HI   I was hoping for suggestions for suitable bedding for my 2 Labradors they have a wooden sleeping box with vet bed which the younger one drags round the run in the wet etc so i wondered what other people use at least till she grows up /

put carpet in our dogs kennel.  He loves it! 

Saying that he only gets it as g.dad used to work next to a carpet factory and he got all the throw outs!

What bout finding a peice of bedding thats stiff so he can't get it out of the box!

Rox

my lab pup and spaniel have an old sleeping bag and old blanket, when one is dirty they have the other, to stop the bedding being dragged aroung i put a crate in the kennel and took the door off, they now have a cosy den inside the indoor bit of their kennel and the blankets stay put
tanya

Thanks tanya they have  a sleeping box in the kennel with a pop hole i was wondering about shredded paper etc for a few months

Hiya,
A breeder friend of mine uses shredded paper for her labs, but with my Danes i put wood shavings as a thin layer to trap moisture, then put a load of straw on the top. Not only does this keep them warm but it keeps them clean too, and the moisture drops thru the straw to the shavings below :)

HTH

Grace :D

I have now changed to shredded paper after a £300 vet bill, to date for my new champion Dakota.  He has developed an abcesse on 1 foot that appeared to rupture thru the bottom of his foot after 2 wks anti biotics, it then started up again after Manchester show.  Back to the vets and both him and my gold had localised infections, the gold up his leg and dakota in the same foot again, vet had warned me abcesses can take a long time to sort out so 2 more wks antibiotics and daily cleaning.  Tuesday this week and we're back at the vets before he's finished his course of antibiotics with both feet swollen and bleeding -- turns out he now has an abcess on both feet, new anitbiotics and more daily cleaning with vets words ringing in my ears 'we may have to remove both outer toes if we can't clear this up!'

Cleaned his feet last night and got a piece of woodshaving out of one and a tiny piece of straw out of the other, the vet was amazed and agreed that they were enough to cause the infections and abcesses, he also runs at the twilweld on the runs and we think his toes go thru the wire thus forcing the debri between his pads, vet also agrees that it was possible the debri got up their when he runs about jumping etc.

Needless to say the runs and kennels have been scrubbed yet again, the boys are in the house at present, much to their disgust until their feet are better, I've shredded masses of newspapers for their kennels and ordered some booties for dakota to help keep his feet clean until they are fully healed, we have another 26 days antibiotics then follow up visit to the vet then if everything goes well they will both be fine again by then and my vet is warning other dog owners of the problems I've had with both straw and shavings for bedding.

Had the wood shaving and straw gone in between the pad the same as a grass seed can or have the pads become too soft due to walking too much on grass and soft surfaces instead of adequate hard concrete pavement walking?

sorry to hear about your dogs. I've bedded my lot down on straw every winter for three years now and so far no problems. The kennels all open out on to concrete runs, and the straw is confined to the kennels...dont' know if that makes a difference.

Grace :)

I work in a pet supplies and shredded paper is very popular. Not bad price either. We get one customer that travels all the way from wales to Yorkshire to collect around 20 bales every couple of months or so.

I am considering using it when my dogs are kennelled out side.

Jenna

I just wanted to ask some advice on Labs sleeping outside.  Sam is 14 weeks old and at the moment sleeps in the house - we are thinking of having him sleep outside but wondered what everyone thought. At what age do you let them sleep outside - and what do you do the make them as safe a possible - do you make a run as well?

Any comments would be appreciated
Jenny

Hi Jenny,
It depends how your priorities lie. Many dogs, kept outside, will, for their own health, develop a very oily, weatherproof (smelly) coat. This is to stop them becoming soaked through in the rain, chilled, and ill. However if you want that dog to be indoors some of the time you will have to accept the smell!

Also you will have to bear in mind the high incidence of dog theft. I don't know which area of which country you live in, but there are many thousands of pedigree dogs stolen every year from their gardens or kennels. Gundog or coursing breeds are particularly vulnerable.

Bruce my lab pup (11 weeks) has always been outside apart from a few days when he came in so that the kennel could have a throrough disinfect when the rest of the litter went. Bruce is indoors during the day unless we are out then he goes in the kennel with Jack (spaniel 13 mths) When jack is at work with me then Bruce is crated in doors when out, both Jack  and Bruce sleep outside, they go out about 11pm and i let them back out at 7am, the kennl run is covered so even when raining they dont get wet, and the kennel door is left open all day so they can go in and out as they please. As for bedding and flooring, nothing is down on the floor as they tend not to go a toilet in the kennel, but they have blankets in there crate indoors. I have in the past used straw, woodchippings and paper and dont like the use of any of them as they all have bad points
tanya

Their kennels are set on concret and the runs are the same, schips would dig their way out in about a minute otherwise so their feet aren't soft but the bedding has gone up between the toes to the thin skinned webbing area just at the joint with the foot.  As they were bedded on Shavings topped off with straw both got between the toes which normally wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that they run and jump at the twilweld mesh forcing the debri up between their toes when the small outer ones pass thru the gap in the wire.  This is the first time I've had problems bedding down this way ever and my family used to bed the working springers the same way when I was a kid with no problems - seems schips have a 'knack' for creative problem making lol.  I'm going to have to put corregated plastic sheeting on the inside of their runs upto 6 ft high as they can jump that far and still get their toes caught - still it's better to have found out what has caused the problem than not being able to sort it out and my boy lose his toes!

Hi,

Our Goldens have a kennel as secure as a house that has a run attached via 2 popholes.
Their indoor kennel has wood shavings which they love as they can dig and snuggle up together and is great for cleaning them after muddy walks and keeps them smelling sweet.
In Summer,Autumn and Spring this indoor area has raised beds in it with vetbed on top.
They have superb coats not dry from being on shavings suffer from no allergies.Maybe i'm lucky but they just love their shavings.
They also come into our house for periods during the day and they smell lovely and sweet,
however there is always a mad dash to see who can 1st through the pophole for a good roll:-D

Briony:-)