What's in your crate?

[Jason L]

I'm curious what you guys put in your dog's crate? I used to have a soft bedding in Obie's crates along with various toys, one of my old tshirts, and a kong. But it seems like the crate bedding actually annoyed Obie more than comforted him (everytime I come home it seems like he has flipped the bedding over his head) so I finally took it away. So now he just sits/lays/sleeps on the black plastic pan that came with the crate. I think he likes it better but it just looks so sad and uncomfortable to me, almost prison-y ... I keep thinking if other people sees this, they would think I am caging the animal or that I am too cheap to provide him with any material comfort!

[lauramichelle]

I have a towel and an old sheet in Ranger's crate. Along with 1-2 chew toys.

But I too think I'm going to take the bedding out. He spent all last night pushing it around until it was all piled in a corner and he was laying on the metal pan. He gets really hot it seems with cushion.

He prefers to sleep on the hardwood floors and not the rugs during the day....so I guess he prefers hard cool surfaces for sleeping.

[Liesje]

At home - nothing, 'cept sometimes a nylabone or buddy bone. Especially now with it getting hot. Coke (my long haired big mutt) often goes into an open crate to lie on the cool pan.

In the car - Coke and Kenya have bedding, Nikon has nothing (rips apart the bedding, doesn't seem to have a problem lying still or sleeping without it).

[Karin]

Heidi used to chew on her crate pad, rumple it, and twist it around when we left her in it when leaving the house. She'd even chew on the zipper until her mouth got bloody! But now she's calmed down a lot and we have a comfy pad with a bolster around it that she uses as a pillow, and then we have a small quilted blanket on top of that. I know she likes it because she goes there on her own to sleep at night.

So, you could try bedding later when they're older and calmer. Then again, there are some dogs that might always be destructive with their bedding...

[Chris Wild]

No bedding in ours. A couple dogs would probably still chew them up, and for the most part they don't like them. When we've tried blankets they end up balled up in a corner where the dog put them out of the way in order to lie on the cold, hard plastic.

So just water buckets, nylabones, and occasionally a kong.

[gagsd]

I use the rubber backed bath mats for the ones who don't chew. Nothing if they think the blanket is edible

[Sigurd's Mom]

I have an old blanket on the bottom for Sigurd, he usually likes to hide his toys underneath it, not so much sleep. I give him a bully stick, along with 2 chew toys! No water yet as I'm trying to potty train him.

[BlackPuppy]

Originally Posted By: gagsd_pup1I use the rubber backed bath mats for the ones who don't chew. Nothing if they think the blanket is edible

Same here.

[Renoman]

Buck has one of these chew resistant beds since anything else has a zero chance of surviving the first 24 hours. Sometimes Buck will take a kong or an antler chew into the crate with him.

http://www.cushionguy.com/durabeds.html

Chazz is much more careful with his things and has a nice big soft comfy pillow bed. Chazz has his constant companion, his ball, with him in his crate.

[lindal]

We tried a fluffy pad--Minx thought it was a great toy to pull apart. However, without it her nails make so much noise it was keeping me awake at night. We found a rubber "fatigue pad" that just fits and doesn't have an edge she can get ahold of to chew on.