[It high-fives her back and tries to wrap around her finger. Alas, he's not quick enough to pull both of those off.]

What does "starter" imply, exactly...?

[Are there levels of difficulty on leash use? If not, he's totally unaware.]

Yes and no. My friend that I got these tickets from only gave me so many options to choose from as far as location and time was concerned. Don't think that either of us wanted to go to Europa in the middle of winter. It's beautiful, I'm sure, but I don't want to freeze.

[And he gets cold very easily out of water.]