Having looked, I have established that there are millions of dog beds to choose from and I have therefore decided the best thing to do is ask for some recommendations please. We are hoping to get a Retriever soon so something suitable.
Thanking you in advance
R

we generally go for a crate (for training, dogs end up loving it) with a godd few bits of vet bed (easy to clean, lasts ages, very comfy)

Our retriever has a plastic bed from PAH. He had a crate when young. The plastic bed is very easy to keep clean which is great as he is a real mud magnet :)

our big boy would be sad if we got rid of the crate now. plus he still goes in it when the bitches are in season and he's been hassling them. its a very big crate though (my nephew sometimes likes my mum to make up his bed in it when he's staying ). plastic beds are great as well, very easy to clean, but vet bed is the stuff!

my golden hated the crate and wouldn't go in there, maybe i did something wrong im not sure, but i stopped using it after a couple of weeks, and she was so good she has never touched anything goes to sleep as good as gold always has. but i got her a lovely wicker bed on legs ,and she loves it,as she is warm and cosy off the ground. i was worried she might have a chew at it but never has, she only wanted to chew when her teeth were coming throu, and she had raw hide shoes for that.sorry im waffling now and going off the subject, plastic beds are good too used to have one for my springer, but goldens do love the water and mud so i have lots of old towels to hand to save anything getting too messed up.hope this has helped a bit. good luck

I use a cheap duvet and cover so they can be easily washed and noone bats an eyelid when I take them to the laundrette to use their large machine if necessary, even though it will JUST fit in my washer
Some dogs can get scabby if they chew a plastic bed and then lean on it - this happened to my friends dog but I know of many others that use them with no problems and they are of course easy to wipe clean!!

I use a vetbed - the website is either www.vetbed.com or www.vetbed.co.uk. They are cheaper than other pet beds ( prob about £17 for one the right size for an adult medium/large breed dog) they are apparantly almost indestructable (mines not chewed through it yet in about 3 months and all her previous beds have lasted less than 1 week) and they can just be put in the washing machine and dry really quickly. It also says on the website that if a puppy has an 'accident' any liquid is absorbed and the puppy stays dry. Oh and they also fit easily into a crate. They come highly recommended from me.

Yes, I use a vet bed too for my Spaniel and GSD. Apparently they are supposed to regulate the body temperature of the dog. And yes, they are pretty indestructable. I went through two other types of dog beds when my pup was younger and going through her teething stage. She managed to undo the zips and she also chewed through the cover. I wouldnt recommend a normal duvet and cover that we would use. The reason for this is my vet was telling me about a dog who had been ill and needed to have an operation because he had eaten the duvet filling. The filling had swelled inside him with all the moisture and had become trapped. The owner had taken him to the vets because he was vomiting and not eating and an xray revealed that he had a blockage from the duvet filling, thus an operation to remove it.

I must say that I am really impressed with the vet beds. They dont come apart. Are easy to wash and dry so quicklyon the radiator and you can buy ones which are anti bacterial too. I agree with pinkbrady and would say they are fab and I would recommend them time and time again. You wont go far wrong with one of these. x 

I put a vet bed on top of the duvet - or use it as a separate bed.  It came with the crate I got when one of mine was a pup and has been washed and tumble dried countless times and still looks like new.

I wonder if the filling in the squishy dog beds is the same as in duvets as surely these could lead to probs if chewed?  Mine have never chewed bedding but I know some that shred everything and if this was the case then I definitely would steer clear of something soft that once they rip the cover open the filling goes everywhere and could be eaten.

If I just had the boxer then would just use the vet bed but my older girl is so much more comfier on something soft and padded.

I just use cheap duvets and covers and they get shoved in the washing machine and dry off relatively quickly :) Normally have a production line of them as wash their beds every couple of days due to them being mucky dogs and the one of the cats uses them to wee on :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I would steer clear of using duvets if it is to be used for a young pup as most young pups do go through a chewing stage and if your pup were to ingest the filling inside the duvet it could be quite disastrous as mentioned in my earlier post. My GSD did attempt to chew the vet bed when she first had it, but because of the way the vet bed is made, it doesnt come apart and my girl was quite an aggressive chewer at the time.  So the vet bed was thumbs up for me from a safety perspective and the fact it is so easy to wash and dry.

I bought one of these at the beginning of last year, it's great!   I put a piece of vetbed in which I can wash and then just hoover the dust up from the bed or occasionally just stick it in the bath and wash it down.   Mia is glued to it, in fact she's in there at the mo snoring her head off!

and the one of the cats uses them to wee on

Now let me see, said cat wouldn't be tortie in colour would she? :rolleyes:  :D

Wow how did yu guess :D :D

We have narrowed it down to this now and she blatently does it when one of us is looking :rolleyes::rolleyes: I think she is trying to tell us something ;)

This is great. Vet Beds sound like a good bet. Very useful info, many thanx to all those who took time to reply.

The next issue is 'Crates' (nothing is ever simple) My Hubbie had a Golden before (lost custody after divorce sadly) and didnt use a crate, but a lot of the information I've read suggests that they are a good idea. I will of course discuss this with the breeder but would be interested in your thoughts. I was going for a soft crate. decisions decisions!

R

I am not a fan of crates I'm afraid, although I do have one for one of my girls who chews destructively when left for some reason and I then do have to crate her although I hate doing so. But saying that, she does love her crate and is more than happy to go inside when I'm leaving her.  If you can avoid having to crate a puppy so much the better, it was only after my 3rd goldie that I had to resort to having one - you'd think she would be fine with the other to play with - strange eh?

we've always had crates for our pups. if your not there it's safer for them and much as the whine the first couple of times they will frankly whine anyway if left in a bed in a room by themself. after a few days the pup gets hooked and they tend to go there themselves for quiet time.  all our adult dogs still insist on snuggling up in their crates. in the end the most basic thing for me is they are safer in there when alone- you can never be certain that they won't find something to chew (shoes, remote controls, walls :rolleyes:)

We use Pet-Joy Doggybaggs, your guaranteed no hard skin on the elbows and knees, which I hate.

Christine, where did you get your dogbeds and how much?