My big boys live a comfortable life. They eat delicious Eukanuba food twice daily and enjoy a few snacks between meals. They are constantly complimented on how handsome they are, no matter what they look like in the morning. They have the luxury of roaming their fenced-in backyard whenever they please. They have seven beds to choose from – not including two outside.
Wait a minute. Stop the record. That’s nine beds! Nine beds must have cost more than a $1000! Boys, I hope you saved receipts, because they’re going back.
Let’s be realistic. I can’t save money on all the beds, but I can tell you what I did to keep my boys comfy for cheap outside. Every morning it’s the same routine. While Lincoln and Redd do their business outside, I walk to the shed, pull out their beds, and arrange them in a sunny spot on the patio. And every night, I put them back.
But of course, the nights I forget, there’s always a downpour. The beds take days to dry in the sun and they end up stinky no matter what.
A day of rummaging through the shed turned out to be pretty lucrative. Behind the lawnmower, under a stack of scrap wood, and folded around a rake was a hidden treasure -- an outdoor lounge chair cushion. Check it out:
Lay it down on the patio and viola! Its a super-big weather-resistant dog bed. The boys sprawl out and soak up the sun without even touching each other’s air.
If it gets wet, it dries in no time, doesn’t get stinky because they’re usually mildew resistant, and can be spot cleaned with a soapy sponge. I still try to bring it in each night, but drying time is nothing compared to one of those sherpa-topped, poly-fil beds.
"Wow Mom, thanks! This bed is huge!"
Best part: if you don’t have one already, buy one at an end-of-season sale. Real pet beds hardly ever go on sale, but summer patio furniture does. Just for the sake of this article, I Googled “cheap outdoor lounge chair cushions” and plenty of results came up, including Target and Walmart with quite a few for under $50. I bought this one a few seasons ago at Wegmans.
Wait a minute. Stop the record. That’s nine beds! Nine beds must have cost more than a $1000! Boys, I hope you saved receipts, because they’re going back.
Let’s be realistic. I can’t save money on all the beds, but I can tell you what I did to keep my boys comfy for cheap outside. Every morning it’s the same routine. While Lincoln and Redd do their business outside, I walk to the shed, pull out their beds, and arrange them in a sunny spot on the patio. And every night, I put them back.
But of course, the nights I forget, there’s always a downpour. The beds take days to dry in the sun and they end up stinky no matter what.
A day of rummaging through the shed turned out to be pretty lucrative. Behind the lawnmower, under a stack of scrap wood, and folded around a rake was a hidden treasure -- an outdoor lounge chair cushion. Check it out:
Lay it down on the patio and viola! Its a super-big weather-resistant dog bed. The boys sprawl out and soak up the sun without even touching each other’s air.
"Let's invite Claude over! There's plenty of room him too!"
If it gets wet, it dries in no time, doesn’t get stinky because they’re usually mildew resistant, and can be spot cleaned with a soapy sponge. I still try to bring it in each night, but drying time is nothing compared to one of those sherpa-topped, poly-fil beds.
"Wow Mom, thanks! This bed is huge!"
Best part: if you don’t have one already, buy one at an end-of-season sale. Real pet beds hardly ever go on sale, but summer patio furniture does. Just for the sake of this article, I Googled “cheap outdoor lounge chair cushions” and plenty of results came up, including Target and Walmart with quite a few for under $50. I bought this one a few seasons ago at Wegmans.
Clever idea. I saw some fat outdoor cushions on clearance for under $20 in World Market the other day. Though, why do your dogs even need cushions with that lush, green lawn in the background?
ReplyDeleteI'm all in favor of dogs having a choice of places to sleep or to veg out during the day. Penny has three spots to sleep inside at night and seems to rotate between them, sometimes even moving from one end of the house to another during the night.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming over to visit my blog. I'm enjoying yours and look forward to reading more.