# What dog bed do you use?



## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

I am curious what your dogs sleep on for their bed, in or out of a crate.

Saber always preferred the hard floor in summer, but lately she has taken to the carpeted areas so I want to get her a soft bed to lay on. 

I want something that will last awhile, not terribly expensive, and easy to clean. Is there such a thing? Do you have one with a removable washable cover or do you just vacuum it, or what? The ones at Walmart or PetCo are big and cheap but don't appear to be washable.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I get those foam matress pads, double bed size about $15. Fold it in half, cover with a comfortor and or sheet. Take the sheet off & throw it in the wash when needed.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh likes a hard surface too and he doesn't curl up to sleep so a pillowy kind of bed he ignored. I got him an thin orthopedic bed made by Four Paws and he loves it! He usually sleeps stretched out so he fits on it and doesn't get hot. I think I paid about $50 for it at a pet supply shop.


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Daisy amd Lucky have rectangular flat beds w/ memory foam and a water proof liner as well as a removable quilted top that is machine washable that velcros on. Bought both at our local AKC All breed Show. I have bought bed after bed ,these both dogs love. One is 3ft by 4ft and the other 4ft by 5ft. The bigger one I gave around 175.00. Do not know vendors name but see her every year.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Baby bed mattresses from Wal Mart, they're cheap and the dogs love them.


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## DanielleOttoMom (May 11, 2010)

GSDAlphaMom said:


> Baby bed mattresses from Wal Mart, they're cheap and the dogs love them.


Hmmm.... Great Idea!


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

I have a round, really cheap one with a removable cover that I bought at Ross (a discount store) many years ago for Rocky. When he started getting arthritis I shelled out nearly $100 for a orthopedic foam bed for him. 

Does he like it?

No.

He still prefers his cheap-o discount store bed that's been repaired with duct tape. Kopper sleeps on the expensive orthopedic one.


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## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

I got ours at Costco. It's been washed many times and it still looks new. Koda likes to sleep in it although he's getting too big for the bed.


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## Scarlettsmom (Jul 12, 2011)

We bought a HUGE LL Bean one for Paige and she was OK with it, but it was just too big for her. Along came Scarlett and she LOVES the bed. It was pretty pricey, but it has a no-odor mattress that is soft and NOT noisy and the cover is sort of a soft version of canvas. It has been washed hundreds of times and it still looks fine. Scarlett has a den next to our bed and the bed fits in the corner nicely.


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## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

I'm actually thinking about buying Sasha a toddler bed and just throwing a fitted sheet over it. Right now she really likes my futon, but I'm afraid she's going to break it down the way she jumps on it. I need that thing to last! lol She didn't really care for the other bed I got her (it was some orthopedic thing I thing) but it seemed to make her hot. When we're at my mom's house, my mom just has regular mats, not cushioned or anything just like you'd wipe your feet on, and Sasha will just move from in front of the door, to mat in front of the window, to mat in front of the other door, to tile by Grammy's computer, to tile by the table. She's not real picky.


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## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

Emoore said:


> I have a round, really cheap one with a removable cover that I bought at Ross (a discount store) many years ago for Rocky. When he started getting arthritis I shelled out nearly $100 for a orthopedic foam bed for him.
> 
> Does he like it?
> 
> ...


Haha that's always how it goes. My cousin has a 14 yo small/medium size male and a 9 yo beagle female and the female has always dominated the dog bed (that truly is big enough for both; she's just a princess) well since the older guy has gotten so arthritic they bought him a really nice bed. Guess where he sleeps? The floor. The princess stretches out on both beds, and the poor ol' guy seems to have long ago accepted that that's just how things work lol!


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

We have a couple of regular foam or stuffing filled dog beds, but the ones that are used the most are baby crib mattresses. Just the right size for a full sized GSD, interspring mattresses that are nice and soft and comfy. Waterproof cover on the mattress, covered by waterproof mattress pad covered by microsuede crib sheets. They cost less than most decent dog beds. And all that waterproofness comes in handy with a couple of occasionally "leaky" seniors.


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## DanielleOttoMom (May 11, 2010)

I too have a large rectangle shaped dog bed I bought from Costco ($40). The bed is really nice and also has the removable cover. It's hardly ever used. They prefer the floor next to me or hard wood floors. I'm thinking of trying the baby mattress idea.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Daniellle, I got the baby mattress idea when I had mastiffs. Doggie beds their size where $200 bucks and about the same size as a baby bed mattress. It worked great and I've used them since.


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## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

And here I sold my crib mattress when my daughter was 4... ugh. Thank you for all the recommendations!


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## bruiser (Feb 14, 2011)

I have an olly dog bed that I really like...plus I can take the cover off and wash it.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I have several.

I have this type:
"Molly Mutt Duvet" molly mutt: the dog bed duvet company
It's basically a pretty heavy-duty cover (you can also get a mesh bag to use inside) and you fill it with whatever you want-- pillows, old blankets, foam, polyfill... It is all machine washable.


I also have this one, which is really nice but my cats have kinda taken it over:
"Bessie and Barnie Rectangle Bed" Bessie and Barnie Rectangular Dog Beds @ Bag of Bones Barkery
Company: bessieandbarnie.com > beds >

The cover is machine washable. One nice thing is it is totally customizable-- you can choose a different fabric and pattern for the top, bottom, the sides and the piping.



Here is a photo of the "Bessie and Barnie bed" I have:


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

We have Kuranda beds in the garage pen, and fleece pads in their crates, but we don't have any actual dog beds other than that - the whole house is a dog bed!


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

I had a half-full laundry basket in the bedroom and Bailey discovered he loved it. (The large, rectangular style basket.) He starts out each night under the bed, but then moves to his basket and stays there all night.  It's funny, I need to get a pic... and talk about cost-effective.


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## Germanshepherdlova (Apr 16, 2011)

Brutus has ripped up the dog beds that I have bought him on the very first night. I bought him a mattress and laid it on my bedroom floor, and that is where he has been sleeping for the past year, and on the couch.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

We have at least 6-7 dog beds scattered throughout the house. We have gotten rid of all the cheapo beds over time and replaced all of them with either the Molly Mutts beds (link in Chicagocanine's post above)or Big Shrimpys. The Molly Mutts beds work for me as I'm pretty picky about the public areas of the house and I love the variety of cool, modern patterns at Molly Mutts. I also love that I can stuff the beds with whatever I want and can then wash all the contents, or replace as needed. 

The other HUGE favorite around here are the Big Shrimpy brand beds. Currently we only have 2 of these in the house but there is always a dog on them and sometimes one laying on the floor "in line". I have the original bed, and each of our Big Shrimpy beds has an extra cover that we got to change out while one gets washed.

Original | Big Shrimpy®


Uma on the Big Shrimpy!


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

There are 7 dog beds in the house. 

1 is a crib mattress that I got off of the curb

2 is a really nice single futon I bought at a thrift store

3-5 are fleece covers stuffed with old comforters or comforters I've picked up at yard sales

6 is a bagel shaped bed with a washable cover. That goes on top of the futon

7 is memory foam. That has lasted many years. 

If I look around I could probably find more but the point is that I mostly have beds I have either found, bought cheaply or put together myself.


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## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

Those Big Shrimpy beds look pretty nice. What size do you have for a GSD? Large or extra large? I don't see prices on the site but I may go look at some locally since there is a seller here.

I went to Costco and they only had the round ones. I think a rectangle would fit in our space better. I also checked some pet stores and department stores, no luck yet!


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## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

I bought the kong beds. Kaiser loves them. Pookie I dont even bother buying beds for. The little snot thinks shes a princess and prefers my bed or the new couch.


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

Baby crib mattress with bottom sheet and 2 or 3 soft toys for Karl (GSD) but more often then not he prefers either the tile floor or area rug, pink round washable soft bed and soft toys for Star (poodle) which was a cheapy from CVS but she loves it, and Chase (GSD) sleeps on bare floor no toys. 

It is strange how some like hard floors and some like soft bedding.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

in the livingroom there's 2 thin rugs on top
of each other. in our bedroom there's a dog bed.
my dog also uses the sofa and our bed as dog beds.


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## gsdmi (Apr 4, 2009)

We are another vote for the crib mattresses -- ours came from Walmart for about $35 each. We had always used the dog beds from Costco -- the round size. 

It took the dogs a couple of weeks to get used to the crib mattresses, they have the coils in them, so are a bit different, as they do have some air trapped so when the dogs stepped on them, it was sort of a "rocking" feeling for them. At first they didn't know what to do, but after a couple of weeks they plop right down on them.

Some of the best features are they are covered with a light vinyl so can be wiped down -- we put a blanket on top. And the best -- the dogs can stretch out pretty much their full body length to sleep, with just a leg or tail hanging off. Definitely recommend those.

Forgot to mention too, our 15 year old cat with some health issues had taken to pee'ing on the dogs beds, and with that foam, you could never get it out of there,no matter how many washings. With the crib mattresses we have found that cat sleeping on the bed -- he approves too. We kept all of the covers (we had about 6 of those beds) and can just lie them on the mattress, it is the sheep-wool type.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

The Big Shrimpy beds we have are larges. Occasionally 2 dogs will be together on one bed, so they are a good size. The extra large just seemed like it would be in the way, I'm completely happy with the large. One of the Big Shrimpy beds is about 3 years old, the other we've had about a year. No sign of wearing out in the least. I buy the Costco beds for our dog daycare and they seem to last about 6 months before the filling gets all messed up, and the covers tend to wear out and tear. So while the Big Shrimpy is pricey going in, they have definitely paid for themselves in durability. Plus they are made from 85% recycled goods, which my husband likes.
Oh, if you go look at or get a Big Shrimpy, just letting you know that they start out pretty poofy (is that a word?). After a day or two, the air gets pushed out and they settle, but after that they don't flatten out with time like some of the other beds we've tried. The bed we've had for 3 years is still just as full as when we first got it.

Annette


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