I seem to spend a fortune on dog beds that look wonderful,  nice and cosy for a bit and then lo and behold one will start to chew and out comes all the stuffing and soon it ends up in the bin.  About a month ago I bought a lovely big cushion from Pets at Home to put in the outer shell of a previous Pets at Home bed (to replace the original chewed up cushion) and Hannah my Greek dog loved it but my other three set upon it and have now ruined another bed cushion.  This morning we found green stuffing in the WFT's poo so it is now (the cushion) residing in the dustbin.

I was wondering what beds others use and how serviceable they are.  Maybe other dogs are not so prone to chewing,  but two of mine are terriers (terrors) and even the sheltie has had a go at each and every new bed we buy.  I do own a RuffTuff bed which is more or less dog proof but it is not warm and cosy and none of them likes it much.  Hannah the Greek isfor  now in a bed lined with some fleece from the WFT's old puppy pen.

Off the Pets at Home again no doubt over the weekend .......

Off the Pets at Home again no doubt over the weekend .......
Noooooooooooooooo. :) :)

Go to a car boot sale and find a duvet and covers/sheets for a couple of pounds.  Cut into 4 for singles or 6 for doubles and make simple washable covers like pillowcases.  Then you won't shed tears if they get chewed.  :)

Pets at Home beds don't last in this house.
Amazon is best for beds I find, cheap and very quick delivery.

Plastic bed and 1/4 sheet (20 x 30 inches) of vet bedding, not the non slip, as that doesn't seem to last (goes flat and raggy), where the normal backed lasts for ever. 

I'm still using pieces of extra heavy duty profleece bedding that I bought 15+ years ago.  Some of it is odd shaped and one piece has a hold chewed in the middle. 

Until 2003 I never had a dog chew vet bed, but our Lexi as a pup, and one or two others since did ;)

Ditto to Brainless. Plastic oval bed with vetbed in but NOT the rubber backed as they LOVE to chew that! Mine chew the normal vetbed as well and so most of mine have holes or tears in, but I find they only do it when brand new, so they survive pretty well after that. Buy cheap on Ebay or Amazon, do a good search for best value. :)

I spent an absolute fortune on different beds. Not because Nando would chew them but because of the smell they tend to get when wet, and the way his hairs would stick to them and were not easy to remove with a Hoover.

I tried the coolaroo raised bed and it seemed the perfect option but the frame wasn't very durable and so it ended up going back to a normal 'cushion' type bed. But I just don't like fabric dog beds, they hold the smells and are just generally not very easy to clean! At Crufts I went to all of the bed stands and settled on a hi-k9 bed.

The joints are welded so much stronger than the coolaroo version, and the cover is removable and washable. I bought a furry vet bed cover for the winter so he's a bit more snuggly.

find a duvet

I'm don't know if it was on here or somewhere else but I seem to remember someone (I think) LOST their dog when it chewed a bed with that type of fibre strand filling and it got caught in the gut and caused major problems :-(

Tuffies all the way here, I've never had a chewer, but I do have a digger, and it's quite amazing how she can shred the covering of most soft beds.
Tuffies don't hold smells either, and even though the cushion in it does have a removable fleece cover, it hasn't been damaged at all by Daisy's determined digging, it's so thick, and fits so tightly, she can't even dig it out of the bed, and believe me, shes put all off her little Staffie heart into the job.
The downside is, they are expensive.

Yep - another Tuffie fan here!

As Celli says they are ver expensive - but I have saved a lot of money in the long run as they are the only beds my dogs won't/can't chew.

I have two which are 8 years old and as good as new.

There is a choice of finishes and covers.  I have the finish which you can literally hose down and it dries very, very quickly.  I add the 'wicking' covers to mine - brilliant for drying off wet dogs by wicking moisture away from the dog.  The covers come out of the washing machine almost completely dry!

No smell.  Brilliant.  I discovered them having spent a small fortune on numerous cheaper beds - none of which lasted!

>But I just don't like fabric dog beds, they hold the smells

That's the beauty of vetbed.  Especially with several (6) dogs,  I just chuck it into the washing machine, at the least whiff of dogginess, and back to nice fresh beds.

I have double, and can do them in two wash loads, as they have their baskets in the kitchen in the day, plus the night time baskets in the kennel.

Dog beds are the bane of my life. 

My Doberman is incontinent and she has got through countless beds that say they are heavy duty and waterproof but none of them are. She's not a digger as such but does scrape at them to 'plump them up'. She's had the latest one 6 weeks and it's already ruined, I spent an hour yesterday hand sewing an old waterproof nappy cover over the main hole and by this morning it is mostly ripped of, urgh!  Once the wee gets through they just have to go, it really is a nightmare.

I am with the plastic oval bed with vetbed brigade.  They may chew the sides of the bed but no serious damage seems to get done. Beds made out of fabric only last a very short time in my experience and puppies in particular think they are there for chewing.  I would have thought these would be ideal for incontinent dogs as well.

Tara sleeps on the floor ..... in the winter she sometimes sleeps on the sofa in the garden room which has a throw and a bit of vet bed on it to keep it clean. She doesn't use her bed which came from the local 'cheap' shop. Bramble had a bed from the cheap shop too which lasted for years - his first and only other bed got a little bit chewed by Tara when she was a puppy. No problem here with dog beds :) :) I'd go down the path of plastic beds and vetbed if I had a chewer. Did people used to use newspaper in plastic beds years ago ???

I have gone back to plastic beds with vet bed in.  I have used duvets but my lot still manage to get the stuffing out after a while.  Vet bed is a lot less hastle and last for years and years...

> Vet bed is a lot less hastle and last for years and years...

really...you need to tell my 20 mth olds, well one inparticular!! I buy it 3 metre rolls at a time & they go though it in about 2 mths. It looks worse than a doylie & it gets torn along & could make it into a stole for her!!!
It would be so easy if I could buy a zip for her mouth!!

>Did people used to use newspaper in plastic beds years ago ???

Blankets and towels.

I have put newspaper under the vet bed if I found the beds sweating (condensation).

I find that vet bed accumulates hair which comes out in the washing machine! GSD ownership isn't fun when it comes to the hairs!!

Josh,

If you go over the vetbed with a damp rubber glove, you'll get an awful lot of hair off before washing :-)

You can use a rubber Zoom Groom on the dog, dampened, and that will remove a lot of loose hair too.  Just rinse under the tap to remove hair.  Dogs love it as it gives a lovely massage too :-)

Far too much messing about for me! I prefer the hi-k9 which I can just Hoover, but Nando does love being brushed with the Zoom Groom! X

> My Doberman is incontinent and she has got through countless beds that say they are heavy duty and waterproof but none of them are.

I found a piece of vetbed on top of a mesh Hi-K9 bed works well with incontinent dogs. I placed a puppy training pad underneath to catch the urine which just drains through. A quick wipe over with disinfectant and a new piece of vetbed it's as good as new. :)

Another vote for the Vet bed. We love it, Im forever buying different colours (no that need to - only because they are pretty!) :D. It doesnt hold any wetness (puppies!) and you pop it in the washing machine and it comes out fresh and just as bouncy! I have a Welsh terrier and she cant seem to destroy it either which is an added bonus!

A couple of my dogs will eat vetbed so that's a no-no for them. The plastic oval beds got chewed and looked awful so they went to a rescue kennel. I got a couple of egg box foam beds with covers from Costco which have lasted well and my old girl hogs them. Now I've invested in a couple of hi-k9 beds and they've stood up to the chewers and I can hose them down and they dry quickly. I will definitely get a couple more. I did have big thick box type beds but they got stinky and although they could be hosed down took forever to dry.

>hair which comes out in the washing machine!

I shake out and then wash all the bedding then de-hair the washer, and then put washing machine on a quick cycle to clean it.  Once dry I shake excess hair out of the vet bed outside, then sweep up once it settles LOL

> It looks worse than a doylie & it gets torn along & could make it into a stole for her!!!<br />It would be so easy if I could buy a zip for her mouth!!

ROFLMAO!  :-)  :-)

I'm sorry to be laughing at your devil dogs but I'm cracked up here.  :-)

http://m.instructables.com/id/No-Sew-Pet-Bed/#step1

I know its got a cat sitting on it but I have made these for my lot and they are cheap, easy, and fun. If you don't like the frills, turn it inside out before stuffing. I put the filling in a sack before putting into the outer cover to keep it easy to wash. Have had lots of requests for them.

Makes a great gift idea for those planning ahead for a certain festival at the end of the year...I know! Its only august....*slap hand*

All bits available at the market/dunelm/bm/the range etc.

>Tuffies all the way here

I'm another Tuffies fan, I have two that I bought in 2001/2 that have had several different pups digging on them and they look good as new. I recently bought a second hand one off a colleague and again it's good as new. They're the only beds I've ever bought that don't go flat.

I also use vet bed, kudos beds and several other types.Vet bed is great for the car as it dries so quickly after washing, it's great to take places too as it's light to carry but comfy.

I seem to spend a fortune on dog beds that look wonderful,  nice and cosy for a bit and then lo and behold one will start to chew and out comes all the stuffing and soon it ends up in the bin.

Bravo to Snowflake, not 10am yet & you've already made my day!
.

Hi K9 beds are awesome, and have different types of covers from mesh to fleece to burrow beds. https://hik9.com

Orvis sells chew proof beds.  Expensive up front, but when you consider what you've spent already and the fact they are lifetime guaranteed it might be worth considering.

Also Tuffies as someone else has mentioned.

Even easier go buy cheap blankets from the charity shops and put rp them into a plastic dog bed or crate.  If they get a few holes so what.  Or stuff them into the case of the old dog bed.

Just some ideas

Thank you all for your thoughts on dog beds!  I am still using the vet bed in the old Pets at Home bed shell and so far so good (still intact) ....However I have 4 dogs each of whom has a bed (of course) and my Greek rescue Hannah who is the biggest of my bunch has this big bed (with the vetbed).  The trouble is that they all  want Hannah's bed (the big one) for some reason even though the other three are small and poor Hannah (a rather lugubrious dog) spends a lot of time lying nearby on the floor, ears and tail down as she is a most patient dog and would never make a scene ....

Why did I ever have 4?

>Why did I ever have 4?

For the same reason I have 20?

Go for two or three big beds then everyone can share or not and Hannah doesn't get kicked out bless her