Im currently buying new items in preperation for the arrival of my 8 wk old min schanuzer pup.

I have an 8yr old schnauzer and he has a bed, i would like them to be able to sleep together if they wish and his bed is definatley not big enough (he is 17in not the norm 14!) so i would like your opinion on the sort of bed i should get.

I have been looking at bean bags and those big pillows but i dont think they will wash well (i like to keep them clean! fleas, bugs etc..) and i know you can wash the outer cases but what about the insides? So what would you recomend? At the moment he has a wicker basket with a big piece of fleece inside but that wont fit them together.

Any advice? I have seen a water proof, wipeable pillow (quite expensive at 40 pounds) looks good, but im not sure if they would sleep on it!

What do you suggest?

Thanx Roxanne.

I found beanbags to get stinky and damp, so my lot each have a large, plastic oval dog bed (with the ventilation slits at the sides, not at the bottom), a carpet sample at the bottom and a piece of fleece on top of that. When it's warm, they sleep individually, but if it's cold they all get in together, and don't seem to mind the squeeze. I always feel sorry for the one groaning at the bottom of the heap! :)

The bean bags are washable... You can take the cover off and bung the whole thing in the washing machine on a delicate wash... don't spin for long though. It is worth running an extra line of stich round the seam just incase it splits in the wash!! We just hang it out to drip dry. The thing to watch for is the chewing... a little boredome, a small bit of bed chewing and one great leap... and it a premature "White Christmas"

we had this the other day as i was washing the bedding for the bottom of the plastic bed i put the old bean bag in the basket,30 minutes later it was white all over the kitchen floor,zak also decided to eat a few so his motions were quite perculiar,it doesnt matter how many treat balls or nylabones etc we give him he still prefers to chew his bedding blankets.
mel

We go for dog duvets as you can wash both the covers and duvets and also get replacement covers. The bean bag ones have been tried.The girls destroyed them and it took weeks to get all the filling finally cleared up !

Lucy

Personally, I would just use a bit of vet bed and wait and see if you have a chewy puppy. Ours has chewed our older dog's bed and made her own piece of vet bed look like Swiss cheese :). When she is old enough and I am certain she has stopped chewing :) (she still chews things occasionaly and is nearly a year) then I will treat her and older dog to new beds - but not before :D

Daisy

Edited - the plastic beds look a good idea, but they would just get in the way in our kitchen so I haven't tried them :)

Thanx All,

Daisy i particually like your idea, and i think i will wait to see what the pup is like! I have tons of fleece so ill cut some of that up and they can snooze on it together (if they want) Then when i know if they use it together i may buy them a big nice bed.

I still dont fancy the idea of a bean bag (sorry) just does not seem as hygenic to me, i wash all beds weekly so that would be a nightmare washing that every week and i dont fancy the job of clearing all those white balls should anything happen :o

Thanks again for the advice

Roxanne

We have a plastic dog bed, with a single duvet folded up in it, that way when it gets dirty, you can take the cover off, and then every now and again, we stick the duvet through the wash too, and it's cheap and comfy! :)