So, on today’s dog mom musings… Should fur babies only sleep in dog beds? Or is it okay for them to sleep in bed with their two-legged parents? I know people have some rather strong views about this…
Sleep in our bed?! My Opinion…
I don’t think so…
My opinion? Well, when we brought Valentine home, we got him all set up to spend the night in the bathroom. And he barked. And he barked some more. And he didn’t stop barking…
Okay, sure. Why not?
…until we put him in bed with us. And he slept there for the next 13 years. And I loved it.
Please, join us!
When we brought home his little sister, Prancer, she joined the three of us in our bed. Not too sure Valentine liked this idea. But his mom and dad liked having their fur babies close! So, Prancer stayed nestled at the foot of the bed every night. And every morning, she came bounding up towards my face to boisterously wish her not-a-morning-person mama an I’m-so-happy-its-morning-and-you-are-awake-mommy greeting!
Absolutely YES!
So, as you’ve probably guessed, Dane and I are on the “YES” side of the “is it okay for fur babies to sleep in bed with their two-legged parents” debate. So, it might surprise you that our Maddie actually sleeps in her crate every night. You see, we adopted Maddie from a young couple who quickly realized that they worked way too many hours to give a puppy the attention she deserved.
And then, there was Maddie…
When we picked Maddie up, they gave us everything they had purchased for her, which included a crate and a puppy bed. Now, I’ll be completely honest. Dane and I were not good at training! Valentine was 9 months old when we brought him home and had already been in training to be a show dog. Prancer, who was less than 2 pounds of fluff when she became part of our family, never did get properly potty trained. So, we thought it might not be a bad idea to use the crate. (And by the way, Maddie adores going to bed at night. She runs in her crate, which is cozy with a crate mat, two blankets, and two special stuffed animals, plus is covered by a blanket so it’s nice and dark and quiet. But I digress…)
Maddie’s Dog Bed
Maddie’s daytime dog bed–That’s what I really want to talk about. Maddie loved her first little puppy bed. But she outgrew it.
So, the Easter Bunny brought her a new daytime dog bed. And she loved it! Unfortunately, it
did not survive the remodel.
So, we’ve been searching for a new dog bed for our Maddie…
As luck would have it, Big Barker Dog Beds reached out to me, asking if we’d like to try their Barker Junior Dog Bed. After checking out their website to learn not only a bit about the product, but also about the story behind the product, I agreed we’d give the Barker Junior a try in exchange for a blog post.
The All-Important Disclaimer…
Though we received a free Barker Junior Dog Bed prior to my writing this post, this is not a paid advertisement–just an honest review, including my dog mom musings about dog beds. I do NOT have an affiliate link with Big Barker Dog Beds, so I will not earn a dime when you order directly from their website. If you order via one of my Amazon affiliate links, I will earn commission from qualifying purchases.
A Dog Mom Review: Big Barker Dog Beds
So, what does this Dog Mom think of the Barker Junior Dog Bed? Well, I requested the small Barker Junior headrest edition in charcoal gray. I was a bit disappointed that they only offer four colors and would love to see some fun patterns as an option. But the gray works well enough with the color scheme of our house, despite being a bit boring.
First Impressions…
What I thought…
The Barker Junior arrived rolled up in a rectangular box, like mattresses that you order online. As I took it out of the packaging, I was pleased that it did not have that weird odor new foam mattresses usually smell of. A bit concerned that the edges would curl, I was surprised by how quickly it laid flat and expanded to its full 4-inch thickness. (FYI, the Big Barker is 7 inches thick.)
I put the new dog bed in the snug and waited for Maddie to discover it, neither encouraging nor bribing her to sit or lay on the Barker Junior. Because I wanted to see if our picky girl would choose this bed on her own.
What Maddie thought…
It took her several hours. But that evening, after her Daddy and I were settled in our chairs, she happily jumped onto her new bed, smiling as she curled up adorably! I was so happy that she liked her new Barker Junior! And I was also very pleased to notice that the bed did not sink down when Maddie was on it. Now, I know our girl only weighs 17 pounds, but that’s a pretty good size for a little dog. And the Barker Junior held up to our muscular (or maybe chunky?) fur baby who never turns down a treat!
More Thoughts…
Remember that I said I chose the small Barker Junior for Maddie? In all honestly, I probably should have requested the medium. (Maybe even the large.) Maddie likes to sprawl out when she sleeps, so the small is a bit, well, small for her. Just a word of caution—make sure to get a bed that’s big enough for your fur baby to lounge!
The Wash Test
A couple of weeks later, I decided to wash the bed cover. Honestly, being able to wash Maddie’s dog bed is super important to me. It’s one reason her last bed finally fell apart. I had to put the entire bed into the washing machine, which didn’t work very well. But the Barker Junior has a zipper on the bottom, which allows for easy removal of the dog bed cover. I followed the washing instructions, which are clearly labeled via a tag on the cover. And it washed & dried beautifully! Plus, it was easy to get back on the bed! Triple win!
What about a crate mat?
Pleased with the quality of the Barker Junior, which was now Maddie and Dog Mom approved, I considered getting a crate mat for her. Unfortunately, the smallest size they have is 27 inches, which is too big for Maddie’s crate. Also, the crate mats only come in one color—tan. And that doesn’t really match our newly remodeled bedroom.
Barker Dog Beds & More…
So, we’ll just stick with the Barker Junior bed. The Barker Junior is for fur babies under 50 pounds. They also have the Big Barker for doggies 50-250 pounds. Crate pads, the backseat barker, waterproof liners, and replacement covers are also offered on their website. Though Barker Beds are not cheap, they are made of quality materials, which I believe will withstand the normal wear and tear of a fur baby.
If you’d like to check out Big Barker Dog Beds, just click here. They also have testimonials from vets, as well as customer reviews on their website.
If anything I wrote resonates with you, fabulous one, please tell us about it in the comments.
For more awesome fur baby products, check out The Not So Mommy… Shop for Fur Babies & Fur Mamas by clicking here…
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Featured Photo: Created by me, using Canva
