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  1. #1
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    Question non destructable mats?

    For anyone who has confirmed bedding shredders, what do you use in house/car crates or as beds? Anything soft and fluffy is right out, vet beds are plucked, and are a total pain once they are covered in hairs, blankets are shredded and digested, (or not)have tried waterproof beds, but they come as duvets in cases and the zips of said cases are lethal when munched - which they are straight away.

    Newspaper is the safest but I'm looking for a similiar type of mat to the ones used as bedding in stables, only a lot lighter of course! Can anyone recommend a particular type or make that really is non edible. (Same dog destroys supposedly indestructable Kongs in a week!!)

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    How old is your dog? With our very first dogs (boxers) we put down newspaper until we were thoroughly tired of cleaning up the wet, shredded papers after work every day. Then they got no bedding for a while. Our first lab got no soft bedding in his crate for maybe 2 years. They may not have been as comfortable as they would have with some sort of bedding but they were safer that way. Even with soft beds out and around the house, as often as not our dogs just lie on the hardwood or tile floor anyway.

    I have a Primo Pad in my current puppy's crate with the tie-downs on the corners. He's not particularly destructive though. I don't know about their availability in the UK. Primo Pads

    I've also heard of people using horse stall mats for dog crates but haven't tried it myself. I'd imagine, if the dog is that destructive, that a heavier, non-porous mat would be called for anyway.

    Our first lab would tear up bedding and dig at the bottom of his crate. He managed to dig a hole in the plastic crate liner pan and rip it all up. He did not get any sort of bed in his crate for about 2 years. He was confined to his crate when I was at work so he wouldn't tear up other stuff in the house. He did not tear up beds that were out in the house as long as we were there to supervise. He had a life long love of chewing soft things, towels, socks, dish towels, so we could never leave him with a towel or anything like that in his crate. Eventually he did OK with foam pads with a zip-on cover in his crate but he was older then and he had earned the privilege of a softer bed. If your dog is still young, maybe he'll outgrow this phase.

  3. #3
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    Yes I rather hoped she would grow out of it too! But she is now eight years old! That's why I really want to start giving her a better bed, up to now I've just more or less given up, the best thing has been cardboard, she will bend, buckle and chew it all up and then sit underneath it! Needless to say it's only cute until you have to tidy it up! i've always given my oldies soft beds or at the very least waterproof mattresses, but she has me beaten!
    This isn't when she is left alone btw, my dogs are rarely left and then only when thoroughly exercised - and she sleeps inthe same room as me, it's just what she always does - I just want to give her a bed in her middle age!

    Thanks for link to the primo pads, they look like they don't have zips, hooray, I'm currently chasing through ebay for them!

  4. #4
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    I used these in the past: Amazon.com : Petlife Vetbed Original For Dog/ Cat, 36 x 24-inch, White : Pet Supplies. and I know they are available in the UK. My friends/Sophie's breeders have used them for years and years (I got my first Lab from them when I moved to the UK in 1984!) and they hold up well.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog voodoo's Avatar
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    might try some yoga mats on amazon
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  6. #6
    Best Friend Retriever SoapySophie's Avatar
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    I used old towels, which naturally became "dog" towels for drying her off before coming into the house later on!
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  7. #7
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Primo pads are something I'd try.

  8. #8
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Does she eat the stuff she shreds? If so I would not use a bed at all. Even the horse stall mats can be chewed if she ever got a corner or edge up but that would be a pretty clever thing for her do if it was really tightly fitted into a crate.
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  9. #9
    House Broken HammerLover's Avatar
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    We use Mutt mats at both kennels I work at. We try to keep a nylobone in the kennels with chewers and it usually works will. We have some chewed corners but it takes them awhile to even get to that point.

 



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