Destoying Bedding

[Thunderpants]

Hi, I have an English Staffy 9 months old.

He now sleeps on a folded sheet and 2 towels because any padded or stuffed bedding I give him is chewed up and ripped apart.

He ripped apart a trampoline bed, a tough nilon padded matt and a pillow. He loves to tear apart any stuffed baby toys we give him and chews holes in towels we give to sleep on now.

I'm scared to spend money on any padded bedding as it will likely turn his sleeping quarters into clouds by morning, but I feel bad for him sleeping on a hard surface all night. When we see him in the morning, first thing he does is run to his beanbag and sleep in the living room.

Question is - Any advice or tips on detering him from chewing and ripping up his soft bedding?

Thanks

[Aidan]

Sure, invest in an appropriately sized crate and have him in the bedroom with you. If he wakes up to have a chew on the bedding, you will hopefully wake up and should be able to interrupt him.

I made a few beds out of heavy PVC (520gsm used for banners). Any industrial sewing place should be able to make them. For the foam I bought a "crust" from a foam supplier, $10 for enough to make several beds.

[Thunderpants]

Sure, invest in an appropriately sized crate and have him in the bedroom with you. If he wakes up to have a chew on the bedding, you will hopefully wake up and should be able to interrupt him.

I made a few beds out of heavy PVC (520gsm used for banners). Any industrial sewing place should be able to make them. For the foam I bought a "crust" from a foam supplier, $10 for enough to make several beds.

Thanks!

Unfortunatley we don't allow him upstairs to the bedrooms but the bedding it's self is a good idea. I only know clark rubber near me in Brookvale, would they have Crust? I don't know what that is actually

[Sandra777]

Don't worry about him sleeping on hard surfaces no matter how uncomfortable you'd be - dogs like comfort for sure (esp Staffords ) but sleeping on a pad of sheets and towels won't do him any harm so long as he is warm. Does he sleep in a crate? If so make sure it doesn't sit directly on concrete or tile, even if this means you have to lift the crate and put something under it - couple of boards, a pad of cardboard, some insulation. Then with his sheet & towelling pads he'll be comfortable and not getting cold up through the base of the crate. Cover the crate and he can keep himself warm and cozy.

Other thought Straw or shredded newspaper make a warm soft bed and not a lot to shred.

[Aidan]

Clark's may have it, phone around, upholsterers are your best bet. It is the "crust" off the top of the blocks of foam. When foam is made it has a firm, shiny crust that needs to be trimmed before the foam can be used. It would normally be thrown out but it makes quite good dog bed filler.

[Sandra777]

When foam is made it has a firm, shiny crust that needs to be trimmed before the foam can be used. It would normally be thrown out but it makes quite good dog bed filler.

Just watch out, cause it blocks up the vaccuum cleaner tube too.

Had some of that for a young Stafford bitch I had that ate all bedding she was given - it didn't last long

[redarachnid]

You mentioned he tore up a trampoline bed. Was is a hessian sack one? You can get tougher material which lasts longer.

Mine tend to dig up the hessian sack ones, they must like the smell or something. But the shade cloth or canvas ones, they leave alone.

[Thunderpants]

Thanks again. Yeah I know he would be fine on a hard surface, but just seeing how he runs to the bean bag and sleeps for hours more makes me think he's not sleeping at night. Of course you're right too though, it makes me feel better that he's really comfy.

I see about the crust thing now, cheers

[Thunderpants]

You mentioned he tore up a trampoline bed. Was is a hessian sack one? You can get tougher material which lasts longer.

Mine tend to dig up the hessian sack ones, they must like the smell or something. But the shade cloth or canvas ones, they leave alone.

I think it was made of nilon, I got it from dealsdirect for $30 and it lasted one night. I guess it wasn't that tough but after what I see him destroy daily I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't tare the tougher ones too. I call him destructodog!

[Sandra777]

and sleeps for hours more makes me think he's not sleeping at night.

:p

Ours get out of their nice soft beds with wooly blankets and rush outside to lie in the dirt and stones in the sun.

[bronsonb]

Not much advice to add but just wanted to say I know how you feel, I have 2 9 month old Rotties and one has destroyed 2 padded beds, they both sleep in separate crates but one now has a folded up quilt cover and the other has the luxury of his padded cushion. Guess it must be something only some puppies like to do!!

[luvsdogs]

A 2 -3 y/o mini poodle in my obedience club sleeps on folded newspaper because he always chewed his soft beds/sheepskin.

[caitbunny]

maybe encourage him to chew toys more? hard ones like kongs etc rather than stuffed ones of course. my pups now, if they get given a toy with one miniscule bit of fluff or stuffing that can be pulled out they'll get it the other morning I woke up to my Holly girl barking a bit but it was just cows. but i looked out the back window and thought.. "wow, the morning frost is sure showing up all those funny spider webs on the ground.."

..pity it wasnt spider webs.

she tore up her big fluffy pillow..

the line of fluff went from..

the front porch..

down the side of the house..

around the water tanks..

all the way down to the back fence.. which is a good 50m or so away..

it was like, 6:30am.. freezing cold.. and i had to pick up tiny clouds in my pyjamas..;) but i still love her to bits, she just has a wooden box with blankets now

and my 2 boys, being country dogs now ;) have drums that they sleep in they love them so much!

[indigirl]

Either buy an expensive very tough bed, or accept he will chew it until he grows out of it. I have dogs that chew every form of bedding known to mankind! I ended up buying expensive trampoline beds and its taken them a year to rip the canvas. Not bad when you consider these are the beds they have access to all day.

During winter they sleep in crates at night indoors, with minimal bedding. The crates are left open but they sleep in them. Funnily enough they dont shred their blankets at night any more so each has a blanket in their crate. I keep the house warm all winter (for me) so it doesnt bother me that they dont have much bedding at night. Silly dogs seems to prefer lying on a hard surface anyway and often scratch thier blankets up to one end and lie on the floor.

During summer they all jsut sleep on the tiled floor under the aircon vent

The iggies have soft foam mattresses and lovely soft warm blankies in their crates though because they arent destructive.

Lots of ppl say the snooza 1000D is really tough but 2 rescue shar peis i had here managed to disembowel one lol. I use the snooza ones in the dog trailer.

[Nekhbet]

I just buy old heavy blankets from the op shop

when going to bed have a special 'bed time' chew toy that only comes out then, make it super special even rub it with some kabana/ham to get it nice and smelly for the pup. Also wearing them out before bed time and the wont have the energy to chew

[Thunderpants]

Thanks so much for all your advice.

Thunder has many toys that we rotate on a daily basis so I'm confident that isn't the issue. He also clearly likes toys that he can tear apart rather than just chew on. E.g. The kong is only good for getting treats out of and throwing around but he will never chew on it. Give his some cardboard or a $0.20 plastic toy from Vinnies and he'll sit there chewing it to small pieces for hours at a time, so that's what we give him at night.

Anyway, here's an update for anyone else who has the same problem of their dog chewing or ripping all bedding apart.

A couple of days ago I went to various upholsterers and clark rubber, none of them had fabric that would be strong enough to deter a Staffy from tearing a soft bed apart, Clark rubber doesn't sell the Crust of the foam either. So I visited the local pet shop and settled on those really strong trampoline beds that Indigirl also mentioned.

That night I then wrapped the bed in a doubled over sheet and secured it under the feet and added a towel for snuggles. He did the usual and scraped at it until the sheet tore, but not the bed thankfully. Last night I added another towel and messed them up, He didn't do anything at all last night. I think a lot of this is to do with trying to pull bedding together for comfort. See because the sheet attached to the bed wouldn't move then maybe it was frustrating and he just kept clawing at it to pull together. Since I added more towels, he moved those to get comfortable and it was all good..... so far

BTW these bed have replaceable covers for about $35 for medium size. So if he does rip through it in future then at least it's not messy and cheaper than building a stronger cushion.

Hope that helps others!

Edited August 27, 2009 by Thunderpants

[Gretel]

And even cheaper than buying a new cover you can make a replacement using shadecloth.

[Gayle.]

I have a dog that also likes to rip up beds, so he no longer has one he can rip up. At night, he sleeps on an old blanket on our bedroom floor....the blanket is folded up and put away during the day in case he gets the urge to tear into something.

His "daybed" which resides on our back porch for him to rest his bones in while we're at work is a heavy duty plastic "tub" style dog bed. It's raised about an inch off the ground and it's ventilated with holes punched in the plastic. It's VERY durable, and serves the purpose of giving him somewhere off the cold concrete to lie out of the weather.

I tried putting an old blanket in it, he just dragged it out into the mud so now he doesn't have anything in it and he's quite happy about it. He does use it a lot and seems quite comfortable with this arrangement.....and best of all, he can't rip it up!