Dane likes sleeping on old blankets (bed drama, part 2)

Princeton looks proud to be sleeping on real blankets and towels -- not a "doggy" bed

For a new version of this article, click this link to Everydoggy.com:
Best big dog bed: The only bed my Great Dane didn't destroy!

Thanks to all the comments on my last post, I set up a new, simpler bed for my 11-month-old Great Dane Princeton. He’s sleeping on old blankets and towels -- and he loves it.

He lifted his head high and looked proud and happy when he first lay down on the blankets and towels. I ran for the camera and took a photo (above). While he thought the supposedly tear-resistant doggy bed was one big chew toy and attacked it immediately, he had a totally different reaction to the old blankets etc. He recognized right away that it was a bed -- with the same kind of good stuff that humans sleep on. He settled right down and fell asleep.

It did take some adjustment before Princeton completely accepted the new bed, however. The first night he woke up at 3:30 a.m. whimpering, crying, then howling. I thought at first that he had diarrhea and needed to go out, as happened when he was a puppy. But no. He didn’t want to go out. I made him go out and he came back in and cried for another half hour. I think he missed his ratty old shredded bed with its green fluff and cedar chip mess. (Princeton gets very attached to routines and likes everything to stay the same.)

I kind of missed the fresh scent of cedar chips, too. The old blankets smelled kind of musty. Finally I got in the crate with him and snuggled him. He fell asleep within a few minutes -- but woke up crying again one more time before morning.

The next day I got some of his favorite smells onto one of the old blankets (swampy mud from the dog park, my old socks). He’s completely happy sleeping on the blankets and towels now.

Thanks, everybody, for telling me about this simple solution.