Bunk Beds for Dogs

The best piece of furniture I have bought in quite a while was actually not for use by the humans of the household, but a pair of bunk beds for dogs.

My wife and I have a lovely little Jack Russell Terrier called Mitch. We bought him as a puppy shortly before our first son was born, which makes him all the more special to us (and doesn't he just know it)!

When he was tiny, we couldn't bear to leave him in the kitchen at night, whining and scratching around. He was awfully lonely and seemed to have trouble sleeping. Very soon, he was spending every night curled up at the foot of our bed, nice and cosy between our feet.

Over the years, we have been very soft with him and have allowed him to sleep with us without any problems. Recently however, probably because he is now getting to the ripe old age of eleven and developing "grumpy old dog" tendencies, he has begun to see us as an inconvenience and taking up space in his bed.

At first we thought this was amusing, having our little pet dog trying to boss us around and thinking that he was doing us the favor by allowing us to sleep in his bed. But after a while this became somewhat tiresome and we decided that enough was enough. It was time to reclaim our bed!

The only problem was how.

What made matters worse was that we had just bought a second dog, another little Jack Russell Terrier called Sam. We needed to get a bed for the pup and thought we'd look around at options that could cater for both our canines. Our own bed was getting too crowded and putting the dogs in their own bed was the only answer.

That was when one of our friends mentioned the doggy bunk bed. Neither me nor my wife had ever seen these before, but they present quite a nice space-saving option for households with two pets and one which our dogs are very happy with also.

What Are the Benefits of Raised Beds for Your Dogs?

The main benefit for us of having a raised bed for our dog is that it allows the dog to be up at the same level as our own bed whilst not actually being in the bed with us. Mitch loves his new bed, which we have installed right next to ours and it allows him to feel safe and secure, sleeping next to us.

More importantly though, it allows us to get a good night's sleep because Mitch isn't kicking us and complaining that we aren't giving him enough room. We must sound like a couple of big softies, but it is hard to break the habits of a lifetime, especially when you love your dog and can't bring yourself to be too hard on him.

We've even bought little raised beds for Mitch and Sam for when we go camping. As well as being portable, they are relatively cheap, too. We camp out at various times of the year and when it's very hot the raised beds are ideal for keeping them cool because it lets the air flow underneath them.

Likewise, when the weather is cooler and wetter, the elevated dog bed keeps them off the cold wet ground. Either way, it increases his level of comfort considerably. In fact I wish we'd bought one years ago.

If you're not sure whether your pooch will take to a raised dog bed, you could always try this one for a bit because it is pretty cheap and won't be an expensive mistake if he doesn't use it much.

Dog Beds for Two Dogs - When Space is at a Premium

But what about our new puppy, Sam, did we get him a nice new bed, too? We actually bought a set of bunk beds for dogs.

This was an ideal solution for us because our bedroom is rather small and having two raised dog beds next to our bed would have been too much. It also didn't seem fair to have Sam sleeping on our bed but Mitch sleeping separately - that would certainly have put his nose out of joint.

Making Sam sleep in the kitchen whilst Mitch was cozied up with us in our bedroom would also have been unfair. So we went for the perfect solution - bunk beds.

Sam has never slept on our bed and seems quite content to snuggle up on the lower bunk beneath Mitch. We are all getting a good night's sleep and the bunks don't take up much space at all.

If you think your dogs would enjoy bunk beds, click on this link to get the best price on Amazon.

Are Elevated Dog Beds Just for Small Dogs?

The short answer to the question of whether only small dogs can use bunk beds is an emphatic "no"!

Some friends of ours have two huge greyhounds. They used to be racing dogs but have been retired for some time. They are very placid and have a lovely temperament, but boy oh boy are they big! They take up practically the whole of the kitchen floorspace in their small down town apartment.

When our friends saw the bunk beds we had bought for Mitch and Sam, they decided to have a look around for a larger version for their two pooches. At about the same time David, the owner of the said greyhounds, landed a new job as a teacher across town, which came with a huge house.

They went ahead and bought two of these fantastic raised beds for their two dogs. They are awesome and the dogs love them. If you have a big dog, then I think this might be a good option for you.

My wife and I are very glad that we made the switch to bunk beds for our dogs. It has increased both our comfort levels as well as our dogs', and because we no longer have to fight for space in our own bed with the dogs, we sleep much better and have got rid of those bags under our eyes.

It was partly this experience that made us decide to set up the dog blogger blog to share our experiences in the hope of helping other people in a similar situation.

If you think you and your dogs could benefit from bunk beds, check our one of the options in the links above.