Dog beds soft or plastic?

Question

Have two staffy dogs they like to sleep together, only five months but i want their next bed to be big enough for them both fully grown, what do you lot recomend?

Answer 1

Ive got 2 staffys, there father and son. They have a large plastic bed that fits both in snug, although it does take up most of the kitchen floor. In it they have a double quilt. The quilts are easily affordable i replace them with ones from a charity shop every month.

Answer 2

Personaly, I go with the bog standard rigid plastic ones, all the way. Ye know the ones; Come in a huge range of graduated sizes and all manner of colours. Get them in any pet shop.

As has been said, they're hygenic and long lasting. They also have a raised and vented bottom rim - so ye Dog's off any potentially cold floor surfaces.

Also as has been said below, I like to line them with fabric. I wouldn't personaly bother with quilts as mine are buggers for ripping the kapok out and spitting wads on the floor. Blankets are fine ~ if heavy to wash and dry.

A good thing is these fleece under blankets. Imitation sheep skin things. They can be found for not much over six quid in the cheap shops. That stuff irritates a Dogs mouth so they tend to chew and rip it *less*. Very light and fast to wash and dry too.

With regard to the size of bed; Don't go over the top and buy a huge one. For two Staffie's? One standard / medium sized one is fine. They'll each curl into a ball and keep each other warm in one. Dogs seldom actually sleep as we imagine them to do - all limbs and stretched. Given a walled bed, they curl up. Especially together ;-)

Answer 3

I got a large cardboard box, cut off two long sides so you are left with a nice box,
Put the two long sides on the bottom of the box that is left for extra stability.
Then I bought cheap single duvets from Ikea as these easily go in the washing machine, also some of their cheap polyavide blankets which also wash and dry quickly. I would buy 4 duvets. Using 3 with one in the wash, rotating them from the bottom up so you wash the top one each week. 2 blankets one in the wash and one on but as they dry quickly if you need a clean one it will be ready.

My 16 year old Deepha loves her bed now. The box stops it all spreading over the place. It can safely be chewed as no hard bits to stick in throats or stomachs. it is biodegradeable.
when worn out it is easy to replace with another box.

hope this helps
A.

Answer 4

A big plastic bed with blankets or a foam cushion in. If you buy a soft bed you will never get the hairs off it when it is washed. You can wash/renew the blankets every so often with a plastic bed, you can also wipe it clean (most soft dog beds will not fit into a washing machine!)

Answer 5

I think I have the perfect thing for you! I work at a dog kennel and as you may know, a lot of dogs like to be kept up above ground level. So.. at our kennel we use Kuranda bends. The raise the dogs up a few inches from the ground and come in all sizes, even ones big enough for 2 large dogs to sleep on together! We use to poly resin beds but the have a few others. We give the beds out to the majority of the dogs and they all LOVE them. It's especially cute when they sleep on them together. Another one of their beds is raised above the ground but there is already fleece on top of it permanently. We just put a fleece pad on top of it since the beds aren't a soft material. I would definitely advise you to check these beds out! http://www.kuranda.com/main/index.asp

Good luck!

Answer 6

As long as it comfortable it doesn't really matter. I've got several beds dotted around my house even though I have only one dog.. Downstairs I've got a large floor cushion,( but he prefers the settee), in my bedroom he's go a plastic bed with cushions and blankets (he prefers my bed) but his favorite bed is in my work room and believe it or not, it's an old suitcase with the lid cut off. For some reason he loves suitcases so we gave him one. He'll also get into a cardboard box and go to sleep if there's one lying around.

Answer 7

I would go with a soft bed. A plastic bed the
dogs might chew on it and end up choking on it.
Better safe than sorry.

Answer 8

from experience i would recommend getting a large plastic one and putting a pillow pad/cushion in it. they can still sleep together comfortably, it's easy to keep clean and also you are establishing that this is their bed. if you get a soft one or just a large pad the line between what bed is theirs and what is yours becomes blurred. when i used a soft one mine used to sleep on the sofa and on the bed as well when i wasnt there. when i replaced this with a plastic one they stopped sleeping on my stuff. think it really establishes what is theirs. hope this makes sense!

Answer 9

You can buy massive plastic beds, big enough for the two of them. I think the plastic ones are more hygienic, you can wipe them and i put blankets in mine, then my girls can fluff their beds up or kick the stuff out if they want. Easy to wash the blankets as well. I've given up trying to stuff huge material beds in the washer, then it takes days for them to dry!! Plastic with lots of old towels and blankets.

Answer 10

I recommend you get them a soft bed. Go to a local fabric store and look at the different patterns they have for dog beds. Dog beds are meant to be soft and comfortable for them. You should go check it out.