Dog Bed: Take 2

Another chip off the November To-Do List, I made that dog a new bed.

The last one looked like it had vomited itself up, and it was time for it to be fully disassembled.

If you recall from when I made it originally, it was filled with towels and a smaller dog bed insert, all of which were perfectly good again after a quick spin cycle. We even tried to make the smaller dog bed work for him, offering it up the last few weeks as a substitute bed while I made something new. But it’s a little small for Cody.

With that evidence, I knew the new dog bed needed to be sizable. It needed to be durable. And, like the last one was designed to allow, it needed to be washable.

For starters, I landed on a heavy-weight outdoor fabric in a neutral-yet-mesmerizing pattern that’s bound to disguise dirt while withstanding dog toenails; better yet, the fabric was already 50% off at JoAnn Fabrics. The drop in price brought it from $20/yard to $10/yard, and to bring it down a little more, I had scored an extra 25% off my total purchase coupon in the mail, so my total order of two yards was actually only $7.50/yard, or $15 dolla. Holla.

I picked up a 24″ long zipper for $2.29 while I was at the store too. I was hoping to add a pretty contrast color, like the Tango or Spark Gold zippers that I used for the living room pillows, but the color selection at the 24″ length wasn’t robust. I settled for a neutral ivory to get the job done.

This time, when it came to stuffing the bed, I splured on an Twin-Extra-Long memory foam mattress pad from Amazon.com. Using our Amazon Prime account, it only cost $16 (free shipping), which was a lot cheaper than what foam I could have bought at the craft store, and even priced below the eggcrate foam mattress pads at Target. Folded in half, it would be the perfect size for the dog, and perfect cushion-y surface to sensitively contour his body.

The two yards of fabric wrapped around it perfectly; this time around, I did no intricate detailing, just a normal slipcover without piping. I installed the zipper along one of the shorter edges; 24″ was the perfect zipper length, and getting the foam into the cover was no struggle so I know it’ll be easy to get it off for regular cleaning too.

The dog likes it too, I think. Like most American pet-owners, I can’t resist to take a quick photo of my cozy sleeping dog. Snuggle, snuggle.

Priced around $35 with zipper, fabric, and mattress, it’s more affordable than other “giant dog” models at the pet store; just imagine it embroidered with his name and on the cover of L.L. Bean.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!