My Dobie is 2 1/2 and he still has to lay on the bare crate tray and he’s got the beginning of a sore. He destroys any bed, and worse is that he eats the stuffing. Instead of risking him ending up in surgery, he’s been on the bare tray pretty much his whole life. I’ve tried slowly introducing beds for short periods, but no luck. I tried a carpet square, and he ripped it up, not sure if he ate any or not, not risking. So anyone have any ideas? I’m even thinking about putting up an outdoor kennel where the crate is and he’d have the regular carpet floor.
I feel your pain. Amber (2 yrs in April) won’t stop distroying all her stuff. The vet gave me instructions for all soft bedding too. She has hygromas on both elbows.
She can sleep on carpet or the couch, but lies on the wood floor when she’s feeling hot. All dog beds have been ripped to shreds. I have tried 3 different kinds before giving up.
I was going to get the hammock type but they are $$$.
Check out Kuranda dog beds. They make some that are designed to put in a crate. I get the aluminum beds for my dogs. The only downside is that they are hard to assemble. They are difficult for dogs to chew and easy to clean. Mine have lasted forever.
How about a piece of a yoga mat? I have a cut mat on the bottom of one of my crates (the one my puppy eats in). He hasn’t tried to chew it, but in general he’s not a destroyer unless something has stuffing in it.
They are pretty cheap so it might be worth a try. Worst case scenario you could try glueing it down so he can’t really eat it.
Maybe try some stick down carpet squares? We have one that doesn’t get anything with fluff in it or it will look like an indoor blizzard hit.
This may not totally fix it but you could put the yoga mat (or carpeting, or a few layers of cardboard) underneath the plastic tray but on top of the metal frame. It will add some cushion for the dog but also keep the plastic from cracking as well.
Kuranda bed could work, it’ll add height so be sure the dog can still stand comfortably in the crate.
My dog ate the soft dog beds, but has behaved herself with the Kong bed so far We are going on 1 1/2 month so far. She is the dog that has destroyed 3 pieces of carpet, numerous socks and pairs of underwear and soft dog toys and rope toys
I second the Kuranda, or K-9 Ballistics makes a cot type bed that I actually like better than the Kuranda, and it comes fully assembled except for the legs that just screw in.
If you can get a size that justs fits into the crate, that would be ideal.
Some good ideas! I’m checking out the Kuranda beds and the k9 ballistics site. I just feel so bad that he’s stuck on the bare tray.
Following. I have a bed destroyer too:(
I’ve got two small dogs that also eat beds. When they were young and I tried an ex pen in the bedroom they balded a section of the wall to wall carpet!
They have Kongs and chew bones but just love destuffing things still. I have been getting cheap crate mats with bolsters so I can replace as they destroy. Unfortunately the Job Lot store no longer has them. Happily they mostly destuffed and threw the stuffing around and didn’t eat much if I replaced once they started. (Though the string poop tells me they ate some cloth)
Don’t know where I will go from here as I’m not sure the hammock type beds would be okay with dogs with back issues.
[QUOTE=everafterfarm;8486383]
I just feel so bad that he’s stuck on the bare tray.[/QUOTE]
Sometimes they make bad choices.
My dobe pups have all been bed destroyers, so I don’t even introduce beds until they are older (no bad habit). You aren’t giving treats or yummy bones in there are you? They could be eating where the food was. Anyway, In this case I would try a plain house mat. Like the entry way kind for mud. It won’t solve your problem immediately, but see if a solid rug that is not soft and yummy will get left alone. This is a mental exercise. Do that for a few weeks. If that works then try a not-too-plush bath mat with the rug over it. You will probably never be able to do the plush bed, but you may get to the point where you can layer bath mats, with an entry mat on top and your elbow sores will go away.
Another dog I had was able to have a blanket (why I don’t know) but couldn’t do the beds. So I did the above, but with a blanket on top (like a middle layer blanket that wasn’t particularly soft, but I could fold up a lot, not a comforter).
Take your time. You will feel worse if you are doing an obstruction surgery.
Some dobes are neurotic about plush things, so be careful. I know several who have had surgery or even died from stuffing.
Kuranda type is great if your kennel is huge. Or for a bed around the house. Or for teaching the dog to go to a “place.” You could do a Kuranda in your main kennel and rug for travel kennel, etc.
My dogs would leave a bed or blanket in their crates for a few weeks and then one day I would come home and it would be totally destroyed, even the supposedly indestructible stuff. I have no idea why because they don’t destroy anything else in the house, but it was getting expensive.
I felt bad that they were on the hard crate bottoms, so the Primo Pads was a last ditch effort. It’s been probably 6 months and they look brand new. No more elbow bald spots or sores.
Straw? Sit the crate in a big dish, like a kiddie’s paddling pool, and put straw inside the crate? No idea if that’d work, just musing about ideas.
[QUOTE=LadyBug;8486705]
https://www.primopads.com/
My dogs would leave a bed or blanket in their crates for a few weeks and then one day I would come home and it would be totally destroyed, even the supposedly indestructible stuff. I have no idea why because they don’t destroy anything else in the house, but it was getting expensive.
I felt bad that they were on the hard crate bottoms, so the Primo Pads was a last ditch effort. It’s been probably 6 months and they look brand new. No more elbow bald spots or sores.[/QUOTE]
These look amazing!
More good ideas! The primopads look interesting too! He’s my first experience with a dog who would eat the stuffing. I’ve had others that would rip up beds as pups, but they always outgrew that phase. Avoiding an impaction surgery is my first priority, but it would be nice to find some sort of happy compromise.
I second the Primo pads. Primo pads are the best. You remove the crate tray and anchor the pad directly to the bottom of the crate so the dog can’t get a corner up to start chewing. That’s what worked for my Dobe when he hit an age and was no longer safe with conventional, comfy crate pads. His elbows still look crate at 5.5, which I, in part, attribute to the Primo pad he frequently used to lie on (he doesn’t need to be crated much anymore).
I cut a piece of horse-stall rubber mat to fit the crate’s tray. It’s 3/4" thick rubber tightly fit into the tray so no edges the dog can grab. Seems to do the trick.
I’m looking into those Primo Pads. My dog is just a smallish guy-- Rat Terrier/JRT mix-- but he destroys every single crate liner I’ve ever given him.
Thanks, LadyBug!
Kim
