If you've visited many warm island locations, you may have noticed a cultural acceptance of stray dogs. Sometimes, those dogs belong to a family, sometimes they belong to a neighborhood, and sometimes they are straight up strays. A lot of the time, a handful of dogs hang out together in their own neighborhood "pack" and are a mix of all designations. Collectively, they are called "potcakes" because sometimes people will feed them "cakes" made from leftovers. We've enjoyed potcakes on nearly all of our Out Island trips. Sometimes, a potcake will appear out of nowhere and spend the day at a beach with us. Once, we stayed in Tarpum Bay and watched the daily parade of a young boy riding up and down the street on his bike, with a big brown potcake trailing behind. For my two week stay on Cat Island, I was prepared to be grumpy towards the neighborhood potcakes. When our host gave us a tour of the house where we stayed, he explained that a previous guest had allowed the dogs in the house and that we'd have to be very firm. Truth is, it only took a few days to establish with our neighborhood pups that we were in charge and they were not a pest at all. They're dogs. Just like kids, it's not that they didn't TRY to come into the house, hang out on the porch, or wait just outside our back door. However, they were quick to learn that they were fine to sleep under our back yard sea grapes, enjoy the shade under our Jeep, or walk with us down the road. Truth is, I loved having them around. Of course, I named them and spoke to each - especially the couple of days I stayed at the house alone. They are definitely not living a cushy, indulgent life, but in a lot of ways, it's a perfect combination of freedom and friends that most dogs don't get. I'm not about to kick the smallest runt of the potcake posse off the porch when it's raining.
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AuthorI'm a mom to two, wife to one, and a math teacher to many. We live on Michigan's West Coast, in the beautiful town of Holland. We love the people, natural beauty, and peaceful vibe of the Bahamas Out Islands. Archives
December 2021
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