Rescue Dogs and Chewing!! Kuranda Dog Bed to the Rescue!

This past August, my husband and I adopted two hound/lab mixes from the Rescue Organization All 4 Paws.  We originally only intended on adopting ONE puppy, but ended up taking home two male litter mates.  The dogs are our precious boys and have brought so much joy to our lives in the past eight months, with the exception of ONE big issue--CHEWING!

The dogs are crate trained and kept in separate crates during the day while we are at work.  The one dog is totally fine in his crate, but the other dog has crate anxiety during the day, which is manifested in chewing.  He chewed through 2 dogs beds, along with various blankets and towels.  We tried giving him kongs with treats and various other distractions during the day to keep him busy, but nothing worked. One day we came home to find he had chewed the plastic tray bottom of the crate into pieces.  We had to remove the leftover chunk of plastic and watch him closely to see if he could pass the pieces. Once the crate tray was removed this meant that he was laying on the wires of the crate, which would obviously be uncomfortable.  This lead to us ordering a thick rubber matting for the bottom of the crate.  We had read that it would be chew proof, and would also be comfortable for the dog.  WRONG.  VERY, VERY WRONG.

I came home from work one Thursday, only to discover that the dog had chewed through the rubber mat and swallowed a couple of chunks of it.  Unlike with the crate tray, he was not able to pass the thick rubber, and was vomiting profusely all over his kennel, and later, the carpet, yard, etc.  I ended up having to rush him to the vet office (luckily our regular vet made time for us to come in so we did not have to go to the emergency vet--an expensive option we had used with our cat before).  The vet took x-rays and informed me they would have to perform surgery to remove the rubber.

You can imagine how scared and upset I was! Fortunately, after 2 incisions (one in the stomach and one in the intestine) and five days at the vet, he was able to come home and begin the recovery process.  BUT, we STILL had nothing comfortable for him to rest on in his crate!  This lead to us continuing our research process, and FINALLY finding the BEST OPTION EVER for owners of dogs that chew! We discovered the Kuranda Bed!

The Kuranda Dog Bed is the ONLY chew proof option that we were able to find, and our dog loves it! It fits in the crate and is comfortable and orthopedic for the dogs.  There are a couple of different options, but we went with the aluminum dog bed.  This model has an aluminum frame with a tautly stretched material for the dog to lay on that honestly, reminds me of a trampoline... but IT WORKS! Ever since we have put this in the crate we have had NO chewing problems.  Our other dog tries to get in there to sleep on it, along with our cats!  Whatever it is about the Kuranda bed, animals love it...and more importantly...they can't chew it!  Plus, the company offers a one year chew warranty; they are that positive that the bed is chew proof.

We actually want to get another one for our other dog that is not a chewer, just because the pets seem to love it so much.  Unfortunately, they are a bit expensive, but DEFINITELY cheaper than paying for stomach surgery, and worth it to keep the dog safe! Regardless, when we have the spare cash, we will definitely look to get another one--we are that happy with the product!

In summation, if you have a dog that is a chronic chewer, and you worry about them destroying everything in their crate, or possibly swallowing what they have destroyed, the Kuranda bed is for you!  And no, I don't work for them--I just wish someone had told me about this product when we first rescued the boys, instead of finding out several dog beds and a stomach surgery later!!