What dog bed for a giant breed?

Welshwoofs

I've decided to get a new bed for my Mastiff as his hips are giving him a bit of gyp and I feel he needs more support. His current bed is an Orvis 'deep dish' which did offer a lot of support initially but flattened out quite quickly under 12 stone of dog. He now has a couple of sleeping bags and fleeces on it to 'bolster' it up a bit.

So I've been looking around and there seems to be a total dearth of decent beds for giant breeds that are designed to support. The dimensions I'd need are:

Length: approx 51 inches
Width: approx 36 inches
Depth: ideally around 8-10 inches

I've looked at all manner of memory foam pet beds now and they either don't come in the size needed or they're a pretty poor 3-5 inches deep...which I know he'll flatten in a couple of weeks as we've already been down that road.

Has anyone come across a great dog-bed producer...or anyone have any other bright ideas for how to cushion poorly hips on a big lad? Thanks!

lostinrates

Mine have a sofa each...any good to your chapt? Theirs are quite low, so not a lurch up and down off them. Arms protect them from draughts in much the same as a bed with sides, and being off the floor particularly seems to help. One of ours has supportive foam over firm foam cusions, the other just normal foam with wadding over cushions...no change from ho it was when people used it.

Sagz_2

My Danes always had sofas, they made old bones (11 & 14) and were always comfy on them.

Welshwoofs

lostinrates wrote: »

Mine have a sofa each...any good to your chapt? Theirs are quite low, so not a lurch up and down off them. Arms protect them from draughts in much the same as a bed with sides, and being off the floor particularly seems to help. One of ours has supportive foam over firm foam cusions, the other just normal foam with wadding over cushions...no change from ho it was when people used it.

Ahh he had a sofa prior to the Orvis bed, but he's not allowed to do any clambering up anything anymore due to the hip dysplasia and cruciate repairs.

I'm wondering if I can convert one of these; cut one of the layers off it or something but they only seem to be 28" wide which is a bit pants.



I found a memory foam 'cut to size' place online earlier and did an online quote for a 10" thick slab of the dimensions needed and it was around £250...and that's before I've even found someone to cover the darn thing! :eek:

krlyr

Forget dog beds and look at human duvets, memory foam, sofa cushions, cot mattresses, etc. Could perhaps combine a duvet, folded in half, with a thinner memory foam mattress topper? Making your own cover would be pretty easier or you could just use a duvet cover and tuck in the excess.

Caroline_a

My last Dane had a huge beanbag that had a synthetic leather cover. She used to love to snuggle down in it, preferably with youngest daughter (I said it was big!). Eventually it gave up the ghost, which was when I discovered that it didn't have an internal lining... came home to find the lounge full of what looked like snow and a very mournful dog! Some discounted ones here http://www.beanbagbazaar.co.uk/

Sooz00

I have one of these:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_beds_baskets/orthopaedic_dog_beds/206847

and two of these:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_beds_baskets/orthopaedic_dog_beds/139713

Both are great. Zooplus do a whole range:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/ask?query=orthopaedic&num=20&form=search

For a cheaper option (and to recycle some of the other dog beds we have), I've been thinking about buying a sheet of dense foam and a sheet of the orthopaedic foam and making it into cushions for their other beds.

Person_one

Do you have room for a single mattress? You could cover it with fleece or something to make it more attractive but I reckon a 12 stone dog who's getting on a bit would appreciate one just as much as a 12 stone human! It'd be the most supportive thing for his joints, not very MSE though I'm afraid.

Sooz00

Welshwoofs wrote: »

I found a memory foam 'cut to size' place online earlier and did an online quote for a 10" thick slab of the dimensions needed and it was around £250...and that's before I've even found someone to cover the darn thing! :eek:

Most of the memory foam beds I've seen (including two of ours which I've washed the covers from) seem to have a 5cm layer of dense sponge foam with a 5-8cm layer of memory foam on top of that). That may help bring the cost down and it also helps keep a stronger base. I'm sure they must make them that way to save on the cost but I do wonder if it would be harder for the dogs to get up if the memory foam layer is too think as they would sink in more.

Welshwoofs

Caroline_a wrote: »

My last Dane had a huge beanbag that had a synthetic leather cover. She used to love to snuggle down in it, preferably with youngest daughter (I said it was big!). Eventually it gave up the ghost, which was when I discovered that it didn't have an internal lining... came home to find the lounge full of what looked like snow and a very mournful dog! Some discounted ones here http://www.beanbagbazaar.co.uk/

Beanbags we've done. We got one of those 'big boy' ones - absolutely massive but after a few weeks or so all the beans simply got squished and he sunk to the bottom in the middle.

Sooz00 wrote: »

I have one of these:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_beds_baskets/orthopaedic_dog_beds/206847

and two of these:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_beds_baskets/orthopaedic_dog_beds/139713

Both are great. Zooplus do a whole range:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/ask?query=orthopaedic&num=20&form=search

They're good thick beds, but they're not anywhere near big enough. My dog lays in 'superman pose' with his front legs stretched out and he's around 120cm long when he does that unfortunately.

It's the combination of huge size plus maximum support/thickness that doesn't seem to exist in the manufactured dog bed market for some reason!

Welshwoofs

Person_one wrote: »

Do you have room for a single mattress? You could cover it with fleece or something to make it more attractive but I reckon a 12 stone dog who's getting on a bit would appreciate one just as much as a 12 stone human! It'd be the most supportive thing for his joints, not very MSE though I'm afraid.

I think I could probably squeeze one into his area....will have to get a measuring tape out later. Good idea though (and yes, not very MSE but then I'm not very MSE when it comes to my dog anyway )