Dog Crate Beds

[One_Two_Three]

Please forgive me if this is a common question… I literally have NEVER been on this Forum before, and spend most of my time in the horse ones…

My dogs are both crated during the day. Always have been always will be. However, I have a hard time finding a durable crate bed for the larger dog (about 40lbs). Sure, they have many, but most flatten out in a matter of months. Most aren’t washable, or have just a washable cover (so if my dog makes a mistake, or throws up, and it’s gone through the cover, the bed is trashed). Things I’ve tried include:

Basic “fleece” white crate mat: NO filling, so it didn’t really pad the dog, and he gets calluses on his elbows with NO padding. Otherwise this is ideal, for instance, it’s the best thing for our little dog, who doesn’t require padding

canvas covered dog bed with sections sewn down to keep bedding from shifting (still flattened)

memory foam bed ($$) lasted the longest, but dog happened to have a tummy mishap and trashed the insides of the bed.

Basically I just want something that WONT flatten, and I prefer something fully washable.

Also, why are dog beds/crate mats so pricey? They ALL suck, But I’d be willing to blow $50 if the dang thing lasted more than a few months before my dog’s elbows had calluses again. SIGH!

[Romany]

I buy quilts and duvets at the thrift stores, fold them to fit, and chuck 'em when they get stinky.

Cot mattresses are good, too. As are Polypads, those puffy quilted saddle pads from the UK. Polypads are also very machine-washable.

I layer one or more of the above according to the dog.

[arapaloosa_lady]

I read recently about someone putting a horse stall mat on the bottom of the crate - sounded like a great idea to me that I’ll try when I have a spare moment. And then, you can just put a few blankets on top if you don’t have a chewer.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=arapaloosa_lady;8105432]
I read recently about someone putting a horse stall mat on the bottom of the crate - sounded like a great idea to me that I’ll try when I have a spare moment. And then, you can just put a few blankets on top if you don’t have a chewer.[/QUOTE]

A friend recently showed me her traveling crate - it has a piece of an interlocking floor mat in it…the kind you can put together to make a floor or play mat for kids. She also liked the way it insulated the dogs from the cold in winter, and it folds up inside the crate easily.

One of those underneath a fleece dog bed might be more than enough for most dogs, although she didn’t use any other pads with her dogs (albeit not giant dogs likely to get callouses.)

[In_The_Gate]

Best dog crate mats I’ve seen - virtually indestructible, easy to clean and don’t shift around leaving your dog sitting on the crate floor again. We use these in the vet hospital I work at for recumbent patients also. If they can hold up to that, they’ll hold up to anything. For at home use, I throw a blanket or soft fleece on top that is easily washable.

http://www.primopads.com/

[bdj]

Not a bed, per se, but I use these: http://www.lowes.com/pd_113086-73825-160-0700-35_0__?productId=3595540&Ntt=anti+fatigue+mat&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Danti%2Bfatigue%2Bmat&facetInfo= underneath whatever bed or mat is currently in my dogs’ crates.
Creates a very nice, forgiving base layer, but is not expensive, easy to cut to size (you can buy custom lengths in the store, too), doesn’t absorb messes and is reasonably durable - the girls (20-25# Cardis) haven’t damaged theirs at all, and the big guy (40# Cattle Dog X) has managed to tear a small part of his - mainly because he gets really hyper and bounces on one particular spot when food is coming. His nails have torn it a bit - I just patched from the bottom with duct tape and rotated it, so that the torn part is under his crate bed/pad thing.

Currently, he’s using a Pet-O-Bed http://www.petobed.com/ crate bed - it’s actually much smaller than his crate, but he’s a curler… He has one in his crate, and one that he sleeps in every night - haven’t noticed any flattening of either so far (and the nighttime one is over a year old - we’ve only had the one in his crate since January).

Girls have assorted beds that they all seem to squish around to suit themselves, and often end up sleeping on just the mat.

[SonnysMom]

I made one for a friend’s dog that was getting incontinent. She would leek in her sleep.
I don’t sew very well but can use a sewing machine and make a rectangle. I take a egg crate foam for a twin bet and cut two pieces to size. I find one layer is too thin.
I make an inner cover made of vinyl and an outer washable cover of polarfleece. I make the covers extra long and just tuck them under the bed. But you could sew in velcro closures. The vinyl kept things from absorbing into the bed.
You could use an old comforter folded up in the vinyl.

For my house I use the bed from Costco but I don’t crate. Newly adopted unhousebroken foxhound peed right next to it. The cover was removable but she soaked some of the bed itself. I rinsed the bed in the tub and then ran it throught the front load washer. It came up fine. It is a big round bed.

I have also fluffed up a smushed dog bed by adding some folded towels or polarfleece inside the cover.

Have you considered something like this?
http://www.dogbedworks.com/showproduct.cfm?Product_ID=1103&ParentCat=344
I am thinking that even though it isn’t padded it wouldn’t cause callouses as the dog isn’t on a hard surface.

[toady123]

[QUOTE=Romany;8105093]
I buy quilts and duvets at the thrift stores, fold them to fit, and chuck 'em when they get stinky.

Cot mattresses are good, too. As are Polypads, those puffy quilted saddle pads from the UK. Polypads are also very machine-washable.

I layer one or more of the above according to the dog. :)[/QUOTE]

I second this. My one lab had to be crated when we were attempting to introduce a new epilepsy med that made her insanely hungry and she was attempting to eat anything that she could get her teeth on. She de-stuffed two dogs beds and I made the move to blankets.

I found that she left fleecy or knit blankets alone best. Nothing with stuffing. I folded and layered a few and they worked great. Easy to wash too which was nice (because she also started peeing and pooping in her crate which she’d never done before - needless to say she is on a new medication!).

[Preposterous_Ponies]

I have a very fancy orthopedic bed for Maizy’s crate. It’s really nice, but we stopped crating her shortly after I got it, so she’s only slept on it a few times. Sigh!

For you dog, I would head to a thrift store and pick up some old blankets or duvets. Fold 'em up, wash 'em when needed and then toss 'em when they get too gross.

[vtdobes]

[QUOTE=In The Gate;8105710]
Best dog crate mats I’ve seen - virtually indestructible, easy to clean and don’t shift around leaving your dog sitting on the crate floor again. We use these in the vet hospital I work at for recumbent patients also. If they can hold up to that, they’ll hold up to anything. For at home use, I throw a blanket or soft fleece on top that is easily washable.

http://www.primopads.com/[/QUOTE]

I was going to suggest these crate pads as well.

[One_Two_Three]

I like the idea of the primopads! That with a basic fleece crate mat on top seems like it would do the trick! The dogs’ grandma thinks that they need these plush cute beds, and I tell her to stop wasting her money because within a few months they’re useless. I will have to see about filling the bed with a blanket inside the cover to plump it up while I decide what to do! The little guy is easy, because he weighs so little that callouses aren’t really a thing for him. I was amazed to see the callouses on my 40 pounder (cattle dog/border collie X) and was used to seeing hygroma’s on bigger dogs when I worked in a kennel. I fear that as he ages he might develop these since he’s already got pressure callouses.

Thanks for the ideas! Gonna hit up good will for some quilts to fill his bed with & hopefully convince my SO or the boy’s grandma to get those primopads!