Doggy Retreat
Darwin with his new friend Finnemore
Darwin the dog has enjoyed many different kinds of lives in his 10 years. He has been a city dog, a suburbia dog, a beach dog, a mountain dog, and now he is getting to be a farm dog.
Darwin was planning on going to Alaska with his parents. He had high hopes of participating in the Iditarod, perhaps even testing his strength against a grizzly. But he wasn’t sure about the long flight out and thus decided to remain on the east coast. Although he loves his house, he didn’t think it was such a good idea to stay near the Delaware beaches during tourist season alone. So he decided to take a trip to Piscataway Acres.
He wasn’t sure what to make of things. Pigs sleeping in doors, who has heard of such a thing? But he soon found that the two pigs would be more than just friends, they would be his body guards!
The day begins a little earlier than Darwin is used to, but he doesn’t seem to mind waking up with the sun. He even seems to enjoy the early morning chores. The morning smells of honeysuckle and fresh hay quickly wake him up and he goes exploring. The pigs are more interested in the feeding activities in the barn, but Darwin doesn’t want to waste one minute of the sunrise, so he remains out in the yard, sniffing the air. He gets to play a little after feeding time with the pigs. Mostly, they run around in the yard, sniff each other, and see if they can’t find something to do. But then Darwin realizes that he is much older and not used to the early morning play, so he heads back into the house to catch a nap. He awakens at about 6pm for more outdoor activities. But this time, he has to be cautious. This time, sheep and goats are loose. At one point, Darwin would have been very comfortable taking on the whole lot of them. Chasing them, herding them, keeping them in line. But now that he is older, and the sheep and goats are no longer lambs and kids, Darwin has to keep a watchful eye out for any ruminants closing in on him. They caught him off guard once, gave him a powerful head bunt that sent him yelping into the air. Never again. Darwin soon found an ally in the pigs. He found that if he stayed close to the pigs, the sheep and goats would only give him an awful stare, but thankfully no more. Although he would like to run around more, the pigs seem mostly interested in looking for little bits of grass to eat and sniffing various trees.
Although Darwin feels a little let down that he is too small to herd sheep and goats, he is happy that he has made some very good pig buddies and that he is still able to herd chickens.