Tesia has never had one of those great, round dog beds, with the ledge to rest her head. She has always had my bed, the couch, etc.

But just now, watching her get up and move from one place to another on the hardwood floor, and slowly letting herself down, I had a pang of guilt. She's on the floor probably because she played a lot of ball earlier - and isn't quite up to leaping onto a bed or crawling up onto the couch. Or maybe she just wants to be on the floor - who knows?

Here's the question: Have any of you introduced a dog bed with success this late in life? She is 11. I tried to introduce an orthopedic bed about 18 months ago - just a flat one that she could lie on to cushion her joints and bones - but she wanted no part of it. But she doesn't have much natural padding on her at all. I'm almost on the verge of going out to buy one - if they'll let me return it if she shows no interest. But I'm interested to hear your experiences. How long might it take her to warm up to it? I really would like her to be comfortable when she's on the floor. And I think she might go for the comfort factor of being surrounded by the ledge and having somewhere to rest her head...

Thanks. I know it's sort of an odd question.

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"Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine."
The Laughing Dog Press

Yes ,i did, and he loved it, foster and smith, those thick ,large orto, beds, i bought a kuranda,bed a few weeks ago, finally one of my dogs are laying on it, but the others like the foster and smith ones.

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WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE, BECOMES A MEMORY, THAT MEMORY, BECOMES A TREASURE.

My brother had great success in introducing a new, cushier dog bed to his older golden, Champie, aged 10. He just took away the old one. I would just make sure I could return it. LLBean, among other stores, has a liberal return policy.

I bought nice orthopedic beds for the senior girls this summer...as Lexi was struggling to get on her chair more and more.
It took her months before she consented that they are indeed comfy...she will still choose the floor every now and again...but the beds get the nod more and more.

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Mary and the Goldens from Maine
"Lexi" - Wise Teacher
"Liberty" - Bramley's Golden Moments Libby CD, RE - ASCA-CD, Can. CD (CGC and TDI-Therapy Dog)
"Trace" - Can. CH Bramley's Light Up The Night, RN - CGC, CCA, TDI-Therapy Dog and Novice DockDock

We have 8 dog beds on our main floor. We just had your typical round/rectangular pillow type beds that all 3 dogs used. We then bought 3 of those round, foam beds (with sides) which they all love....especially Reno. He loves curling up and being all warm and cozy. Last week Austin got mad and decided it would be more fun to rip one of those beds apart than to sleep on it. We replaced that one with a Kong brand bed (no sides, just a pillow type bed).....Reno loves it!!!! It is nice and thick, soft and cushy. If one of the other dogs are on it, he'll go sit on it until they move.

Now that Reno is having trouble jumping up onto the futon, I suspect he'll be using the beds more often.

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Thanks for the input. I've been looking on the LL Bean site - I am looking at the therapeutic dog couch (the one with the ledge) - but it is sold out in both styles. The alternative is the premium dog couch. I wonder how much different the therapeutic one is.

For anyone who has an LL Bean - what size did you buy and how big is your dog? I was going to get Large - she is 55 lbs - but reading the reviews, I'm not leaning towards a Medium...

I'm going to go investigate Foster and Smith and Karunda.

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"Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine."
The Laughing Dog Press

The large LLBean is quite large, but I have an 80 lb Golden. I also have an Orvis bed -- they make nice ones, too.

I swear by the Kuranda beds and our crew loves them. I have several scattered throughout the house. They are great for orthopedic issues, keep them up off the floor, are easily cleaned and disinfected and are pretty indestructible. www.kuranda.com

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Betty and the Dallas crew


“Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.” A. France

Sorry - the edit function isn't working for me. That was supposed to read, I am NOW leaning towards the medium.

__________________

"Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine."
The Laughing Dog Press

I am so glad to get your perspective. I had swung back to thinking I need the Large. My dog likes to stretch out on her side when she sleeps. But I'm still not sure. And I'm still hesitating because this would be a $200 purchase for something I'm not sure she'll even like - and it would cost me big $$ to return it from Canada.

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"Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine."
The Laughing Dog Press