For dedicated readers of The Bahamas Blog, who know that I adopted a potcake several months ago, I thought it only fair to provide an update on the dog's well-being.


A little background for those unfamiliar with the situation: We found this puppy on our back porch one stormy night. He was mangy and scared and skinny, so we adopted him. Originally, because he small and raw with mange and scrapes, we were going to name him "Sushi."


However, one astute man-of-the-world suggested we refine the name and call him "Nobu", after the world-famous sushi restaurant with a location in Atlantis on Paradise Island.


He reasoned: "The dog is small, raw, and will probably cost you a bundle. Why don't you call him Nobu?"


A very appropriate suggestion, indeed.


Since that time--July--Nobu has absolutely blossomed! (I think it has something to do with being fed on a regular basis, but I’m no scientist.) He's nearly twice the size he was when we first found him, his fur has all grown in (no more mange), and he's guarding the house like a sentinel.

Nobu guarding half-an-hour's haul on our front lawn.


Anyone who owns a potcake (Note: "owns" really isn't the right word. More like, "shares common space with") quickly recognizes a few distinctive traits that seem to characterize these canine custodians of the Bahamian landscape:


1. Independence

2. Loyalty
3. An uncanny ability—seemingly hard-wired from birth--to sniff out discarded Kentucky Fried Chicken lunch snack boxes and other refuse (plastic soda bottles, wooden sticks, plastic bags, small slabs of concrete) from among acres of bush, construction rubble, or neighbor’s garbage cans.


Once he’s secured an item between his teeth, a potcake will usually turn and march with a brisk step--head proudly held high--until he has reached his chosen resting place, where he will begin a detailed examination.


Often, this resting place is your front yard (see photo).


This tendency among potcakes can cause additional work for owners (cleaning up the mess), and result in apologies being made to neighbors (“Gee, I’m so sorry that my dog ate your concrete lawn ornament and scattered your trash across three residential blocks.”)


Nobu’s efficiency in this regard, in fact, has at times turned our normally green front lawn into what resembles a chicken bone yard.


Despite all that, however, they are so lovable, so full of character, so resilient, and so completely Bahamian, that I cannot imagine owning another type of dog.


I think Nobu has managed to secure a comfortable place in my household for the foreseeable future.


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