Why A Dog Requires A Dog Bed?

Dogs do not require special beds.

I agree Beth. Blankets, or pillows, etc... depending on the size of the dog will suffice.

Same for cats, and more so. I got my senior cat through an "adoption" agency. One line on the questionaire asked where the pet would be sleeping. I said "Where ever he darn well feels like sleeping". You see, I knew some stuff about cats, already.

The family pets always shared the human beds for the most part however once my father decided that would come to an end and purchase one hell of a nice dog bed with springs and so on.

Of course the new dog used the dog bed to keep his dog biscuits and dog toys in and slept with the family at night.

yup -- dogs just wanna sleep with the pack, wherever that may be...

My beagle sleeps in the cat's bed or behind the back cushion on one of the couches, the cat sleeps on top of the couch cushions or in his condo, and the border collie sleeps on the rug beside my bed.

Cats I found seems for the most part to feel the same way even if they are not pack animals.

One of the cats in the past for some reason wished to sleep press up against my dog and the poor dog was not happy about it and kept moving.

A dog bed? No need at all. Dogs didn't make it through all of the years of evolution having had beds. They live longer with warmth and shelter. A bed is a human's folly about a dog's needs -- a romantic notion.

I gave my dog the option and put a pillow down for him. Sometimes he rests his head on it ... other times ignores it. My dog would laugh at me if I provided a bed for him.

And dogs don't need spam either.

You should have put 'the tower dungeon' Roger. See if they still would have approved your request.

I should have, if only to prove nobody read the damn things anyway.

I keep trying to organize where the dogs will sleep, but that's about my needs - not the dogs. I sometimes trick them. I find out where they are sleeping and try to kind of put a bed around them. It doesn't work for long.

My adopted dog Katy arrived with a worn fuzzy dog bed. In the warm summer she effectively ignored it. Sometimes she slept in the computer room bathroom (coolest tile, I bet) and sometimes in guard position in the nook that divides the front of the house from the back. Now as winter is nigh, the dog bed, which is the equivalent of an old blanket from her past, stays in the laundry room which is across from my bedroom, and she mostly sleeps or lolls there, keeping her eye on me. In the daytime, she takes up various guard positions in the yard or the house, depending on where I am at the time, sometimes on a rug and sometimes on tile.

Pacco was similar to Katy, usually in some sort of guard formation protecting the herd. He, though, did have more serious thick dog beds - giant pillows I got at Costco for little money and kept in three places in that house in northern California - living room, bedroom, computer room. (I gave up on the living room one, and put a big quilt on the couch.) We also had these dog beds at work, one for the doberman and one for Pacco.

Our irish setter of years ago slept in her dog house outside for most of the year, coming in to sleep whenever it was cold or rainy.

Strictly speaking, a dog probably doesn't need a bed. I know my dog never used any bed we bought her, she'd just jump up on the couch.

I guess if you train your dogs better than we did it's a good alternative to having them on your furniture. You could just train your dog to stay off furniture, though. I guess the main purpose of a dog bed is really that we like to spoil our pets, and that they look cute curled up on them =)