So, they built him a dog house, put straw in to keep him off the ground, and Bob talked with Kayo for hours to explain the new arrangement.
It took some getting used to – both for the city people and the city dog. As the farm grew with animals: chickens, cows, a horse, later some pigs, Kayo had to adapt. At first he seemed to be confused by all of the animals: he would bark at them, try to sniff them, check to see if they wanted to fight, and generally look a bit curious and confused.
Ott warned not to let Kayo in the pig pen, for pigs are not afraid of much at all and are, or can be deadly. Bob, once when feeding the hogs – a sow and her piglets – got between the mom and her offspring. The sow was angered. Ott told Bob, “Don’t move! Stay absolutely still.”
Bob froze while Ott lured the sow away with some food.
“OK, now get out of the pen.”
But, over time, they all adjusted to the farm: the many different animals, the daily chores required to keep them fed, watered, milked, and happy. Bob liked the country school. The teacher, who taught all grades, was good – she must be, for she had noticed that he was bright and moved him up a grade where there were two more kids. School was interesting in many ways; for example it was his job to bring coal in to the school and keep the stove going when it was cold.
Soon, his step-father taught him to milk cows. At first it was difficult, but once you learned how to squeeze with your thumb and pointer to close of the milk in the teat and then squeeze it came easy. Soon he was squirting milk at the barn cat (when his step-father wasn’t looking) and trying to get faster and faster. He was milking a cow!! How neat is that….
And Kayo? He wasn’t allowed in the barn. He usually stayed out by his house until they finished milking and came up from the barn to the wash house to separate the cream from the skim milk. The cream was stored in a big metal container and then taken to town and sold at the creamery. Mom used that money to buy groceries in town. Kayo adapted quickly, learned the rules, and for the most part obeyed them.
Kayo loved the skim milk that flowed after the separating was done. He stood by the door watching as Bob turned the crank on the separator and watched the skim milk flow into the bucket. He waited for his share. The skim milk was shared with chickens, pigs, cat and Kayo.
Life was different on the farm. But, it was an interesting kind of different: good school, good teacher, some kids at school, good food; it started to feel like home.