I have seen a dogs chain fastened to a steal lollie column, like you would see in your basement, and stretched across an open car port. After lightning hits it, the chain was a dust stain on the cement, and the clip ends were the only thing that remained. The concrete slab blew out chunks of concrete, on the edges of the car port looking for the best ground. In this case the dog was not on the leash. If he was standing in a puddle, and took a direct hit, he would be blown up in pieces.
Lightning is powerful, and always looks for the path of least resistance.
Just like your spark plugs in your car. When you hear stories of people that got hit by lightning, and some live, they did not take the hit, but received a small percentage of the charge that hit the ground. Hope this helps. All Rights Reserved.