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The Dog Kennel from Hell. It's gone.

February 6, 2012
We had a small miracle occur over the weekend.  10 months after living in our home, we finally were able to get rid of the dog kennel in the back corner of our yard.  Hallelujah!  This is a miracle for a couple of reasons, first being--it is the middle of winter, kinda.  Although we don't have a ton of snow, it is brisk out--but the sun was shining really warm on Saturday, so we decided to put the dog kennel up on the online classifieds.  Second--it is actually gone.  Someone came and left WITH it, instead of empty handed.  
We tried this once before last year, and got tons of calls--but no one wanted to deal with the posts being cemented in the ground--yeah, we don't either--that's why it is free. Considering these dog runs are between $200-$400 at Home Depot, we thought free was a pretty great deal. 
We made sure our ad was very clear and obvious that this wasn't going to be a picnic to remove:

Within minutes, Chris started receiving calls.  He reiterated over and over, "Yes, it is cemented in." "I would really recommend renting a jack hammer, but if you want to try it with a regular hammer, it is up to you." "No, we aren't holding it for anyone." We weren't trying to be rude by not holding it for people, but experience has taught us that even if someone says they absolutely want it and come to get it hours later, they might realize it is more work than they expected and we all lose.  It's happened.  3 times.  Fortunately, we were prepared on Saturday.  Even after a gentleman was on his way to get it.  We continued taking calls and asking people if they wanted to be on the waiting list in case it falls through.  The guy came and left without the kennel within 5 minutes (I guess "it won't be easy to take out" wasn't clear enough) and we started calling the people on the waiting list.  We were surprised how many people were defeated just because the first guy didn't get it out.  "Well, if he didn't get it, I probably won't be able to either." Really?!  It's not like you even knew that guy.  You didn't even see that he just stood there for five minutes before walking away.  The 4th person on the waiting list was finally up for the challenge.  The couple arrived in a little pickup, tools in hand--ready to work.  They worked until it was dark outside.

We felt bad for them.  It was cold.  And dark.  But they just kept on working.  They didn't have room for the doghouse in their truck and said they would come back for it...we'll see.  But we are ecstatic (!) to have the kennel gone!  This morning I went in our back yard and just stood there and smiled.

We have huge plans for our exterior this year, and getting rid of the dog run was an essential part of the prep for these projects.  I feel like we just got a little head start. Come Spring, our yard will be prepped for that edible garden I've been dreaming about.

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  1. that is so awesome. and definitely made me laugh. out loud thinking about all the crazy questions people ask when the requirements were written plain as day :)

  2. I thought of something. Keep the dog house, but dig a tunnel underneath thr fence to the church! So smart huh!?

  3. YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!

    LOL people are so idiotic sometimes. Like, we were kidding when we TOLD you in the ad how difficult it could be. But apparently people just like to think you were overreacting about the impending job. BUT glad it is GONE!

  4. Woohoo! That's awesome :-) That saved you guys so much work. At least now if they don't show up for the dog house...it's wood. You can always have a big bonfire party to break in the new back yard! :D

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