Back when my last dog was getting old I bought a heap of those big square lounge chair cushions from a second hand dealer and set about gluing them all over the inside of the expansive kennel. Eventually the roof, all the walls and floor were lined 100mm (4"0) thick with foam making it a very comfortable even in the hot weather we experience here in Australia. Toward the end of his life (winter) I added a queen sized feather down quilt to keep him warm, eventually though, inevitably, he lost his battle for life. (heart failure)
I hadn't given it much thought until the new puppy chose to move from the temporary cardboard kennel I'd put on the back verandah to the big kennel in the yard. (He tore the big cardboard box into tiny pieces)
I'd noticed a few stray bits of foam here and there and knew he was ripping lumps out of the insulation but I have to admit I was shocked when I came home one afternoon to find the garage strewn with feathers…lots of feathers.
When I opened the doors I found thousands of feathers blowing around the yard and in piles by the kennel door. Max took it upon himself to thoroughly kill the quilt, spreading the feathers everywhere. He greeted me with a wagging tail and stray feathers stuck to his mouth… (sigh!)
I cant imagine what the neighbors thought as for the next few weeks feathers blew around my front yard whenever the garage doors were opened.
Feathers are basically slow release nitrogen so they're actually good for the garden but I'd rather he'd left them in the (expensive) quilt.
In the month since then he's finished rearranging the kennel and let me assure you that foam insulation take no part in his plans. I've had to rake and sweep all the foam up again and again as he takes it upon himself to make the pieces ever smaller.
I'm sure he will regret this when winter comes, though I will of course have to relent and buy more warm things for him.
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