By cantmissamy from Brazil, IN
What would be the best kind of bedding for an outside dog kennel? I heard somewhere not to use pine straw. Are wood chips or hay good to use?
Tag27612 from Raleigh, NC
I use a baby crib mattress with a waterproof mattress cover and baby crib sheets. This way I can change it whenever and it stays clean. Also it's better than any dog bed. Ever laid down on a dog pillow or bed. It's terrible!
This is something I did years ago after pricing doggie beds. I noticed that a lot of the upscale beds were zippered pillows filled with cedar chips. I checked one out and it had two pillows - a zippered one you could remove and wash and one sewn up that was filled with the chips. I needed a large one for my Golden Retriever and they wanted over a hundred dollars for it! Well, I made a large zippered case (I discovered later I could have bought one pretty cheap), then went to the gardening department of a big discount chain store and bought a bag of cedar chips for about 12 to 15 dollars. I stuffed the pillow. It worked great. Bugs don't like the smell of cedar I guess. It didn't take the whole bag of chips to fill the pillow. I discovered when I took the pillow off to wash it, "Heidi" was just as happy to sleep right on the chips. The one bag lasted over a couple of years. I kept the pillow because I didn't like combing the chips out of her. I adopt older dogs that owners get tired of and have had three dogs who love this arrangement. And I have never found bugs or other creepy, crawly things in the bedding!