If your dog is anything like mine, he probably feels like he’s too good to sleep on the floor.
You know, if you’re not already allowing him to sleep next to you at night. To save your furry friend from the horrors of sleeping on a carpet, and save yourself a little money, consider making a dog bed from things lying around the house.For the Smaller Pups
We’ve rounded up a couple of ideas we believe would be great for either a smaller dog or a larger breed. We’ll start with the little guys.
For this bed, you’ll need an old pillow, a sweater, either foam or pieces of cloth and some sewing skills/needles. If you’re not a master seamstress, don’t worry; you’ll be able to cover most of your skewed stitching.
To start, sew the opening of the sweater through which you’d put your head so it's closed off. A V-neck won’t work well for this, but you could use a hoodie and fold it over the front and sew the top through the front of the shirt. As long as it covers the hole so nothing can escape, you’re good.
Now, draw a line from the top of the armpit of one sleeve to the other. Sew along that line to connect the front and back of the sweater.
Next, you’ll begin stuffing the arms with foam padding or another soft material or cloth. If you’ve done it correctly you’ll have filled both arms and the top of the sweater to form a thick wall around the bed. Don't stuff so much fabric inside you can no longer sew the opening of the sleeves shut. You’ll connect the arms to form a ring in a bit.
Take the pillow, one small enough to fit inside your sweater, and stuff it into the opening. Now sew the bottom opening shut.
Take both sleeves, overlap the ends of them and sew them together. If you’re worried about appearances you’re welcome to sew another piece of fabric over where you joined together the sleeves to cover up the stitches, but it’s not really necessary.
Now you have a choice to make. You can either leave the bed as is, and you’re done, or you can sew the sleeves to the bottom of the sweater to close off the gap completely. Truthfully, the latter option can be a pain if you’re not very skilled and it’s mostly just for cosmetic purposes, so either way is fine.
For the Big Boys
A sweater won’t be large enough if you’re harboring a larger breed. Instead, gather together two large pillows no longer in use or something cheap from the store, your sewing kit and fabric. You can purchase some fabric from a craft store, or, if you’ve got old curtains or sheets lying around they’ll work just as well.
Lay the pillows side-by-side with a little overlap. Stitch them together at both ends. You can also stitch them together in the middle if you’d like, though it’s not necessary for this to work.
Now, place your pillows in the center of your chosen fabric (the width of the fabric needs to be about 3 times the width of the pillows). The fabric should be long enough for both sides to fold over the pillows but not completely cover them. Fold one side over the pillows and hem the edge. Repeat with the other side, this time overlapping the first fold.
Stitch up the top and bottom to close off the edges, leaving the flaps open in the middle. Once that’s done, you should be able to slide the pillow in and out, and pull the hems over it much like you would a regular pillow.
Flip it over and you’ve got yourself a Labrador-sized doggie bed!
Ben Kerns is a freelance writer, photographer and outdoor adventurer based out of San Diego. When he’s not busy working you can find him hopping across the world looking for new places to climb big rocks. He’s also fanatically obsessed with funding his outdoor obsessions for as little money as possible.
