No, this isn't the aftermath of a tornado. Tiger's kennel didn't survive the torrential rains we've had lately. It seems like it has rained almost incessantly since Christmas.
As I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, my husband came and told me that Tiger, our unplanned pup, had a little problem. My husband said his kennel had fallen down. I figured he really meant that the tarp covering his kennel had fallen from all the rain. He came back a few minutes later and told me to go look outside because Tiger's kennel had really fallen in the rain. Well, he was right.
So before we could go to work, we had to extricate Tiger. I figured he had escaped and was prowling the neighborhood, but on closer inspection I saw that a bar had fallen on top of his house and blocked the entrance. Thankfully, Tiger was inside his house during the collapse and was protected from falling debris. My husband had to lift the kennel so I could pull his log cabin dog house out. We put his house under a tree and chained him to the tree so we could get to work.
What I really want to know is how Sofia, my chocolate lab, could have let him stay in there all night. If a squirrel moves too close to her kennel, she barks. If a deer dares to move in the woods, she barks. I'm not talking normal barks. Sofia goes into territorial defense mode. So why didn't she bark when Tiger's kennel fell on him?
I thought that was the end of the story. I got home from work this afternoon to find Tiger out in the pouring rain looking at me. The silly dog looked like a drowned rat. I had to let him in the house to dry him off. He was so happy, he decided to climb on my lap while I towel dried him.
He's currently trying to sleep as I type, but he keeps waking up every time my heating unit cuts on. (He's a bit of a 'fraidy cat, but that's okay after his traumatic night.) When the Mr. gets home, we have to go back out in the rain to arrange some kind of temporary shelter.
Why not just let him spend the night inside? I, the owner of two dogs, am allergic to dogs and cats. So once we get a shelter up, I'll have to vacuum the whole house so I don't wheeze all night.
But, I think Tig's worth it.
Sofia wasn't sure whether or not she liked the strange white stuff. I threw her snowballs, but she got very upset when they disappeared on the ground. She tried to dig up the yard to find the balls, but luckily it snowed again and covered up her mess.
Today, two days after the snowfall, there was plenty for Tig to lay in on the front porch.
Tig's preferred spot on the back porch. The end of the back porch is Tig's temporary home since his kennel was destroyed. He loves to stick his nose out and watch the snow land in his neighborhood.
A shot of the second round of Monday's snowfall from my cell phone.
