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Beds and bedding for your dog

Ruwini Jayawardana

It is essential for the dog to have a bed of its own. Washability is a priority need when selecting the perfect bedding for your puppy. Plastic beds built for this purpose is are not expensive and easily cleaned, but make sure that they have a soft bedding for the comfort of your pet.

Providing a mobile cage as a bed and a private place for your puppy has several advantages. It is a place to put your dog in when visitors arrive; especially those who do not appreciate dog hairs all over their clothes.

Cages may be the completely collapsible type, useful for folding and taking with you when you are traveling with the dog. There are plenty of choices of bedding. The most appropriate seems to be the comfortable as well as warm bedding made of synthetic fur backed by a strong woven base. These are long lasting and they are usually resistant to be chewed up.

More used than anything else is a square of old blanket or blanket off-cut. Nothing is wrong with this method provided you have enough so that you can wash them regularly, bearing in mind that they have a fluffy deposit which needs to be removed from the washing machine and they take forever to dry.

The kitchen or a warm utility room are the best places for the dog to sleep. The kitchen floor often has non-absorbent flooring, useful for a puppy before he is able to avoid accidents.

Once he has become accustomed to the kitchen, if it remains convenient to you, it is possibly the best for him to stay. The kitchen tends to be one of the warm places in the house, and dogs like warmth.

Most dogs of pure breeds are not kenneled out of doors. There is no particular reason why they should not be and if that is your intention it must be instituted from the start. Use plenty of warm bedding and pay more attention to draughts and waterproofing.

One problem with outside kennels is that it becomes too easy to ignore the dog. Few owners will indulge in the outright cruelty of neglecting to feed their dog. However, this may lead them to postpone the dog's daily walks for reasons such as finding that the weather is not good.

If a dog is to be confined in a kennel, you must ask yourself if you really want a dog. Remember, a dog is an animal which has feelings too. He needs food, shelter and protection but most of all he needs loving care. Offer that to him and in return you will be lavished with adoration and loyalty that will be hard to find in another human soul.