a house fire: absolutely no way this dog should have survived

05-15-232 mins read

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Words by Lynn C. | As told by GUNNER

My dog was in your kennel during a house fire, and the fire investigator agrees with me: the GUNNER kennel helped save my dog, Ben. This isn't going to be your typical save story.

I use my Gunners at home, since it is the only thing that will keep Ben contained. He is trained to climb seven-meter walls during competitions, so you can imagine how easily he can get out of normal kennels. 

I normally kennel him in the garage when I leave, and the G1™ Large gives him plenty of room to stay comfortable. The day of the fire, I noticed all kinds of smoke as I pulled down our road. As soon as I realized it was our house on fire, panic set in.

I have since learned that the fire originally started in the garage. I always leave the garage door cracked and – since it was cracked – it resulted in the garage outside being fully engulfed in flames. I ran straight for the garden hose to try and help the fire, but it was too far gone. 

My entire house was filled with smoke, and I didn’t even realize at the time that it was burning through the roof. I ran inside as a last-ditch effort and went through the laundry room trying to access the garage. The fire was so bad that I couldn’t even get into the garage.

I ran back outside and was trying my best to spray the area where I knew the kennel was, until the fire department showed up. It was so hot coming out of the garage door that my truck ended up on fire and it was sitting 7-8 feet back.

As soon as the fire department started spraying the garage with water, Ben came running out! We were amazed when he came flying out of the fire. 

I'm not exactly sure how he got out, he must have pushed his way through. He had horrible burns from running out of the fire. The flesh was burnt on his back legs, and he had some plastic burns on his back. I used to run a veterinary clinic so I helped them cut the plastic off after the accident and was able to care for him how I could immediately. 

I talked to the fire investigator and he said that the double walls of the GUNNER kennel helped insulate the inside of the crate, probably saving Ben.

"Here are photos of the kennel afterwards. You can make out his bowl and collar that sat on top of it. Also you can see the door hinge of the kennel. Thanks again for a solid product that saved his life."

When I dug through everything at my house after the fire investigator did, parts of the bottom of your kennel was one of the few things that was still somewhat intact. In the photos I shared, you could still see the rubber feet that didn’t melt. The concrete underneath wasn’t as charred as the rest of the ground. The door itself had melted down, but you could still see some of the door frame. I found it amazing that it didn’t completely melt away... even though in theory it should have.

I went back to the vet a couple of days after the accident, and they were amazed at how well Ben was doing. He is scarred but has recovered extremely well. I’m also shocked that he looks as good as he does now. 

I keep thinking, it must have kept him insulated extremely well with that inside wall. Thanks again for a solid product that saved his life.

In the future, I’m not going to leave my dogs at home in anything but a GUNNER. It may not be fireproof, but at least I know it will help protect my dogs better than anything else out there.

Read about more dogs saved by GUNNER.