A New Home for Promise

Promise was our dog that we rescued from a shelter.  I lose track of time, but I'm going to guess it has been six years ago.  After Benjamin's first puppy, Cutie Pie, was stolen, we visited a shelter in Lake Charles and came home with Promise.  Promise was a pretty female Beagle-mix and she was a lovable dog.  She showed promise, but sadly, things never quite worked out.

Promise's demeanor was extremely hyperactive.  Extremely hyperactive.  She would run and jump up on people.  When the kids were younger, she would knock them over.  Her incessant jumping made you not want to be around her.  She would knock you off-balance, get you dirty, and basically make you go crazy.  I know I told her a hundred times, "Promise, if you would just settle down, people would love to be around you.  You push people away!"  But she never learned and her lack of calm and absence of serenity always sent everyone heading in the opposite direction.  Did I mention she liked to eat chickens, too?

One of her redeeming qualities was her barking.  I won't lie - this 'quality' drove us crazy at times.  She barked loud and often.  She barked at Big Boy (our dog), other dogs, strangers, possums, chickens, the moon, the cows, the goats, the cats, and her shadow.  This attribute, however, endeared her to a friend who was over visiting.  He asked if we might be interested in giving her away.  He lives near a busy road and wanted a dog that would bark at people.  Promise seemed like the perfect match for him.  Our friend has five other dogs that she would be able to run around with and he lives on a farm with cows and goats.  We talked about it briefly and quickly agreed that this would be a great opportunity for her!

This afternoon as we walked by Promise's dog house (that still has Cutie Pie's name above it), we commented that we are missing her.  But we are happy for a new beginning for Promise in a place that is just a better fit for her.  I know she'll be happy!

A New Roof for Promise

Promise is our rescue dog that we rescued from the Animal Shelter in Lake Charles. She's been living at Our Maker's Acres Family Farm for quite a while and she inherited "Cutie Pie's" dog house. Cutie Pie was a cute puppy that we got for Benjamin that went missing.  We think maybe someone picked her up.  Promise doesn't seem to mind that "Cutie Pie" is stenciled over the door to her dog house, but it just may be that she can't read.

The roof to her dog house was in need of repair.  Over the years the roof has just dilapidated.  This past Saturday poor Promise was in her dog house, but I noticed the rain was falling inside on her.  For shame!  I started to put a 'blue tarp' on her roof, but that is a short-term fix and I wanted to get this thing done the right way - or the best way that an unskilled carpenter can do.  First, we pulled the roof off.  it was rotten and in bad shape.

Both sides of the broken roof

The roof is a simple design.  All you need is two pieces of plywood screwed into a 2x4 positioned across the top to hold both sides together.

I like to salvage things and give old things new life.  A good friend of mine had given me some cabinet doors that he was going to throw away and I had them stored up in the rafters of the barn. This project would be perfect for them, and I'm glad I remembered that they were there.  The cabinet doors nested together perfectly.

I had some left-over architectural roofing shingles in the attic from when we had roofed our home and I sent Benjamin up to the attic to retrieve about 6 shingles.

The 2x4 that held the roof together was still in good shape, so we reused it.  18 wood screws later, we had framed up the roof.  It was solid and should last a good number of years.

We nailed shingles to the roof decking and then installed the roof back on the dog house.  Promise was happy with the new roof and promptly went inside out of the rainy weather.

This is one of the nuisances of home-ownership or dog house ownership - there are always maintenance issued to contend with.  Fortunately, this repair was cheap (free) and quickly done.