Digger’s Diary: This is when I arrived to oversee the farm!

River Cottage Australia's star dog, Digger, recalls his first days on the farm.

Digger and Paul planting

Here I am helping Paul with the planting Source: River Cottage Australia

Hello, new friends! Digger here. It’s so great to see you. I’m so excited to share my memories of and take a look back on the most special moments that got my heart racing and my tail wagging.

Where else to start but right at the beginning? Hugh and Paul had been busy building a house for the squawky ladies (chickens) and laying down some fancy poo (fertilizer).

But it quickly became clear after that something was missing. Even though he’s a chef, Paul had overlooked the number one essential ingredient for any household: me! I mean, a dog.

I couldn’t believe how much space there was for me to run around! And so many smells. I had so much energy and needed to see every single thing on the farm. I marked my territory on every tree, fence post and shrub so that everyone knew it belonged to ME.

Paul and I got to work straight away. He couldn’t run up hills quite as fast as me and he didn’t use his paws to dig, but I didn’t hold that against him. Even as a puppy I was super helpful, biting his ankles and chewing his tools to keep him motivated.
Digger with Paul RCA
Paul's lucky he has me around to help, running a farm is hard work! Source: River Cottage Australia
All this open space was scary at first but I soon realized it was my home and I needed to protect it. I would wake up every morning and greet the day with some nice loud barks! I could tell Paul liked this a lot, because after I did this he’d put me outside. That way I could bark even louder!

I’ve always been a great gardener, and adjusted to my new life really well. The chickens were so interesting – I’d never seen one before! They made the funniest sounds and everyone got excited when those white things came out of their bottoms. I was a good boy and did not eat the chickens.
Digger puppy RCA
It's hard work being the Top Dog! Source: River Cottage Australia
I learned so much in those first few weeks, and even met my first cow. Cows are basically slow, big dogs that give us milk and occasionally bellow loud moos across the paddocks. We were a big family pack, and I was the leader. Life was new and exciting and wonderful. 

See you all next week for another run down memory lane… it’s so far away! It may be only seven days for you, but in dog years it’s 49. Until next time, friends.

You can see this scallywag in  Mondays 7.30pm and Thursdays 8.35pm on SBS, then on .

Digger thanks Deirdre Fidge for helping to get his thoughts online. It’s hard to type with paws.

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SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only.
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3 min read
Published 5 July 2017 4:09pm
Updated 9 October 2017 11:20am
By Digger West


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