If your dog is anything like my dog, he or she wants nothing more than to go to the dog beach. Every single day. We can’t say the words “dog beach” without whining and complaining from Bailey. It’s basically heaven on earth for most dogs.

But a few weeks ago, a disaster struck the dog beach- literally. Lightning hit the massive tree in the middle of the sandy grounds, and split it right down the middle. Branches went flying all across the beach. The City of Pensacola soon came and cleaned up the debris, but that left all us dog beach-goers staring at an ugly, unnatural, chopped-off tree stump.

Enter the Chainsaw Artist. You may have seen his work off Highway 98 in Navarre, on the north side of the road. Next time you drive that way, look for the wooden bears and totem poles- that’s his home and workshop! He was kind enough to donate his services to our tree stump, and over the course of three days, he and his assistant slowly and masterfully turned it into a fire hydrant! A very fitting sculpture for a place with a canine population, don’t you think? This process involved a chainsaw at first, but they used several other key tools to get it looking so realistic- for example, a sander that went through quite a few sheets of tough, sandpapery material.

Here are just a few of the photos; for a more detailed look at the entire transformation, check out the display at the Bayview Dog Beach! (It’ll be there in a couple of days.) And when you get there, enjoy the beautiful artwork- even if your dog chooses to pee on it!