be glad this isn't YOUR dog's yard...

[tigerlily46514]

Well, there's no reason to post this, except to just give anyone who reads this a chance to shiver and think, "Glad i'm not her!" and feel lucky or something.

My man, C. burned up some old cardboard boxes in our firepit, and went in the house. (you hear this coming, doncha?) See, C does make bonfires ALL the time, and has definately got way too casual.
So the wind took a burning cardboard box and threw it up into another section of the yard..POOF! Most of the yard caught on fire, as well as some minor burning went into neighbors yard as well. Had the fire dept out here, was crazy. found out Buddy isn't one of those dogs ya hear about on TV who bark for fires..at least not outside yard fires..

Lost our beloved canoe, "Sir Osis of The River".......lost a giant garden that had gone wild and was Buddy's favorite part of the yard. Might have lost some of the evergreens that line the yard...

Overall, it's not so bad, all will be well soon enuff, no one was hurt, no home got damaged..,,,,,,,C. has learned his lesson...
SO HERE'S THE PART THAT WILL MAKE ANY DOG OWNER BE GLAD THEY ARE NOT ME:
Now, MOST of my fenced in backyard is a swamp of sooty mud...Tarry, sticky, stinky black soot...so now Buddy can't really play in his own back yard. Whenever he goes out to his own yard, he comes in with stinky, sticky black feet, and he smells like an ashtray, and looks kinda like this--

Stinky black foot prints of all sizes keep re-appearing in my home now..dispite three welcome mats and rags by the door to wipe off feet or paws..

PLus, i've started working nightshift, and was leaving the door open for Buddy to go in/out by hisself so i could try to sleep in the day times...so now if no one else is home, Buddy wakes me up to take him for walks, at what feels like 3am to me...

So no yard for Mr. Buddy for a while, AND IT IS FINALLY FINALLY NICE OUTSIDE!! wah! We were even thinking of getting/making a doggy door...

We got a sooty, stinky black mess where Buddy's yard used to be...
It's gonna be weeks til this is gonna be clean enuff for Buddy to romp in...Augh!!!!!

[tx_cowgirl]

Oh my!!!! Glad to hear everyone's alright though.

When it gets muddy here, I fill two buckets--one with warm, soapy water, one with just warm water. The dogs know to wait when they come in the door(lay a towel right inside the door) and then dunk dunk dunk each paw, wipe them dry with a towel, and voila! No nasty footprints. Mudflap loooooves getting dirty so this is a must for us. If it's really nasty I have to physically walk her to the dryest parts of the yard, because if I just let her go do her business on her own she'd come in covered from head to toe. Happened before. Lol.
Sorry for the loss of the canoe and the garden. But happy everyone's okay. Grass grows back, houses don't. So slap a smile on your face. You were fortunate!

[snooks]

OHHH NOOOOOO! Poor you and Poor Buddy. Thank goodness nobody got hurt. I bet that did make a huge mess....ick. All I can think of is to put some bark mulch down (shredded hardwood so it's soft) and maybe a little sand to cover the soot and soak up some of the water. Wood fuel pellets with no additives work really well to soak up water because they just poof up and turn to saw dust and go away. I use them in my dog's potty area and replace them every two weeks. In a yard they could just blow away. As long as buddy doesn't eat them they might be a good easy way to cover some of that mess up and later let grass grow through. Just don't let Buddy eat them...one isn't bad but a bunch will swell up inside after he eats them and is not good.

I think a paw dunk station is a good idea. That's the only way I used to be able to get all the mud off our guys when we had a dirt yard in TX.

Sorry you have to go through that. Hope you get it to dry out and can clean up a bit.

[snooks]

Tigerlily, haven't heard in a while. How is the yard and all the mess... I hope it dried out and the clean up is progressing. Maybe a nice rain?? then dry spell would be a good wish.