My dogs have always loved bolster beds so I would say yes. Orvis beds hold up exceptionally well with repeated washings.

I doubt you will get her to move from her favorite places voluntarily. In addition to being comfy, the places she has chosen may have certain line-of-sight benefits or something else that she likes.

You could make a corner cover for the sectional from a painters drop cloth or a few yards of white cotton duck.

(I'm surrounded by three Goldens right now, one of my own, one foster, and one visitor. They are wonderful dogs.)

I used to think the dogs wouldn't like the bolster beds till my DH bought one. They love it. The "cuddler" type beds are also a favorite.

It's funny, if you go the Orvis website, they have the cutest video to help you choose a dogbed. And if you look at the "models", they look soooo comfy in their beds.

Graywings, good point about the site lines. Makes me think I should curl up with her to see what she's looking at, LOL.

One of the beds is Tempurpedic, which I think is hilarious. But OTOH if she loved sleeping in it, maybe she would choose it over her old spots.

Do you think she is selecting these sites to be closer to family members? If so a bed elsewhere might not work. Maybe the sided bed near the leather ottoman?

This is our 44# mixed breed in a cuddle bed. Obviously he's comfortable! But interestingly enough, our prior dog, a 75# Dalmatian used and loved the same type and size of bed - with the occasional long leg flopped over the edge. It was recommended by his breeder because dogs do love to 'nest'. These beds can be found pretty inexpensively at Pet Smart and similar places so it's not an investment to test it out. The cover zips off for washing.

My larger dogs have the double donut pet bed by Bowsers, and my tiny dog has two with the edge that goes all the way around. They have held up extremely well, don't absorb odors and wash easily. The centers remove, and can be flipped over. I don't recall the website I purchased them from, but here is the Bowser page:

Here is a link that might be useful: Bowsers Pet Beds

My issue is getting my dog to sleep in one. He preferred the bed until recently and now he's having some arthritis issues so unless I pick him up and put him on bed he sleeps on the floor.

I bought him this really nice comfy bed and he won't lie on it. Maybe it's something I needed to reinforce when he was little. LLBean always has the nice bolster type beds as does Frontgate. Frontgate of course has a more stylish fabric choices! :-) This one is on Frontgate. They have an oriental tapestry one that looks nice but it doesn't have the bolster.

Eandhl,

Usually, she prefers to be with a family member. But we don't use our family room very much (only on the rare occasions when we watch TV, maybe once a week). So, usually, she is in my office with me, or in my DH's study with him, or out and about with us somewhere. She is not allowed upstairs where the bedrooms and carpeting are, because Lyme Disease is practically named for our area, and it is just too risky to have her on beds, etc.

But if she is home alone, or for someone reason by herself, her first choice is that L sofa corner. And it is the worst place for her to go from a decor-preservation standpoint.

I can't believe these beds are $300. It seems excessive. It gives one "paws", let's say.

(edited so as not to offend our dog. oh and typos. oh and then I threw in a joke)

This post was edited by mtnrdredux on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 21:18

My dogs have always loved the bolster beds. I agree that the "line of sight" is often a consideration for where they have slept. I'm pretty sure that bed that Allison posted would be a hit!

I have had two Orvis beds for 12 years and they still look fantastic. Imo, good value. I've also had a number of cheaper beds that I don't still have. After some years, I lined both Orvis beds with a memory foam bed topper that I cut to size in addition to the regular padding. However, it's the covers that have held up so well, although the inserts are still fine. But my dogs aren't chewers.

I was just in the Orvis flagship store last week and a guy tromped his two enormous Irish Wolfhounds up the stairs so they could "try" the dog beds. He proceeded to order around the sales person, "move this one, pull out that one, etc." and then asked if he could get a discount on the second bed.

How could such a jerk have such lovely dogs?

My medium sized mutt has the plain, flat LL Bean bed. She likes to be in the middle of everything and we don't have much floor space in the room where we hang out. I was afraid a more cushy bed would take up too much room.

Is the ottoman also on the rug? It could be the rug she likes. My dogs trade off on their beds-they do not like the bolstered or bucket types-they prefer round cedar lined ones from Costco. Round-not square. However, I did buy a cheapy cheap bed to place outside my bedroom door, since one of them likes to lie next to it at night. She refused to use it, but all 3 scramble to lie on it when it's in my office and I'm in there.

That same dog has always slept under a table or my chair in the family room. She can barely fit under that chair any more, but that is her 'den'.

Have you tried to move her bed to that spot during the day? Then each day move it a bit further out till she's used to napping elsewhere?

My lil "pup" likes the rounded beds with the sides and also she has a square one with thicker (plusher) sides that she likes. One is in the breakfast nook (she gets in it when we're eating) and we have one in our great room that she will lie in if I'm busy in the kitchen (she can see me) and she can also see the front door. Mostly though, she likes to be by us. If we're in the sunroom (that's our "spot"), she will try to get hubby's leather chair, or by me on the loveseat. Sometimes she'll lay on a chair in there or occasionally sprawl out on the jute/seagrass/sisal (I'm not sure!) rug. We have slips in there so I don't worry that she's on white furniture. HOWEVER, her favorite place is our bed and I suspect she lays there when we are out of the house. She has a blanket that I lay out and she lays on it. She sleeps with us - lays at the end of the bed (by my feet) facing the door. She's 10 lbs. of watchdog!!

She also likes the chest at the end of our bed - if she moves to that spot - she has a better view out the window. Same thing in the sunroom with hubby's chair - she can see out over the back yard from that spot and hopefully catch a glimpse of the neighbor's dogs! So, I'm thinking line of sight has something to do with the preferred spots. That and being close to "her people".

tina

My dog likes to move around. We had a crate when we first got him, but he rarely used it. We now have a bed for him in our family room and our bedroom, but again, he sometimes uses them but more often than not, he sleeps on the floor. Right now he is laying on the wood floor in the kitchen. When no one is home, he lays on the landing of our stairs, which are carpeted, with his back against the stair. When people are home, he is usually in the room where people are - in the middle of the family room floor or under the coffee table. Lately, when I'm on my computer in the living room, he lays in between two side chairs on the wood floor.

At night, he always slept on dh's side of the bed, *next to* his own bed instead of on top of it (occasionally he'd sleep on it, but more often than not, right next to dh instead). When dh travels, he often hops up on the bed and sleeps at the foot of the bed on dh's side - I try to dissuade this since he is a 100 lb lab, but sometimes it's comforting!

However, about three weeks ago, he started sleeping UNDER the bed on my side. Our bed is quite high, and I store rubbermaid bins of my kids' clothes underneath, but I'd removed one recently and he discovered a little spot there. It's hilarious to see his huge body snuggled under there with a foot poking out and even funnier to seem him positioning himself under there at night. I don't know what made him decide to start sleeping there, but it's so cute to me. And makes me feel that he's sort of bonding with me now that he sleeps on my side instead of dh's!

Not that any of this answers your question, but I understand where you are coming from! The chairs in my living room have similar off white cotton duck slipcovers so when he lays between them, his black fur gets all over them. Thankfully, he doesn't lay there that often.

Hope you find a good solution.

Since she goes there when she is alone I bet a bed like many of the above pictures would work. She probably likes the den the feeling of the L shaped couch.

I didn't say that my dogs bed are almost 8yo. Our small dog has two - one in her crate (my closet - door to crate stays open and she goes in often to nap) and another in the breakfast room. We have one large bed in the MBR and two extremely soft, flat beds (with no sides) in the sunroom. One of those in a slightly smaller size is downstairs. The cats like to nap/sun on those also. I think you need to give options for around the house - dogs (and cats) don't want to stay in one place, one bed day in, day out.

Allison, I would get a pretty throw that matches the sofa and put it in her special spot. Rub the throw on the sofa so it will have her scent on it to encourage her to lay there. Dogs love blankies. :)

Thanks again all. No time to answer each of you right now, but you've been a big help.

I am going to start experimenting with existing beds to try to determine what the draw is, and if i can coax her elsewhere, before I order her the custom Hastens, LOL.