What to do With Leftovers – July/Aug 2007

It all began when Josiah and I recently acquired a Tibetan Mastiff puppy…Soon after, we adopted a two-year old from a rescue organization. We needed a doghouse suitable for our growing collection of one of the world’s largest  dog breeds.

Since we both love and work with stone, choosing a building material was easy! Scavenging even the chips on the studio floor; we dug around among all the end cuts, demo stones, old bases that never fit anything and came close but still had nothing for the roof. So, we went to Marenakos for some large granite slabs and cornerstone cobbles. With the “every pebble counts” attitude, the walls and steps of our stately doggy playground took its distinctive shape which we now affectionately call the Taj Ma Dog.

You may know that Josiah Updegraff is a stone carver, master mason, and also a new NWSSA member. Our construction may not be exemplary of his finest masonry work, but it is a 10 ton, drystone, dog house; an unabashedly brazen, rubble temple able to withstand the rooftop romping of as many mastiffs as we ever care to own or befriend.

Over the door, carved from a discarded obelisk, emerge the eyes of a watchful grotesque whose nose is conveniently located in the drip line of the roof that causes our fine pooch to drool from his big mastiff lips when it rains!

So, are there more Taj Ma Dog in our future? Sure! Why not? It’s playful and expressive while still needing good building practices applied to stand strong for that romping on the roof. We play with ideas on how to make future canine shelters really custom or ornately carved. Mostly, it was lots of fun and, thankfully, the dogs love it!