Meet Longboat Key's 'Happy Hour' dog

When it hits 4 p.m. and they are not at happy hour, Longboat resident Randy Coleman's dog, Daisy, will bark.

"She got that from my mother," said Coleman, who is a Realtor for Sarasota Trust Realty Co. "If we are not at happy hour when the clock strikes four, that is a problem with Daisy. And it shows because more people know her name than they know mine." 

Photo by Petra Rivera

For the past 12 years, Daisy has been known as Longboat Key's "Happy Hour" dog. The pair are regulars at Speak's Clam Bar, Chart House, Lido Beach Resort's Tiki Bar and more restaurants around the Key. 

Coleman inherited Daisy in 2015 from his mother when she died. He said his mother asked him to take care of Daisy as her final words. Because the dog meant so much to her, he took Daisy as his own and said that she has been his longest companion. 

Coleman shared that Daisy took after his mother in the best ways. She had his mother's love for happy hours and making new friends. 

Daisy will bond with anyone who sits next to her whether it's a server at a restaurant, a regular or a new customer there. She will get special treats at specific places, such as the watermelon employees give her at Speak's. Coleman said that snowbirds come back asking for Daisy every season. 

"Daisy goes everywhere with Randy, including restaurants where Daisy is greeted more than Randy," said Connie Darrah from the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce. "For 12 years, residents and snowbirds look forward to seeing Daisy each year and search for her. Randy and Daisy are definitely an institution on Longboat."