Dog Bedding

Bedding for dogs can also be a problem. For indoor dogs you have a choice of several different kinds of mattresses, canvas stretched across metal or wooden frames, and all sort of beds. You can make beds out of pieces of thick carpet or cast-off mattresses cut down, or you can allow pets to sleep in old chairs. An old blanket that can be laundered when necessary is a simple solution.

Some people like the smell of cedar in bedding, but the smell of stale cedar mixed with dog odors is unpleasant. After a while the smell pervades a whole house - even the clothing hanging in closets. Ordinary pine shavings can be bought for a fraction of the cost of cedar and actually makes a better bedding, especially if you add some flea powder to the shavings.

Some dogs refuse to sleep on soft beds. Great Danes often develop large elbow joint swellings from irritation caused by sleeping on hard surfaces, and almost everyone has known at least one dog that insisted on lying right by the crack under the door. Heavy dogs that refuse to sleep on the softer bedding provided for them sometimes develop sores or stiffness. Light dogs usually show the marks only at their elbows.In outside kennels, oat or wheat straw is as satisfactory as any bed-ding. Marsh grass is also excellent. Wood shavings are likely to be tracked out, create an untidy appearance, and are difficult to rake. If straw is placed in a kennel, there should be at least four inches of the packed material under a dog in cold weather. In summer less is needed.It is seldom necessary to dust outdoor dogs for fleas if a liberal amount is shaken in the bedding each time it is changed. In wet weather the bedding may have to be changed every few days, whereas in dry weather it may serve a month. If it stays over a week, flea powder should be dusted over it every six or seven days.