Craz-E the big brown dog has experienced a recent loss of strength in his left leg. The vets believe a FCE occurred, or some near spine arthritis has affected a nerve or two. Anyway, he gets around OK, and wants to stay near us as always. But, in the long rest periods, he needs something else. We've had a thread on people beds. I'm wondering what you all might have tried for dogs in some musculoskeletal pain? I am of course shopping online and at stores, but have resisted the temptation to spend $400 on a dog bed.

How about getting one of the memory foam mattress toppers that are sold for people beds and cut it to fit? If you bought one for a twin bed, it would give you multiple layers to put on the dog bed.

I have seen some that were constructed sort of like a rectangular trampoline, fairly low so that your mobility impaired dog should be able to get on and off without too much trouble.

Tubular aluminum frame with cloth (canvas?) bed. Not terribly expensive.

I bet you could make something like this fairly easily, using either aluminum tubing or PVC pipe for the frame.

Years ago, when Jesse Mastiff was alive, we just bought a baby crib mattress for him. It worked just fine. Jesse slept one the mattress and the cats slept on top of Jesse.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I have seen some that were constructed sort of like a rectangular trampoline, fairly low so that your mobility impaired dog should be able to get on and off without too much trouble.

Tubular aluminum frame with cloth (canvas?) bed. Not terribly expensive.

I bet you could make something like this fairly easily, using either aluminum tubing or PVC pipe for the frame.

Years ago, when Jesse Mastiff was alive, we just bought a baby crib mattress for him. It worked just fine. Jesse slept one the mattress and the cats slept on top of Jesse.

Tried the bed you mention. Older dog wouldn't have anything to do with it. Tried it with the new puppy. Wouldn't have anything to do with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Syngin1066:
How about getting one of the memory foam mattress toppers that are sold for people beds and cut it to fit? If you bought one for a twin bed, it would give you multiple layers to put on the dog bed.

Or just a memory foam pillow. Fairly cheap to try from walmart.

I have a couple of memory-foam dog beds with water resistant covers I got off of Amazon for $75 & $120. My dog loves them both.

This one has been in use for about 5 years: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/pr...ilpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Got one of these about a year ago: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/pr...ilpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I put a soft bath towel on each bed to reduce wear and tear of the bed, and reduce the number of times I have to remove the cover and wash it.

quote:

Originally posted by Syngin1066:
How about getting one of the memory foam mattress toppers that are sold for people beds and cut it to fit? If you bought one for a twin bed, it would give you multiple layers to put on the dog bed.

This is what we did for my golden with bad hips. Got regular beds from petsmart and costco and then stuffed them with some cut pieces of a full size memory foam topper. They are nice!

The beds V-Tail mentioned are pretty pricey sometimes but are recommended by some vets. A friend of mine, Judy, had a Rottweiler that started having hip issues as she got older. When she looked into the pet beds she was really hesitant because of the price and not knowing if the dog would use it. Being a smart ass I JOKINGLY said Judy and her husband Bill should go to a thrift store/Goodwill/Salvation Army etc. and buy used crib and just chop the legs off to make it low enough. What I didn't know is that I had just volunteered to do the whole project for them. I did exactly that. I found a beat up but sturdy crib, removed the side frame that you would slide down to access the baby and whacked off the legs to where the mattress metal frame was 4 inches off the ground. We took the old girl's (the dog, not Judy ) blankie and moved it into the crib. It took her a few days to warm up to it but within 3 or 4 days she took to it just fine.

Retelling this is making me a little sad as Asha the Rottweiler passed away in her sleep in the doggy bed that "Uncle Tony" made for her.

If I were in need of an off the ground doggy bed I would most likely do the same thing again.

quote:

Originally posted by Rotndad:
The beds V-Tail mentioned are pretty pricey sometimes but are recommended by some vets.

Twenty-two bucks is pricey? Heck, our vet won't even put a latex glove on for twenty-two bucks.

Amazon Basics Elevated Pet Bed for Twenty-Two Bucks




Now that I look at it, I wouldn't even bother trying to make one, as I suggested in my earlier post. For twenny-too bucks, this is a bargain.

I have a couple of beds from Eddie Bauer, but a friend has this. https://bigbarker.com/?gclid=C...7_vFLAwVgaAqX68P8HAQ

Our shelter uses Kuranda beds....

https://kuranda.com/

From their website: Kuranda beds provide orthopedic support - Elevated beds are a great relief for dogs’ joints. The cot-style design evenly distributes their weight so that there are no pressure points like they would have on the ground. No hip, elbow, shoulder etc. will become sore from the pressure of the hard ground.

At our shelter, all of our dogs get one and our oversize cat cages (usually for multiple or special needs cats) have them too! The beds are available in multiple frame colors/materials and have multiple fabric options as well.

They're very durable, easy to clean, and chew proof by design....And, Made in the USA!

We bought exactly what V-tail describes, neither of our dogs will use it. Definitely a hit or miss kind of thing. I really like the idea of the memory foam though, my little man that we lost a year ago could probably have benefited from that. Noted for future reference for my now 6 year old JRT.

https://bigbarker.com/ (expensive, several hundred)

http://brindlepets.com/DesignerPetBed.html (moderate, $69 for the large on Amazon).

The brindlepets is in the dog kennel with the puppy, the Big Barker is in the living room as their lay spot (2 Great Danes, one American at 130#, one Euro still growing past 150# - the 'puppy').

They love them and sleep on them all the time. Of course they prefer the human bed, but when told to get off, they lay in one of those two locations (since the sofa is off limits).

The big barker is definitely 'better', durability-wise. They have been all over it and it's still as good as day one. The Brindle bed needs to be flipped and fluffed occasionally to get it back to it's shape, but it's still great.

We have purchased these for our Great Danes and Bavarian Mountain Hounds. We order the ortho. type that are very supportive. You can buy direct or Amazon. Not cheap but very well made. great support.

Bob

http://www.mammothdogbeds.com

Search Amazon for "egg crate foam mattress."

Apologies

https://i2.wp.com/truepundit.c...ed.jpg?fit=640%2C360

https://i0.wp.com/truepundit.c...16/09/van3.jpg?w=528

quote:

Originally posted by Syngin1066:
How about getting one of the memory foam mattress toppers that are sold for people beds and cut it to fit? If you bought one for a twin bed, it would give you multiple layers to put on the dog bed.

This^^^ Our arthritic dog would not get off his once we put one down for him. Absolute love!

My Golden thinks that the best money I ever spent was for his Orvis bed. It was $300+, but I can't get him out of the damn thing. He loves it.