Exceptional Pet Owners...

Since I recently slammed "idiot" pet owners, I thought I'd address the opposite end of the pendulum. I met an incredibly gentle-hearted man a few years ago. This man had a child's sense of fun & loved to laugh. He certainly kept me laughing most of the time.
One thing that always touched my heart was the way he cared for his dog. He & his dog live in one of the northern states where it gets terribly cold....we're talking several degrees below zero cold!! He decided to build his dog a house. This dog ended up with a mansion. The doghouse had vinyl siding, an asphalt shingled roof, a chimney (although no actual fireplace, thank God!); fiberglass insulation in all walls; and wall to wall carpeting. I'M SERIOUS, FOLKS!!
This gentleman used to take his dog riding in the back of his pickup truck. SHE LOVED TO GO!! When she was still just a pup, though, she couldn't quite make that jump into the truck bed by herself. So what does this gentleman do?? Inside the dog's enclosure was a big tree.(great shade in the summer!) Around this tree, he built the dog a deck.....the exact height as the pickup truck's lowered tailgate. The purpose was so she could practice her jumping! Well she mastered it! She loved sitting up on her deck keeping tabs on the going's on in the neighborhood.
One summer, as the heat became oppressive...she began digging a hole UNDERNEATH her dog house. The hole became quite large, and the house was in danger of falling askew on one corner. This gave the gentleman another idea. He decided that the dog WANTED and needed a basement!! (basements are popular in that area of the country) He began talking cement forms, steps, flooring, etc. SAY WHAT?? I don't think he ever actually got around to building that basement, because he moved to a new place in the country.
Word must've got out in the doggie community, though, cause it wasn't long after the gentleman settled into the new place that a stray showed up & "adopted" the gentleman. When I last spoke to this wonderful man, he was talking duplex doghouses vs. Two-story doghouses! LOL