Doggy Sleeping Bags

The following is a copy of a post from my other half, Chrissie's blog, which she posted yesterday. I decided it to reproduce it here for the benefit of other camping dog owners out there. Feel free to contact me here, or on Twitter at @GeoffCrowther1 or, indeed, contact Chrissie direct via the addresses given below.
Cheers all

Doggy Sleeping Bags???

february 23, 2018, posted in bits and pieces

We all know our own dogs. Some have thick fur, some thin, some love wild weather, some hate the rain, and some even love wild camping with us.

Camping with both Dixie and Tilly, we tried all sorts to keep them comfy. The summer’s not so hard, but in the cold it can be very challenging.

Blankets, fleece coats, insulated coats, foam mats – they’ve all been tried, in every combination possible.

Nothing ever seemed either just right or straightforward, however.

But since Pebbles and Islay have been on the scene, we’ve discovered some doggy sleeping bags. On sale in the States (although they have recently stopped shipping to the UK) and rather expensive, we nevertheless invested in some.

They’ve been quite a success.

If it’s hot, the dogs don’t have to be fully covered, but if it’s cold, they can be. We’ve never found the need to carry a foam mat for them anymore either. The insulation in the bed seems adequate on its own. Pebbles was even toasty warm one night when it was -5C outside.

To complement the bags, they also have summer weight fleecey PJs and winter weight fleecey PJs.

If Pebbles is fidgety overnight it is possible for her to get uncovered and I sometimes wake up when she moves and have to re-cover her, but this is only really an issue if it’s very cold. And I have noticed that on the whole, the colder it is, the less she fidgets. One of the reasons it’s good for her to have winter PJs on anyway.

Not long ago, my mate James wondered if I might be able to make one of these bags myself, for Reuben to use. It was a challenge I rather enjoyed. It would appear that Reuben has also been pleased with the results.

There has been a fair amount of interest recently in my version of the Doggy Sleeping Bag, culminating in me making some more.

They function rather like a cross between a soft bed and a sleeping bag. In soft bed form, with the sides folded down, they can simply be sat or laid in.

But if you want the dog covered, you simply have to unroll the tall sides and lay them/wrap them over your snoozing canine.

I certainly don’t have any grand ideas about becoming some kind of huge enterprise here, but if anyone reading this is interested in one or simply has any queries about them, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

You can leave a message on my blog, contact me via Twitter (@Chrissiedixe2) or on Facebook (Chrissie Crowther).